Transgender and Black, Looking for an Audience

Author

Brian C. Josephs, CUNY Graduate School of JournalismFollow

Graduation Date

Fall 12-19-2015

Grading Professor

Dana Robinson

Subject Concentration

Arts & Culture

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Abstract

Commodore Barry Park is an unappealing mid- sized space on most days. It sits next to Farragut Projects, tucked a few blocks away from Fort Greene Park andits neighboring brownstones. But today is Aug. 22, Day 1 of the Afropunk Music Festival. It’s 5 p.m — the hundreds of attendees gathered under the hot sun press against the barricade separating them from the empty main stage. No one wants to miss a moment of Ms. Lauryn Hill, who’s scheduled as the next performer. But Ms. Lauryn Hill isn’t the performer who gets on stage next. Transgender activist Cherno Biko leads a cavalcade of fellow protesters on stage to speak out against the violence wrought against black transgender bodies. Shagaysia Diamond, a redhead dressed in all black, is one of the protesters on a stage that promotes freedom; the banners that border it reads, “NO HOMOPHOBIA NO FATPHOBIA NO TRANSPHOBIA"

Recommended Citation

Josephs, Brian C., "Transgender and Black, Looking for an Audience" (2015). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/108