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Media Releases

Another Black Transgender Woman Killed, NBJC Mourns Merci Mack
July 1, 2020 01:32 PM

NEW YORK — Yesterday, Merci Mack, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman in Dallas, Texas, was found murdered from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. She is the 4th Black transgender woman killed during Pride month, and the 19th trans person violently killed, thus far in 2020, that we know of. In response to this tragic news, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition David J. Johns released the following statement:
“What do you do when you don’t have the capacity to wrap your head around the pain and trauma a community of people continues to experience and you know that your feelings aren’t half of what’s required to show up as a member of that community? You continue the work and insist that others, who purport to believe that #BlackLivesMatter, also get engaged. 

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Statement on Tragic Murder of Brayla Stone
June 29, 2020 11:03 AM

NEW YORK — Brayla Stone, a 17-year-old Black trans girl, was murdered in Sherwood, Arkansas near Little Rock on June 25. According to friends she enjoyed experimenting with music, some of which she uploaded to her personal YouTube channel. Her killer has yet to be identified and members of the media continue to deadname her—using the wrong pronouns and refusing to honor that Brayla Stone should be remembered as she showed up in the world.  In response to this tragic news, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition David J. Johns released the following statement:
“Brayla Stone is the 4th trans woman killed this month. Brayla Stone was seventeen years young when someone murdered her because we live in a society where it is not yet explicit that when we say BlackLivesMatter we mean all Black lives, which includes Black trans women and girls. 

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Statement On Supreme Court Decision on DACA
June 18, 2020 02:41 PM

WASHINGTON—On Thursday, June 18th the Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) ruled that Trump cannot immediately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The 5-4 decision was decided by Chief Justice Roberts and backed by Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor. While quantitative data is not collected in ways that allow us to have informed conversations about Black queer people we know that of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, between 600,000 - 800,000 of them are Black. 

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Statement on the Tragic Death of Selena Reyes- Hernandez
June 18, 2020 10:06 AM

NEW YORK — Selena Reyes-Hernandez was a 37 year-old trans woman from the Marquette Park area in Chicago, Illinois. Selena and Orlando Perez arrived at her home at about 5:30am on May 31, at which time she revealed to him that she is a trans woman. After leaving, Perez returned to Selena’s home and shot her in the head and back, fled the scene, and returned once more to shoot her lifeless body. Original reports of Selena’s death misgendered her.

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Statement on the Tragic Death of Oluwatoyin Salau
June 16, 2020 10:34 AM

WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the  murder of Oluwatoyin Salau, David J. Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement:
“Oluwatoyin Salau, affectionately known as ‘Toyin,’ was a 19-year-old Black woman and Black Lives Matter activist. Salau was recently featured in a viral video where she passionately called for the realization that Black Lives Matter and for that statement to be true Black Trans Lives must Matter too.

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Statement On Landmark SCOTUS Decision on Title VII
June 15, 2020 10:58 AM

WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the Supreme Court decision affirming that employer discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, David J. Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement:
“This week has brought a mix of anger and hope for Black LGBTQ and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people. 

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Statement on Tragic Deaths of Dominique Fells and Riah Milton
June 12, 2020 06:28 PM

NEW YORK — This week, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells and Riah Milton, two Black transgender women, were killed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Liberty Township, Ohio respectively. 
In response to this tragic news, Sage Dolan-Sandrino, member of the NBJC Black Trans Advisory Council said:
“Violence against trans people has been normalized. This is beyond problematic, especially because Black trans women carry the weight of this violence.

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Statement on the Anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub Tragedy
June 12, 2020 05:30 PM

EW YORK — On June 12, 2016, 49 people tragically had their lives taken at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In observance of the anniversary of this tragedy, National Black Justice Coalition Executive Director David Johns released the following statement:
“This horrific act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community needs to be remembered, not only as we continue the fight for equality but also as we honor the lives and legacies of victims that we lost on that tragic night.  

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National Black Justice Coalition: “Boycott Starbucks”
June 12, 2020 10:26 AM

NEW YORK — In response to the leaked memo to Starbucks employees that forbid employees from wearing clothing or accessories that affirmed that Black Lives Matter, David Johns, the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) released the following statement:
“Boycott Starbucks. It was just two years ago that racism and anti-Blackness at Starbucks led to the arrests of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson and the closing of 8,000 stores for an afternoon of ‘racial-bias education.’ Starbucks has learned nothing.

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Statement on Tragic Death of Monika Diamond
June 4, 2020 10:15 AM

NORTH CAROLINA – In response to the slaying of Monika Diamond, the National Black Justice Coalition released the following statement: 
Monika Diamond, a 34-year-old  Black trans woman was co-owner and founder of Ncphyne Promotion Company LLC and co-CEO of the International Mother of the Year Pageantry System, a pageant that honors LGBTQ mothers.  Like most Black women, cis and trans, Monika held space for and ensured our community was safe...

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