"..what I’m writing may inspire someone who does not want to persevere"

October 9, 2020 3:06 PM

Monica Roberts, a Pioneering Houston, TX based Journalist and Advocate for Trans Women, especially Black Trans Women, has died. She was a contributor to Ebony.com, The Huffington Post, and The Advocate, among other websites and newspapers, as well as her own award winning blog TransGriot, which was perhaps the first blog from the perspective of a Trans Black Woman. She was the recipient of multiple awards(YT acceptance speech).

While perhaps best (YT) known outside the LGBTQ+ community for her coverage of Black and Brown trans people's deaths, her writing covered diverse issues, including Black Queer History, Trans political candidates, laws affecting Trans people, both positive and negative, and of course 11 years of her Shut Up Fool Awards.

Here are her words from an interview this year with The Daily Beast: “Our rights movement is like a relay race,” Roberts added. “The torch got handed to me at a certain point and when it’s time for me to pass it on, I’m just going to turn around and hand that torch back to the next generation for y’all to advance—and then hand it to the trans kids behind you.”

“Our goal,” Roberts said, “is to never let the flame go out.”

posted by Chrysopoeia (18 comments total)

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I’m so sorry to hear this, although I did not know her work firsthand.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:40 PM on October 9, 2020

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posted by fairlynearlyready at 7:11 PM on October 9, 2020

I don't know her work and am really interested in learning about her. Although I have some roots in Houston, I'm sad to say I don't know her name
posted by treepour at 7:21 PM on October 9, 2020

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We lost such an important voice today. She was bringing attention to transphobic violence when almost nobody else was.
posted by scruffy-looking nerfherder at 10:44 PM on October 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

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posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:02 PM on October 9, 2020

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posted by daybeforetheday at 11:27 PM on October 9, 2020

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posted by terretu at 12:11 AM on October 10, 2020

God bless Monica. I was blessed to know her, learn from her, and be challenged by her. I honestly can't believe she's gone. She was a force for good in the world.
posted by pomegranate at 2:28 AM on October 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:23 AM on October 10, 2020

This was such a shock. A complete kick in the gut hearing this news the other day.

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posted by dog food sugar at 4:37 AM on October 10, 2020

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posted by kuppajava at 7:56 AM on October 10, 2020

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posted by Kattullus at 8:37 AM on October 10, 2020

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posted by hydropsyche at 11:43 AM on October 10, 2020

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posted by objectfox at 11:49 AM on October 10, 2020

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posted by badmoonrising at 2:51 PM on October 10, 2020

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:01 PM on October 10, 2020

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posted by limeonaire at 11:01 PM on October 10, 2020

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posted by Banknote of the year at 2:56 PM on October 12, 2020