Trans week of visibility is underway, Ariana DeBose becomes the first out Afro-Latina to win an Oscar & we salute CeCe McDonald for our women’s history month spotlight – Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Trans week of Visibility is underway and Elise would have been 32 yesterday. Ariana DeBose makes history at the Oscars becoming the first out Afro-Latina to win. We salute CeCe McDonald in our women’s history month spotlight. 

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

01:39 – The Qube Ad, The one and only app curating the best of BIPOC & QTPOC podcasts & music. Be the first to know when the app drops. Sign up for the newsletter at https://theqube.app

02:17 – Intro Music by Aina Bre’Yon

02:57 – Trans week of Visibility is underway and Elise would have been 32 yesterday

04:07 – Ariana DeBose makes history at the Oscars becoming the first out Afro-Latina to win

05:54 – We salute CeCe McDonald for Women’s Herstory Month

07:05 – Anna’s Got A Word 

Things for you to check out 

GoFundMe – Funeral for Elise Malary

https://www.gofundme.com/f/funeral-for-elise-malary

@annadeshawn If you have a couple dollars to contribute please consider it #blacktranslivesmatter #blackwomenoftiktok #blacklesbiansoftiktok #gofundme #raisingmoney #lgbt #lgbtq #queernews #bringelisehome #fyp #fypシ #foryou ♬ original sound – annadeshawn

10 Black Trans* Activists You Should Know

https://medium.com/tmi-consulting-inc/10-black-trans-activists-you-should-know-ec69464f66e9

CeCe McDonald On Being In A Men’s Prison

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cece-mcdonald-on-being-in-a-mens-prison_n_5b4f9e3ee4b01e373aabecd8

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Transcript

Family, this is your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn here with our queer news from today. If you enjoy what you hear rate & review us inside your fav podcasting app. 

First, I want to say that I’ve missed y’all. Coming back from LA and getting back into a groove has been a struggle. You know how you need a vacation from the vacation. Well that’s what I needed so I appreciate you being patient with me. I also want to say that I recently started using the GoodPods app and its quickly becoming my new fav. Well they have podcasting charts and I decided to check it out. Well we are number 2 for indie daily news podcasts for the month & number 4 all time. How amazing is that! Thank you for listening and supporting this work. It really does mean a lot because this is a lot of work so it’s amazing to know that you’re out there and supporting. I also want to encourage you to drop me notes or DM’s on stories you think I should cover. We definitely don’t know everything happening everywhere so if you think its something we should cover please reach out. 

Now let’s get into the news. Trans week of Visibility is underway and Elise would have been 32 yesterday. Ariana DeBose makes history at the Oscars becoming the first out Afro-Latina to win. We salute CeCe McDonald in our women’s history month spotlight. 

Monday kicked off Trans week of Visibility. Trans Week of Visibility occurs annually, the week of March 31st, which is the International Transgender Day of Visibility. This event was started in 2009 by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall as a way to celebrate the transgender community in all its diversity. It’s also an opportunity to acknowledging the discrimination our trans fam has to face everyday. 

So in that spirit we will honor Elise as yesterday would have been her 32nd birthday. It’s still really surreal that she is no longer with us. Remember her family has started a GoFundMe to raise money for her funeral expenses. I’ve included a link in the show notes in case you have a few dollars to contribute. I also want to speak Tatiana’s name today. I spoke about her on Friday’s podcast and her story was not amplified the way it should have been. She was dead named across the media which made it even difficult for me to find her story. I hope they can find who murdered her but so often they don’t. Tatiana, we speak your name today. 

In entertainment news, the Oscars aired Sunday night and the talk hasn’t stopped but I want to take our time to celebrate some wins. Some wins that have been lost in all the other conversations. First, we have to give Ariana DeBose all of the time. I’ve been reporting on Ariana winning award after award leading up to the Oscars so it feels like it was written on the wall that she would make history on Sunday and she became the first out Afro-Latina to win an Oscar. If you don’t know, she won for her role as Anita in the West Side Story remake. Ariana said, As a openly queer Afro Latina, do not let anyone question your identity. There’s a place for us.”  I’m in tears. This award is for every queer Latinx person who’s been told they aren’t enough. You are all beautiful.” Yes Ariana! Congratulations on making history. I also want to acknowledge Samuel L. Jackson was awarded the lifetime achievement Oscar which was presented by his long time friend Denzel Washington. Will Packer & Shayla Cowen are the first Black producing duo in the Oscars 94 year history. Questlove won for his documentary Summer of Soul. Janora McDuffie, a Black woman, was the voice of the Oscars. Which I must say would be a dream opportunity. Going to just speak that into existence. Beyonce showed up and Meg the Stallion worked it. Queen Latifah looked amazing and Lena was definitely fly. There is much to celebrate from the Oscars and I wanted to use our time to do just that. 

Now it is women’s herstory month & I will be sharing some of my favorite women who have made profound impacts on the world around them. The inequities women still face today are awful from the wage gap to attaining leadership positions to #MeToo. The journey has been long since the suffrage movement and there is still such a long way to go. So, telling these stories & learning more about these icons brings me so much joy. So with that and in the spirit of Trans Visibility week we salute CeCe McDonald. 

As reported by Medium, Cece is an activist who brought national attention to the discrimination and violence imposed on trans women of color. CeCe was assaulted in an anti-trans, anti-black hate crime in 2012 and was subsequently imprisoned for defending herself. She was forced to serve her 41-month sentence in a male prison. Since then, she has sought to unveil the structural violence and discrimination imposed on trans women of color. I have included a link in the show notes to a video where CeCe talks about her experience serving time in a Men’s prison. CeCe, we see you & we salute you. 

Y’all know we always end each episode with a word for the day. Today the word says I am confident that any challenge I face offers me the opportunity to grow. I recently took an L when I didn’t make it to the top 5 of a pitch competition I applied for. I did make it to the top 10 which is great but I wanted that top 5 and I wanted to win that $50,000, feel me. I’ve been bummed out about it to be honest and then this was my affirmation, “I am confident that any challenge I face offers me the opportunity to grow”. Reminding me that even in that loss there are opportunities to grow. I took their feedback and created a note in my phone where I consolidated all of the feedback I’ve received for pitch competitions. I did this so I can see areas I need to improve so that I can take it home the next time. I say all of this to say, look for the opportunities to grow even when it kinda sucks. Till tomorrow, family. Peace.  

If you enjoy what you hear rate & review us inside your fav podcasting app. This podcast is a production of E3 Radio, your #1 Queer radio station playing Queer music & reporting on Queer news in high rotation.