Welcome to this special December issue of The Tea! As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves holding space for reflection, healing, and powerful practices of self- and community care. For Black transgender, gender-nonconforming, intersex, queer (TGNCIQ) communities, the challenges we’ve faced in 2024 have been immense—with anti-trans legislation, disinformation, and the toll of the recent elections fueling violence against our lives and identities.Despite these obstacles, we’ve also seen vital victories won through collective action. This year brought crucial expansions in abortion rights, higher wages, and paid sick leave. Voters also secured measures to block public funding for non-public schools, and we’re anticipating promising developments in the fight to end the slavery exception. In a powerful show of LGBTQIA+ solidarity, marriage equality won resoundingly in California, Colorado, and Hawaii, where voters amended their state constitutions to permanently protect same-sex marriage rights. California’s Prop 3 also enshrined the right to marry in the state constitution, ensuring this protection stands, even if the Supreme Court revisits landmark cases.
Originally published in The Washington BladeNovember 4. 2024By Marcus Davis
GROUNDING IN RADICAL SELF-CARE
COLLECTIVE CARE AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT
CENTERING HEALING JUSTICE
BUILDING RESILIENCE AGAINST MISINFORMATION
BUILDING RESILIENCE AGAINSTMISINFORMATION
A core part of our well-being involves guarding against the constant onslaught of misinformation (false information not intended to cause harm but that can have such an effect anyway) and disinformation (false information that is used to purposely manipulate, damage, and guide people in ill-intended directions) about our lives and identities. In 2024, narratives about trans communities were hijacked and used as political ammunition, often twisting our truths to fit damaging agendas. One powerful form of care is educating ourselves and our communities about the realities of anti-trans rhetoric, equipping ourselves with the tools to challenge it, and creating spaces where our stories are told accurately and without distortion. Check out past issues of The Tea or tap in with folks like Black Trans Media for narratives that counter misinformation and uplift authentic stories.
CULTIVATING BLACK TRANS JOY AND CELEBRATION
As we continue to face an unprecedented rise in anti-trans legislation across the country, the South, in particular, has become a battleground where racial tensions and anti-trans policies are colliding in devastating ways. In Alabama, this struggle is felt by Tamika Spellman, founder of Grammy’s Place, a critical sanctuary for Black trans women in Tarrant. This past October, Tamika found herself on the frontlines of this fight when local authorities, responding to an emergency medical visit, initiated an unwarranted attack on the very sanctuary she built for Black women of trans experience. Code-enforcement officials descended on Grammy’s Place, falsely accusing them of violating local occupancy codes, and threatening the future of a space that provides life-saving housing and support. This attack comes on the heels of the escalating anti-trans laws designed to criminalize and silence trans communities—compounded by the racialized and divisive political climate in the region, especially as the 2024 elections fueled heightened animosity and fear-mongering around gender and racial identity. What should have been a moment of compassion became yet another example of the violence and marginalization Black trans people face daily. Grammy’s Place, a vital community-support space, has become a target simply for existing as a sanctuary in a state where Black trans lives are under constant threat. The accusations against Tamika and her home are part of a broader pattern of state violence that seeks to erase Black trans leadership and resistance at a time when communities of color in the South are already grappling with the harmful effects of both racial discrimination and anti-trans laws.
This fight is urgent.
A transcendental parade of Black French queer empowermentSource: NOWNESS
Revolution Is Love
A Year of Black Trans Liberation is the powerful and celebratory visual record of a contemporary activist movement in New York City and a moving testament to the enduring power of photography in activism, advocacy, and community.
Source: Good Reads, Printed Matter
American Problems, Trans Solutions
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