Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Walker.
Shannon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a 39-year-old Trans-woman of color, born & transitioned in Dallas, Texas. My story is very similar to that of most Trans-women of color in the United States & what we face on a day-to-day. I knew very early on, age six or seven that I was different. My aunts and uncles all make remarks today that goes something like ” we knew you were gay because you were very prissy and played with girls dolls instead of boy things.” Playing with dolls were an easy decision for me, as I had 2 sisters at the time. In my defense, there were lots of dolls and pretty things lying around so it was either play with them or nothing. My mom raised myself and 3 siblings as a single mother. Two sisters and one brother. She couldn’t afford toys, as far as I could remember, the dolls and things were hand me downs from friends and neighbors.
As I look back, the community has always been very important to me, I have a picture of me as a nine year old picking up trash with adults at the popular monthly gathering “Clean Up South Dallas”.
Coming into my teens and starting to express myself and my gender identity more, my mom refused to allow me to live my truth while living under her roof. As a fence-riding southern baptist, she kicked me out at 14 years old. For years, I had become comfortable engaging in survival sex work while sleeping on the streets or under bridges and utilizing garbage cans, mainly in the fair park area for food and shelter. There were many sleep-ness & miserable summer and winter nights when I wished it would all just end and that I wouldn’t have to wake up to endure one more day of the torture. During those days there were no resources available to help someone who looked like me. The streets & sex work turned out to be a few of my best resources. It was the only way at the time.
After being released from a Texas prison in 2008 for a string of prostitution cases and drug manufacturing, I dedicated the rest of my life to improving the quality of life for transgender people in Dallas. When a girlfriend, Chyna Gipson was gunned down & killed while visiting her hometown of New Orleans, that was enough to mobilize me. I wanted to bring the trans girls together so we could become familiar with one another and learn to support each other. I’d go from one service provider to the next looking for assistance only to be outed, misgendered or I found the entire staff to be clueless on how to engage with people who didn’t look like themselves. Something needed to be done. Violence against black trans women is now happening at alarming rates. Transgender women of color are now killed at a rate of one per week, that’s a sliding scale since there have been reports of law enforcement and family members dead naming and/or misgendering the deceased trans person making it all the more difficult to report said individual as Transgender. This year has already seen 17 reported deaths on trans people of color while the reports from 2018 shows 26 with the majority being trans people of color. Sadly, the life expectancy of a transgender woman of color is around 33-35. I’ve surpassed that, so I feel that it’s my obligation to help navigate young trans people through this experience. Nothing creates a stronger bond than shared experiences.
Many trans folks are forced to leave good paying jobs for a number of reasons. We consistently partner with our local Fair Housing office to ensure a safe and comfortable working environment for all LGBTQ persons by tackling the workplace harrassment & discrimination issues and to hopefully create a policy that would decriminalize commercial sex work between consenting adults.
Everyone should be holding LGBTQ org’s accountable for the lack of trans representation & imagery. Trans folks have not been included within the LGBTQ scheme of things in the city and that’s a problem. It’s sending a clear message that trans folks aren’t wanted at the table and taking a quote from a friend, Carmarion Anderson, she would say “if you’re not at the table, then you’re probably on the menu.” Our response to that is, “we are here in numbers, and we are not going anywhere.
We hosted the very first LGBTQ 4th of July picnic. We wanted trans folk to gather, exchange resources and see what our community looks like as one! It was incredible. We hope to make it a sponsored annual event. This year’s event was epic.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been easy when you’re working with a group of oppressed, hurt people, that alone can be daunting and challenging. The black trans community has seen so many people come and go without holding their ends of the bargain after promising one thing or another. Funding, data, media attention has all contributed to such causes. When there is seemingly no one to hold accountable things get swept under the rug only to be repeated. That’s why trans led organizations are important for trans people. Too many people think they know what’s best for trans folk and often times it all boils down to funding or some scheme to “come up” off of our struggles and crisis situations. Again the shared experiences and to see someone who looks like me when I visit a service provider space is extremely important and is vital to ensure the proper care.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Nu Trans Movement has spear-headed the identity document movement and to date have completed over 150 in Texas through our peer to peer navigation program. Through our fundraising efforts at a local bar Marty’s Live & working with trans advocate Nicole Munroe, we have been able to assist many of those clients with financial assistance as well to cover most of the costs associated with the process. Having matching identity documents provides stability and is statistically proven to improve the quality of life around employment, housing, traveling and interactions with law enforcement officers. As we schedule more peer navigation workshops around the state, we have had an influx of inquiries mainly from trans youth & family services. It’s incredible to see families collaborate by doing this as a family. Navigating the courts can be a very daunting process.
Our newest project involves trans care & data management. This particular module is intended for clinicians new to clinical care of trans patients. I’ve had the same physician for over 10 years and he is the very best! We continue to partner with physicians, counselors, legal experts, educators & correctional officers to ensure that the training is available when needed.
We are a 501c3 organization in Dallas county, founded in 2016 to provide services to Transgender people with a special emphasis on Transgender women of color. We work with individual & family therapists & Physicians to ensure a positive experience. We provide outreach with our safe sex initiative program to ensure a low risk STI/STD experience when engaging in survival sex work. We have linked transwomen with care, rehabilitation services and housing throughout the Metroplex. I’m extremely proud to be one of the representatives for black trans women in the city that I grew up & transitioned in.
We would greatly benefit from a college student intern or someone familiar with grant writing. We currently need space and supplies to be able to continue the work.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would be more persistent, ruffle a few more feathers and be unapologetic about it. I have wasted so many years by waiting on validation or a yes from this person or that person. None of it was necessary. I’m starting to notice a more loving, caring community out there like I’ve never seen before. Our support has come in some of the strangest packages. It makes you see things differently. I’ve come to realize that things happen when you make them happen, period. I’m glad that I didn’t waste too much time. Lives are at stake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nutransmovement.org/
- Phone: 214-815-5769
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nutransmovement
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/anumovementinc
Image Credit:
Remember The Moment Photography by Grand Diva
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