When I was 13 I was riding the train between Sacramento and SF by myself, like I did every weekend from 12 years old on (divorced parents, it was the 90s, save your judgement Im fine.) I would always sit in the dining car to find someone to talk to. (Thread)
If I rode on Friday nights, all the other divorced kids would be aboard, too, and we had formed a pack - we’d find each other and take over the dining car with homework, sodas, jokes, drawings, stories. It would get rowdy, in a sweet way. (Maybe not to other passengers, dunno)
One time I went on a Saturday morning instead (I think to attend a school dance), and I sat in the dining car doing homework. It was quiet and kind of boring. A woman asked if she could share the table. I said yes, and she was friendly and started chatting.
Over the next hour I would learn the life story of this Black trans woman, how she had grown up, in her words “a shoeless poor boy in Southern Georgia” (a phrase I have never forgotten). Sitting in front of me was this self assured woman - the kind a 13 year old longs to be.
I remember even at that age realizing I was being given a gift. (I don’t remember breathing the entire time she was talking and I nearly missed my stop - I literally had to jump off a moving train at my station.)
She told her story completely matter of fact. But it was clear to me that her existence was a radical act - and it was also clear it might be a dangerous one. I wouldn’t learn until years later that the average life span of a trans woman of color is 36.
36.
I think about this woman all the time. How she told her story to a complete stranger, and it changed how I saw the world forever. In about an hour. This woman taught me about how women could be in the world. She may have been the first real revolutionary I ever met.
Not everyone gets that moment on the train, but we can decide who gets the platforms.

It matters.
#BlackTransLivesMatter everyday. They have already left indelible marks on history and it’s imperative that we all work to ensure they can live long lives - to see the benefits of their revolution and witness their statues being raised.
Hey since this looks like it’s taking off maybe give some money to http://trinityplaceshelter.org 
You can follow @emilybest.
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