"A dream to exist and shine and create and fight and thrive in a world with my sisters.
Thank you @harpersbazaarus and @samiranasr + @nikkiogun and @whatisnojan for seeing us.
To say I was heartbroken that our beloved sister @dominiquet.a.r.jackson couldn't make the shoot that morning would be an understatement. The work she did this season is foundational. I love you Dominique — thank you for always lifting me up.
We shot this cover the day before our season 3 premiere event, the first major red carpet premiere in the wake of COVID . . . after being one of the first shows to begin shooting last October in our beloved New York (ground zero for COVID in our country). It was a new, even scarier world to create in but we had important work to do.
Trailblazing is a word we use to describe folks who are the first and often the only. It's used with good intentions — meant as a compliment. But there's unaccounted for labour — and a deep toll — that comes with blazing trails . . . you get scratched up and stumble but you keep it moving; you're hurting but you grit and bear it; you're smacked down and looked at sideways but you learn to shift and adapt in 'crooked rooms;' you spin magic from a space of lack and give and give and give — all for a larger collective goal . . . this is what Black trans women have done since the very beginning. From Marsha and Miss Major to Crystal, Octavia, Venus, Angie and countless more . . .
I have never felt more certain and centreed in my life, more close to my foremothers than I feel right now, on today — and it feels monumental and just to be centreed in this way with my sisters. An overdue acknowledgment of our collective work and brilliance and beauty and strength and and and and and . . .
WE are just getting started. #girlslikeus #blacktranslivesmatter"