How You Can Support Iyanna Dior & Black Trans Women
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police was the catalyst that set off a storm of global protests against police brutality and systemic racism toward the Black community in general. Within those protests exist individual stories of pain, abuse, and terror. One such story is the heartbreaking attack on Iyanna Dior.
Iyanna Dior is a 21-year-old transgender Black woman. On June 1, in the midst of the Minneapolis protests, Iyanna and a man were involved in a minor car accident outside a convenience store. The owner of one of the vehicles engaged Iyanna in an argument and, when she tried to run to protect herself, she was jumped and physically attacked by up to 30 men hitting her and using homophobic and transphobic slurs. When she escaped and ran into the convenience store, the employee refused to help. Iyanna has been traumatized by this hate crime, and has been injured physically, financially, and emotionally.
This is not an isolated incident. Transgender women are disproportionately impacted by hate crimes, and transgender women of color are particularly vulnerable. Additionally, most antiracist work tends to center Black men, rendering the many Black women and girls also murdered by police an afterthought. While Iyanna survived this assault and will recover, many transgender women of color and non-binary people are killed each year. As antiracists and allies to the non-white Trans community, we must work to protect and support Iyanna and others like her, making this a truly inclusive and intersectional shift in the global culture. There are many ways to do so, starting with the following action steps:
SUPPORT IYANNA DIOR BY DONATING DIRECTLY:
Iyanna Dior’s original CashApp account was disabled. She confirmed to Elle magazine that her correct CashApp account is $IyannaDio.
There is a daily limit to how much money a person can receive through CashApp. If you attempt to donate and it doesn’t work, try again the next day.
SUPPORT THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY OF COLOR:
The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black transgender people by bringing them cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black transgender people wherever they can be reached.
The Trans Women of Color Collective exists to create revolutionary change by uplifting the narratives, leadership, and lived experience of transgender people of color.
The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) protects and defends the human rights of Black transgender people by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting their collective power.
The TGI Justice Project’s (TGIJP) mission is to challenge and end the human rights abuses committed against transgender, gender variant/genderqueer and intersex (TGI) people in California prisons and beyond.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence.
BreakOUT! seeks to end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth to build a safer and more just New Orleans.
The House of Rebirth is a housing initiative and community safe space led by Black transgender women to assist Black transgender women affected by oppression.
Read past calls to action from Threads of Solidarity here. You can financially support our work at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/solidaritywoc.
