Trans Spirituality

CONTENT WARNING: Police killings

The country and the world are currently undergoing unprecedented civil unrest, protests, disobedience, riots, etc., due to the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck and asphyxiating him. This was not a legal method of restraint. The cop, of course, should have been arrested immediately on First Degree or Capital murder charges, but because of the “Blue Line” he was protected. This was the last straw for the Black community, tired of these killings. In my own state, Washington, Manuel Ellis was killed by the Tacoma police in the same manner in March, but this killing never was reported.

A trans man, Tony McDade, was killed by police in Tallahassee in May. Police allege he was brandishing a gun, but the officers involved failed to identify themselves and never attempted any form of de-escalation techniques. We all know that if it had been a white man, he would not have been shot by the cops at all. Further, police and the media mis-gendered McDade, the ultimate insult.

Sadly, as Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes said, there is nothing new under the sun. The killing of black people by police has been going on as long as there have been police in this country. Policing in the South was started as a means of capturing runaway slaves, and that attitude persists, as was seen in the killing of Rayshard Brooks, shot in the back as he was running away from the Atlanta police this month, during the protests!

How much longer, oh God, how much longer?

Clearly, people who CLAIM to value human life do not. Genesis 1:27 states (doubled for absolute emphasis) that we were ALL created in God’s image. The Talmud states that when one destroys a life it is as if one destroys the world. Yet when it comes to Black people, and particularly Black trans people, there seems to be a pervasive attitude in this country that they are somehow less than. This could not be further from the truth.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER

I don’t know what it will take to change the mindset of people who cheapen the value of human life, of God’s work, in such a fashion. But I DO know things must change. Clearly the ongoing riots have not been enough to change how things work in this country, given the killing of Brooks in Atlanta. Therefore I know for a fact that things will get much more intense before a new normal is reached.

It was revealed during the week of June 15 that the Trump campaign is using Nazi symbols. Of course this is not really a surprise, considering that the President’s grandfather, an illegal immigrant into the United States, was a Nazi, and Trump has shown leanings towards Nazism since before his election. I am still flabbergasted that a Nazi was able to be elected in our country.

Joe Biden is no great choice to be President, but at least he isn’t a Nazi. So, I am again calling on every Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z, Person of Color, Crip, etc., get out the vote. I know that for many folx, getting to the polls is a huge problem for many reasons. I have been, for months, calling for people of privilege and means, like myself, to assist those who are oppressed or less fortunate, to get to the polls, or to counter voter suppression, so that we can ensure that this scourge is removed from the White House, from Congress, from State Capitals, and from City Capitals around the country. Will this fix the problems? No, but leaving things as they are will only allow them to get worse.

I pray that whatever the New Order of this country is, we can find a way for People of Color, Trans People, Jews, Muslims, disabled people, women, and all other oppressed peoples in the United States, to have the same privileges that white rich men have enjoyed for centuries. We need to change the meaning of the statement in the Declaration so it truly reads

ALL PEOPLE are CREATED EQUAL

Peace out,

Rona

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Category: Transgender Opinion