![]() ![]() You went down yesterday to the Stonewall Inn to deliver a message. And when I refer to state-sanctioned violence, I'm not just referring to police brutality but referring as well to the epidemic of violence that Black trans, in particular, Black trans women are facing, when they are murdered by civilians and the state does little to nothing to catch their killers. All of this is in honor of Nina Pop, and Tony McDade, and all the other Black trans people who have been murdered by state-sanctioned violence. OKRA PROJECT FREEThese funds are dedicated to paying for onetime, 100 percent free mental health services for Black trans women, Black trans men, and Black nonbinary folks to be with either a Black male or a Black female or a Black nonbinary therapist. Most recently, Sunday, we dedicated $15,000 to creating the Nina Pop Mental Health Recovery Fund and the Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund. Just everything we can to make sure that people are taken care of and have what they need during this time of crisis. … We posted bail for Black trans folks doing. So, we shifted our work to be focused on financial distribution and supporting people. ![]() We found that eventually, that wouldn't work as far as our capacity as an organization run by three people, and also as far as maintaining social distancing and making sure that everything was prepared safely. We already had created the international grocery fund to send like $40 to trans people around the world so they can buy groceries for themselves. Initially, as emergency responses when this all first happened, we were working with local food organizations to get grocery donations. What is the work that you're doing right now in this historic moment? So, a year and five months later, we are still growing and expanding and finding new ways to serve Black trans people wherever we can reach. We said that we would do this until the money runs out, and the money is just not running out. And by that Friday, we had raised $6,000. we contacted my friend Meliq August, who ran Zaddy’s Kitchen, a private trans chef service. I turned to her and proposed the idea of The Okra Project, of hiring Black trans chefs to cook healthy home-cooked and culturally specific meals for Black trans people in their homes or in community spaces if they are currently experiencing homelessness. ![]() Nyla Sampson, who had created the Black Trans Solidarity Fund, which the reparations group dedicated to distributing funds from the general public back into the hands of Black trans people. ![]() And so I put myself on mute and turned to my friend …. There was a masculine person in the space who was talking over me. And then, I was in a meeting with other activists, and I felt like I wasn't really being heard. Tell us your background and what called you to activism.Įssentially, I have always been doing activism work … and doing more and more intentional work around that. I am definitely overwhelmed with the realities of everything that we're dealing with and trying to take care of myself as much as I can and taking care of my people. I'm grateful for all the love The Okra Project is getting. On Thursday night, Twitter and Square cofounder Jack Dorsey announced that he was donating a $75,000 grant for the organization via his new philanthropic project Start Small, which aims to give $1 billion to charity.īelow, Stewart, a Black queer transfeminine storyteller working at the intersection of theater and activism, discusses the founding of The Okra Project and how readers can support its services. In the wake of the recent killings of transgender folks Nina Pop and Tony McDade, The Okra Project established the Nina Pop Mental Health Recovery Fund and the Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund in order to connect Black transgender and nonbinary people with mental health services. However, extraordinary events like the pandemic and protests have expanded its mission while making its work more essential than ever. The Okra Project was founded nearly a year and a half ago by Ianne Fields Stewart to combat food insecurity in the Black transgender community. ![]()
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