Episode 36: Decriminalize Sex Work - Freedom Dreams of Black Trans Liberation

03/23/21 • 30 min

How can we honor the leadership of Black trans sex worker communities in struggles for gender and LGBTQIA+ justice this Women’s History Month? Black Trans Nation executive director and Decrim NY steering committee member TS Candii and Women with a Vision Sex Worker Advisory Committee member Paris Jackson speak with advocacy associate maya finoh and communications assistant Alex Webster about their work to pass legislation ending the criminalization of people in the sex trades and trans people in New York State and Louisiana, as well as their freedom dreams for Black and trans liberation. They explain why decriminalization is the legislative proposal that can best guarantee the safety of marginalized people working in the sex trades, why sex work must ultimately be recognized as the labor that it is and be provided labor protections the same as any other work, and how the criminalization of work in the sex trades is part of a larger and centuries-long project by the state to target and criminalize Black and trans communities. They also discuss how the histories of sex workers organizing to support each other appear in current mutual aid projects, and how to support and promote their crucial work.

Resources:

New York legislation:
Walking While Trans Ban Bill (New York Senate Bill 1351 /Assembly Bill 3355) (signed into law)
Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (New York Senate Bill 3075 /Assembly Bill 849) (pending)

Louisiana legislation:
Louisiana House Bill 67 (pending)
Deep South Decrim Toolkit
Sign-on form to support Louisiana House Bill 67

Resources:

Louisiana legislation:
Louisiana House Bill 67 (pending)
Deep South Decrim Toolkit
Sign-on form to support Louisiana House Bill 67

Previous Episode

Episode 35: The Breath Act - A love letter via policy

What happens when a response to the demands that come from the street lead to radically reimagining public safety? Protest and policy merge and “The BREATHE Act” is born.

Nadia Ben-Youssef, advocacy director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, talked with Ash-lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, for “The BREATHE Act: A love letter via policy,” in Episode 34 of “The Activist Files.” Nadia and Ash-Lee discuss the current political moment for “The BREATHE Act” to take shape in relationship with the history and trajectory of the Black liberation freedom struggle. In that conversation, they examine what we have learned from history when power is chipped away, the sources of inspiration from other “Black Agendas for Liberation” that surface in “The BREATHE Act,” and how COVID-19 has shown that transformative moves are possible.

Resources:

· “The BREATHE Act”

· M4BL

· Gina Clayton

· Mjiente

· Rep. Ilhan Omar

· Rep. Cori Bush

· “Victory is Mine”

Next Episode

Episode 37: Dismantling Jim Crow Juries – A conversation with Angelo Guisado and Jamila Johnson

On April 12, 2021, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed petitions on behalf of clients who were sentenced to Death By Incarceration by non-unanimous juries in Louisiana, where they remain in the Louisiana State Penitentiary colloquially known as “Angola,” despite the Supreme Court’s clear ruling that their convictions were unconstitutional. We joined more than 700 volunteer attorneys across the country in filing petitions in the cases of more than 1,000 people, mostly Black men, imprisoned in Louisiana from convictions by non-unanimous juries. They are known as “Jim Crow Juries” because they are a relic of the Jim Crow era that has systematically discounted the votes of jurors of color, led to a significant number of wrongful convictions, and helped maintain disproportionately high rates of incarceration of Black people in Louisiana. In this episode of the Activist Files, Angelo Guisado, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, speaks with Jamila Johnson, managing attorney for the Jim Crow Juries: Unanimous Jury Project at Promise of Justice Initiative in New Orleans, who coordinated the massive effort, about what comes next.

Resources:

● The Promise of Justice Initiative

● State v. Henry / State v. Allen (Jim Crow Juries)