empowerment (transgender day of rememberance 11/19/09)

When I consider the word empowerment, my mind is drawn to the warriors of the past who undoubtedly left their mark in history. Strong, brave individuals with one trait absolutely in common: they refused to let another control their destiny.

Audre Lorde once said “If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.”

Daily we get up and go out into the community, working to carve for ourselves safety and freedom. We stand up against injustice, we speak out against discrimination, and we challenge ignorance. Freedom, however, comes at a price. The cost can be our voice, our time, our resources, our love, our lives. To quote revolutionary Angela Davis…”We know the road to freedom has always been stalked by death”

We’re gathered here tonight to remember and honor our transgender warriors past and present. We remember their smiles; we honor their strength…and we now move forward empowered to make change.

Empowered to live

Empowered to speak

Empowered to be

Author bell hooks says “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance”

Empowerment is about reaching inside…deeper for some, nevertheless there is a reaching. It’s standing together as a community, and singing loud regarding issues of injustice. It’s walking tall as an individual and existing, however loudly you choose.

My favorite image of empowerment is that of a butterfly. Indulge if you will the image of transitioning. A butterfly begins as a caterpillar, a creature of the ground subject to feet, and the hands of children wanting to keep them as a pet. When its time, the caterpillar engages in the process of cocooning…now sheltered and hidden from the elements. While cocooning appears to protect, the caterpillar begins its own struggle inside. I imagine this to be painful as things begin to grow that weren’t there before, other aspects disappear…and this all takes place alone. Now wrapped up in a tiny shell, it is time to emerge and the task is to break through that which has kept it bound. It is through the struggle in which the now butterfly gains its strength. It is through the wrestling that beauty is unveiled. The butterfly flits around and lands where it pleases. In all its majesty it exists. It is through the dark, lonely, and hard times that this butterfly is empowered.

Living empowered means defining life on your terms. Not one of us should ever ask for permission to exist. Empowered people live and do so out loud. Simply the act of being, leads one to be empowered.

Today I empower you-regardless the stage of your personal metamorphosis-to stand…to live...to speak…to be.

I will end with my favorite quote from Audre Lorde:

“When I dare to be powerful-to use my strength in service of my vision, it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”