African-American History Month Essay
By Nancy A. Cavanaugh*
The famous African-American that has inspired me is Frederick Douglass.
I truly admire all those who managed to survive slavery in the United States. They had harsh lives that were unimaginable to have to endure and to have survived that with any dignity and sanity is nothing short of miraculous.
Stories like Frederick Douglass’ makes me feel like there’s hope. No matter how hopeless and bleak things are there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
Douglass overcame so many obstacles. He took ahold of his destiny and changed it by teaching himself how to write and read, understanding that being able to do that would allow him to one day be free. And he shared that knowledge with others so that they could have the power as well. Douglass did not allow the cruelty he faced break him. To have that sort of personal fortitude is amazing and worthy of respect.
As I struggle in the world as a gay transgender man, I think about how insignificant my struggle is compared to his. I am a free white person who has a job, a home, support from family and friends for who I am, and access to education. These are not privileges I take lightly. There are so many people in the world who lack these things.
But there are times it feels so familiar — the struggle to be accepted as a man with equal rights to those who are cis gender and straight … the repression from others who are fearful of transgender individuals and enact laws that demean and demoralize the transgender community … the feelings of segregation because of restrictions on what bathroom or locker room transgender individuals can use.
In New Hampshire, the transgender community is actively fighting to have that same equality and protection that comes with it. We have endured the effects of inequality and, for far too many, it has broken them. In a survey conducted by the National Center Transgender Equality, 41 percent of respondents reported having attempted suicide. The national average for all Americans is 4.6 percent. And, far too many members of our community around the world have been murdered simply for being transgender.
People like Douglass, and the many African-American men and women who followed him, fought hard to make equality even a possibility for all Americans — no matter their race, religion or, in recent years, sexual preference. They give the transgender community hope and evidence that if you do not give up, if you continue to fight, that there can be equality for our community as well.
*This is my legal name and still my official name at school.
The famous African-American that has inspired me is Frederick Douglass.
I truly admire all those who managed to survive slavery in the United States. They had harsh lives that were unimaginable to have to endure and to have survived that with any dignity and sanity is nothing short of miraculous.
Stories like Frederick Douglass’ makes me feel like there’s hope. No matter how hopeless and bleak things are there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
Douglass overcame so many obstacles. He took ahold of his destiny and changed it by teaching himself how to write and read, understanding that being able to do that would allow him to one day be free. And he shared that knowledge with others so that they could have the power as well. Douglass did not allow the cruelty he faced break him. To have that sort of personal fortitude is amazing and worthy of respect.
As I struggle in the world as a gay transgender man, I think about how insignificant my struggle is compared to his. I am a free white person who has a job, a home, support from family and friends for who I am, and access to education. These are not privileges I take lightly. There are so many people in the world who lack these things.
But there are times it feels so familiar — the struggle to be accepted as a man with equal rights to those who are cis gender and straight … the repression from others who are fearful of transgender individuals and enact laws that demean and demoralize the transgender community … the feelings of segregation because of restrictions on what bathroom or locker room transgender individuals can use.
In New Hampshire, the transgender community is actively fighting to have that same equality and protection that comes with it. We have endured the effects of inequality and, for far too many, it has broken them. In a survey conducted by the National Center Transgender Equality, 41 percent of respondents reported having attempted suicide. The national average for all Americans is 4.6 percent. And, far too many members of our community around the world have been murdered simply for being transgender.
People like Douglass, and the many African-American men and women who followed him, fought hard to make equality even a possibility for all Americans — no matter their race, religion or, in recent years, sexual preference. They give the transgender community hope and evidence that if you do not give up, if you continue to fight, that there can be equality for our community as well.
*This is my legal name and still my official name at school.