Brooklyn’s most outraged put a new twist on which black lives specially matter
with the demonstration Black
Trans Lives Matter.
Thousands
filled the streets Sunday to be part of the protest trend as demonstrators clad in
white gathered at the behest of the Brooklyn Liberation organizers. The idea
for white dress and silent marching was taken from 1917’s NAACP Silent Protest
Parade which also took place in New York City.
The NYPD estimated 15,000 people may have attended
the rally.
The
event organizers included a group that provides free meals to exclusively black
trans people called The Okra
Project and the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which got its name from a black
trans activist known best for the Stonewall
riots in 1969, even though recent reports show Johnson wasn’t actually there.
The
rally was a response to a 27-year-old transsexual named Layleen Xtravaganza
Cubilette-Polanco who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island prison in New
York in June of 2019 after having an epileptic attack. Protestors claim the
guards did not administer help in time. The NYC Department of Corrections
denies any foul play.
The
attorney for the Polanco family told the Associated Press the inmate had
multiple health issues including a seizure disorder and “Layleen never
should have been left alone in a cell to die.”
Department
of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann assured the public a full investigation
into the death would be conducted. The Bronx District Attorney’s
Office and the New York City Department of Investigation concluded last
week they found no wrong doing on behalf of any corrections officers
staffed at Rikers Island.
Polanco was incarcerated
last year due to an assault charge in 2019 and had prior charges of
prostitution from 2017. Polanco was in solitary confinement as a result of
assaulting a guard. Polanco’s family was in attendance at the march along with activist
Raquel Willis.
Willis
rallied the crowd with shouts of “I believe in my power,” as rally
goers chanted the words back.
“I believe in your power. I believe in our
power. I believe in black trans power.”
After some speeches, the rally began at the Brooklyn
Museum with all the black trans marchers placed up front in their best white
daywear. The New York Police Department observed, but under the orders of
Democratic Mayor Bill De Blasio kept their distance and made no arrests.
This rally has followed weeks of chaos in New York City
during the riots for George Floyd who died this month in the custody of Minneapolis
police. New York business owners and residents were terrorized by angry mobs and boarded
up their windows in anticipation of the mayhem. Strict curfews were enacted for
anyone not participating in the demonstrations with Mayor De Blasio’s own
daughter, Chiara,
being arrested last week among the rioting.
The Black Trans Lives Matter movement began to grow
as trans people felt left out of the official Black Lives Matter movement, sources say. An activist named
Hope told the BBC
“Do I feel included and represented by the Black Lives Matter movement?
No. Definitely not.”
“Black trans people are tired. We’re tired of
having to pick sides. We’re tired of having to understand everyone and yet
nobody understands us.”