Before we get into the nitty gritty, I want to start out this week's discussion by thanking you all for participating in the group reading thus far. I have been trying get this off the ground for a while and it's nice to finally see it take off and more specifically see it be used for educational purposes following a community-wide struggle session on trans issues. I never would have anticipated such immense pushback from the community on such a minor issue; I saw a lot of misconceptions, hate, and outright refusal to listen to and understand those affected by the matter.

Seeing it all unfold in real-time was very surreal and alienating and I suspect a lot of other trans people here felt that way too. But like your stereotypical Christian who turns to the Bible in times of confliction and confusion, I looked to comrade Leslie Feinberg for guidance and found a few little passages that really stood out to me on the matter of the struggle sessions:

  1. "Together, I believe we can forge a coalition that can fight on behalf of your oppression as well as mine. Together, we can raise each other's grievances and win the kind of significant change we all long for. But the foundation of unity is understanding." (pg. 6)
  2. "Misconceptions have been a barrier between our communities. In order to have any real dialogue, it means we must all listen carefully to each other." (pg. 22)
  3. "None of us can ever be free while others are still in chains. That's the truth underlying the need for solidarity. Trans liberation is inextricably linked to other movements for equality and justice." (pg. 48)
  4. "Revealing the need for solidarity takes patient education." (pg. 50)

While the response was alienating, seeing cis folks participating has been very reassuring that there are people here willing to listen to the struggles of trans people, challenge their own misconceptions on trans issues, and strive to be better allies to help fight on our behalf. And I'm grateful for the trans folks who are willing to participate in this and have a dialogue with anyone who is seeking to better understand our lived experiences. I truly appreciate everyone involved with this educational session. You're all based as fuck. O7

Now that all the mushy gushy shit is outta the way, drop as many quotes, thoughts, comments, concerns, ah-ha moments as you like in the comments and shoot to be actively commenting on other people's notes throughout the day as well.

This thread will be featured for 24 hours then will remain pinned in !transenby_liberation for the remainder of the week until next Saturday. Rinse and repeat.

original thread
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  • EugeneDebs [he/him]6•4 years ago

    Hi comrades, I did the painstaking job of converting the PDF into the EPUB. I've already seen one comment referring to the ebook, so I'm glad that my effort was justified. (And sorry about any typos I missed, the OCR software seemed to struggle on the italicized portions.)

    One suggestion for the next megathread: could we reference which sections are covered in the pages for discussion? That would be highly helpful for those reading the ebook!

    Recently, due to the Netflix movie, and the corresponding Chapo and Dollop episodes, I've been thinking a lot about Abbie Hoffman, and movements. This year has also demonstrated (once again) that electoralism will not lead us to revolution. I found this quote from the True Spirit Conference speech to be quite inspiring:

    Movements are waves of people demanding redress of their grievances, crashing against those who profit from maintaining the status quo. Which political current will lead this movement? Like white-capped coastal rivers, movements are driven by many political currents. Which currents determine the course of the river for a time is also affected by external factors, like prevailing winds, storms, the inexorable pull of the moon and the resulting tides. And then there are the political storms ruling classes whip up to deflect mass protest—like scapegoating gay and bisexual men and Haitians for the spread of aids, or demonizing undocumented immigrant workers and people on welfare. The tides of mass popular reaction to these tempests - good or bad — affect the predominance of some movement currents over others. So do economic cycles - boom or bust — and the storms of bloody territorial wars between capitalist powers, like World War I and II.

    So who will lead our movements today? Recently, many in the trans communities have been discussing “What makes a leader?” We’ve grown up in a society that places much more value on some human lives than on others, where a few are considered shepherds, and the rest sheep. We have been taught that we have no power to change the most miserable conditions of our lives. But that’s a lie.

    Everyone in this room is a leader. Each of us is needed as an organizer, as an activist in the decisive struggles that lie ahead.

    There’s a wonderful Chinese proverb that advises “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.” The people who are making history today are the organizers, the activists, those who are building coalitions, distributing leaflets, making calls, sending out e-mail, mobilizing others out of their despair and into motion. The leaders are the ones who are “doing it.” And the responsibility and role of leadership is to develop leadership in others.

    In the words of African-American poet June Jordan, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”