Over the past few months during the Covid-19 Pandemic TCLA has continued to gather every Sunday virtually to socialize, raise our voices together in song, and support one another during this crisis. In the past few weeks we’ve witnessed the news cycle flip from the pandemic to the unjust killings of black men and women across the country, including George Floyd, killed while in police custody; Breonna Taylor, a first responder, shot in her own bed while sleeping; Ahmaud Arbery, shot while jogging; and Tony McDade, a black trans man fatally shot by police.
Trans and non-binary people, and in particular our black trans and non-binary community, are disproportionately targeted in society by acts of hate, abuse, and violence. In 2019, more than 22 black transgender women were murdered, while the reported 2020 number of murders is currently at 12. Many of these murders of our black trans siblings have gone unpunished, unsolved, and without much publicity. Just last week, Tony McDade was misgendered and deadnamed by a local news station and the Tallahassee Police Department that was responsible for his death. These statistics illustrate that the trans community is unfortunately all too familiar with the injustices in our current systems of law.
TCLA recognizes the anguish surrounding these recent events and we want to let our patrons and everyone know that we stand wholeheartedly in solidarity with the black community to end the systemic racism across our country. Just this year TCLA closed the show at the Black Aids Institute annual Hero’s in the Struggle Gala and we will continue to have an ongoing commitment to raise our voices for marginalized groups everywhere.
“Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one’s soul, when birth places have the weight of a throw of dice and all people are born free, when understanding breeds love and togetherness.”
– Josephine Baker, singer, activist, pioneer.
In solidarity,
Dena Williams
Board Chair and CEO