Major!

What do we want?

Justice!

When do we want it?

Now!

What do we want?

Justice!

When do we want it?

Now!

What do we want?

Justice!

I think she's so many people's

only safety net.

There's been times where

I went hungry and she brought over food for me,

you know, she would go to the store and buy food.

And I could call Miss Major

and she always picked up the phone when I called,

no matter what time it is.

We get to call her things

like sage, right?

Wise.

Even though she's cussing folks out and spitting tacks.

I know mama

she's a dirty little vixen.

She really is.

She plays innocent but she's not.

Not by the least.

She's a phenomenal woman.

When she was in her 30s and her in 20s

she was advocating for transgender rights.

And to this day she still does that.

Major's told me she really

doesn't care whether you call her he, or she.

She's a mother, she's a father, she's a grandmother,

a grandfather.

She's a little bit of everything and she's really doesn't care.

Her methods and her legacy

is frightening to the powers that be.

She is our leader!

She is showing us how to do this work,

so thank you so much Miss Major.

I don't know why

I'm still here.

I guess I still have stuff to complain about,

bitch about, and try to change as much as humanly possible.

And wake people up to who my community is.

We have to look out

for one another because we're all we've got.

The rest of the world really doesn't give a shit

whether we live or die.

And the thing is, when the dust settles,

I want a whole bunch of transgender girls

to stand up and say I'm still fucking here.

I met Angela Davis years ago,

so I'm excited to talk with her again on

an even more personal level since this is for the TGIJP.

So I think it's going to be really exciting.

This brunch, I'm so nervous.

But I can't afford to be nervous

or they're drive me really crazy.

These Mama.

So I have to... uh, no.

But that one is really pretty.

Those make too much noise.

No.

These are my girls, they work with me,

they're my daughters.

They're Janetta and Melenie.

So it's been good.

They got here a little bit earlier than I was expecting,

so we've been running around, puttering ever since then.

Hand me the pill thing up on the top shelf.

Oh god these damn pills.

These are for my heart and my kidney because

I'm a transplant person.

I got a new kidney in '08 from a dear friend of mine

from Los Angeles, Thom.

And so now I'm on these forever.

But that's okay,

as long as we have you forever.

She had one of those

Batman Cadillacs with the fly wings in the back,

and we all went out to eat and she takes off on Howard

and 6th Street like a bat out of hell.

And we're just flying down the street, and I'm like

oh my God, so Shania said "Hold on girl!

Mammy be driving!"

I think a lot of people have

a lot to say about how Major drives.

My current take on it is I try to close my eyes

as much as possible...

although she has slowed down a little bit some.

But prayer is really what I've found is

the most successful thing in dealing with her driving.

Hey Beck!

Hi Mama's driving right now.

OK, are you on your way

there too?

OK we'll see you soon.

OK, love you sweetie.

No driving and talking

on your phone!

Hi everybody,

I'm Melenie Eleneke, I'm one of the Program Coordinators

at TGI Justice.

And my name is Janetta Johnson,

I'm one of the Program Coordinators at TGI Justice.

And I'm going to talk a little bit about

what we do at TGI Justice.

We do political education,

we empower transgender people, gender queer, gender variant,

intersex people to advocate for their selves

within the criminal justice system.

Our mail nights are

a couple times a month, we get people to come over

and help us read the mail and then answer it

and send them what they need.

Mail night was primarily set up

to just send information and resources.

We've become a surrogate family to a lot of people in prison.

You know, they constantly when they write us

they're like "hi family, how are things going,

give everybody in the office a hug."

And no matter what we send them they always respond back

and say thank you.

Even just one sentence,

hi how are you, means a lot to the girls that are in there,

that doesn't get anything from their family.

The work TGI does is

very important because no body else does it.

The girls in prison, the boys in prison,

they take a lot of shit.

You know, they take shit

from the corrupt guards, they take shit from the inmates,

they take shit from every angle and it's nice to have

somebody in your corner.

And ladies and gentlemen,

it is my esteemed and privileged honor to introduce Angela Davis.

So, good afternoon everyone.

It is really wonderful to be here at this gathering,

and when I was asked to participate I said absolutely.

Because this is one of the most important

organizations in the country that addresses issues

of trans women in prison, largely trans women of color,

but that of course is the disproportionate

there's a disproportionate number of trans women

of color behind bars.

But in the process, shedding light on so many

aspects of the prison system and the p

that we would otherwise not be aware of.

We're at the office at TGIJP,

Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project.

Well what we do is that we work on trying to get rid

of the abuses and the suffering that transgender women

of color go through in the prison system.

It started with Alex Lee, he saw and noticed the abuses

that were going on when he was going to law school,

and then he started TIP and then from that it evolved

into this, as things went on and changed.

I came along pretty early and just worked with him a lot.

When he left I became the executive director.

So the exciting thing for us was,

we were the first Black transgender ran organization

that was involved with social justice.

Don't many trans women

once they're released from prison actually come

into an agency that advocates for prisoners.

So it's a challenge trying to get people involved.

But Major is very persistent.

Very nagging.

And every time she see you: Queen!

We need to talk girl.

I know you just got out, you're trying to get

your life together, stuff's going on for you

and all that, but you need to come back over here,

help read some of these letters, talk to some people

who are still there.

So prisons are basically

a concentrated torture situation for a lot of trans women.

I was ridiculed.

I was raped by the inmates and the officers

who worked the penitentiary.

If other inmates see

the prison then they feel like

its carte blanche that they can disrespect us too.

People will pass you around, people will buy you

and sell you, without you even knowing it.

I myself, I've never been to prison, but I've been

in jail a few times.

And once that doors slams, it's open season,

you know you're a marked person.

They don't want to give you

your hormones if you're a transgender woman.

They don't want to keep you away from the people

who want to rape us because we're easy prey.

So, numerically I think

there are more people who fall under the umbrella

of gender variant or gender non-conforming who are actually

sitting in prison or jail because

their gender presentation, their gender identity