Pink and blue met Black and brown as trans activists Kiara St. James and Cristina Hererra were honored by the NYC Comptroller’s Office at Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture this past Saturday, Nov. 18.
The celebration capped off Trans Awareness Week, which leads up to the more somber Transgender Day of Remembrance each November 20. But the work toward transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary (TGNCNB) equity is year-round for the honorees.
St. James, whose award was accepted on her behalf, founded and co-directs the New York Transgender Advocacy Group. A Black woman of trans experience, she is credited with leading the successful fight for GENDA, which applied the New York State Human Rights Law prohibiting discrimination to the basis of gender identity and expression.
Hererra founded the Translatinx Network in 2007 and currently serves as its CEO. She recalled past honors at the Schomburg and highlighted familiar issues.
“I’ve been here before—a few years back—talking about the struggles that we face as trans women of color, individuals that are immigrants because [it] really feels special for me to share…my story,” she said. “I’m an immigrant from El Salvador, I came here when I was 11 years old with a lot of hopes and dreams, and many of those hopes and dreams have become a reality.
“I was able to live my life cheerfully, like many of my siblings here, and I can say that I live every day to celebrate life, which is very precious, and unfortunately, not everyone in our community is able to say that. We still have a lot of work to do, but I used a lot of that struggle that I lived through when I was a teenager to create a safety net.”
The two advocates were commended by NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Willians. Actor Frank L. Humphrey III sang and a screening of “Outlandish,” an experimental short film about trans women of color, was shown.
Comptroller Brad Lander told the Amsterdam News the hallowed library plays an important role as a venue.
“It has long been a place that worked hard to include the LGBTQ Black community and history,” he said. “In a world where often identities can wind up excluding, building those identities in more inclusive ways is really powerful and [there’s] something special about doing it here.”
During the celebration, Williams pledged to create more opportunities for TGNCNB New Yorkers.
“We must acknowledge this pain in the prejudice at its core, especially the trans people of color and do all we can to prevent future harm as we remember in solemnity,” he said. “We also celebrate the lives of those we have lost, and the resiliency and resolve with the community and movement.”
On Monday, three government buildings—City Hall, the Bronx County Courthouse, and the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building—were lit up in blue, pink, and white for Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.