Created June 26, 2020

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Hello. My name is æryka jourdaine and I am a Black non-binary trans femme womxn raising funds for gender-affirming medical procedures and aftercare. As a full-time graduate student, these funds will help me tremendously to offset the cost of what insurance so often denies coverage for due to being considered "elective" and "cosmetic." Of the at least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people that were slain in 2019, 91% of them were Black women and femmes, and 81% were under the age of 30. This, of course, is not at all a new problem. But as I am 6 months from approaching 30 years old myself I am abundantly aware of how fragile my life is given the various forces that look to eliminate my existence on a daily basis—be it from the violent anti-Black/white supremacist hands of the state or cisheteropatriarchy. While I am extremely grateful that my own Black trans life is still unfolding, I am also clear that reaching my transition goals is not simply an elective, cosmetic concern but a sensitive matter of personal safety and survival so that I might thrive in the ways I’ve always dreamed.

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The only reprieve any of my Black and trans siblings have from this violence is to continue imagining and building otherwise worlds, for ourselves and for each other. Supporting my fund would be an act toward helping me realize that goal so that I can continue doing the work I need to do with a heightened sense of security and relief from daily dysphoria. It has taken me a long time to get to the point of asking for help in this way, and just writing this is a big step out of my comfort zone. But my fear is outweighed by my desire to live. This is the next step of that journey for me—both for my (relative) safety & for my own sense of fullness.

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Please share and/or donate in any way that you can. Everything helps & I am tremendously grateful to even be in a position to write & post this. Sending all my Love to anyone reading.

Sincerest thanks,

æryka