CeCe McDonald is a transgender woman of colour, who survived a brutal assault by racist transphobes, which left her seriously injured and one of her attackers dead. She was yesterday (4th June 2012) sentenced to 41 months after being convicted of second degree manslaughter, which she is likely to serve in an all-male prison.
CeCe McDonald was in the wrong place at the wrong time - walking to her local grocery one night with her friends, when she was subject to racist and transphobic abuse from strangers outside a bar. As CeCe and her friends tried to verbally defend themselves, one of the attackers smashed a glass so hard into CeCe's face, her salivary gland was slashed, requiring stitches. As she ran from the scene, one of the men pursued her. She took scissors from her bag to scare him, but in the struggle, he was stabbed once and died from his injuries.
CeCe is not unusual as the target of hate crime. Facing sexism, racism, and transphobia all at once leaves transgender women of colour in the US at incredible risk of abuse.
When Paige Clay, a transgender woman of colour, was found shot in the head in a Chicago alleyway, her death did not make major headlines, and there have been no arrests.
Paige Clay
When Brandy Martell was shot dead in her car less than a fortnight later in Oakland, no arrests were made. Brandy was a transgender woman of colour and a peer advocate for transgender people.
Brandy Martell1
As Lesley at xojane.com2 writes,
Were a non-trans white woman found inexplicably shot in Chicago, or if a non-trans white woman were riddled with bullets in San Franscisco as she tried to escape, and both of their murderers were still at large, odds are good we would have heard about it. If a non-trans white woman defended herself from a group of drunken attackers threatening rape, she probably would not be in jail right now. Culturally, black women being murdered is not considered a story that is upsetting, or scary or outrageous; nor is a story about black women going to jail. Culturally, this is understood as just a thing that happens.
CeCe accepted a plea bargain, and has now been sentenced to 41 months in prison. Due to Minneapolis' laws on gender and prisons, CeCe is likely to spend her sentence in an all-male prison, where she will be extremely vulnerable to attack, and likely to spend a great amount of time in solitary confinement for her own "protection". CeCe has spent the last year incarcerated in an all-male facility as she awaited trial. Around 80 people attended the sentencing yesterday, and supporter Leslie Feinberg was arrested during a noise demonstration in support of CeCe that evening.
The CeCe McDonald Support Committee released an update in response to yesterday's sentencing, and will continue to support CeCe throughout her sentence.
There are various ways you can support CeCe right now. You can:
- Donate to CeCe's support fund
- Contact your local Anarchist Black Cross and ask them to take up CeCe's case
- Write to CeCe, or even hold a letter writing party (details of a UK based initiative can be found here), if you're having a meeting or event, pass round a card to CeCe for people to sign. PLEASE NOTE CeCe's prison address has now been published, write to her at:
Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud
2305 Minnesota Boulevard S.E.
St. Cloud, MN 56304For more info and guides on what CeCe is allowed to receive check the Support CeCe website
- Email the Support Committee mpls4cece(a)gmail.com to receive updates about CeCe's case
- Repost articles and updates, or write your own, wherever you can!
- Sign a petition for CeCe to be moved to a women's prison3
CeCe McDonald's blog can be read here.
Comments
There is a solidarity
There is a solidarity demonstration planned in London for 16th June, midday at the US embassy https://www.facebook.com/events/394303737282059/
Thanks for this- she offed a
Thanks for this- she offed a nazi? what a girl! Let's try to keep her safe while she is in the nick. Keep her name fresh in peoples minds. I guess her biggest threat inside is from nazi prison gangs. Pressure on her captors is about all we can do to protect her.
CeCe's prison address has now
CeCe's prison address has now been published:
DOC website shows that CeCe has been admitted to St. Cloud. Her new OID # is: 238072
And, here is what we found out about sending mail to CeCe now:
"Inmate Mail Information
Incoming Offender Mail: With the exception of special/legal mail, incoming mail is opened and reviewed for the presence of unallowed items. Incoming mail must include the offender's commitment or department recognized legal name and Offender Identification (OID) number.
Incoming mail may include: paper with words/drawings; signed unmusical, commercial greeting cards and postcards; photographs (Polaroid photos must have the backing removed); periodicals and published materials shipped from the publisher; and clippings or photocopies of published materials that meet criteria.
Unallowed Mail: For safety and security purposes, the content of mail is regulated. Mail is denied that involves criminal activity; is identified as security threat group related; requests gifts or money from unrelated individuals, contain photos of staff, is coded material, contains unsanitary items such as hair, saliva, body secretions; certain sexually explicit situations including sexual intercourse, bodily excretory functions, sadism or bondage; personal photos displaying nudity by definition; and material advocating inferiority of an ethnic, racial or religious group."
Address for St.Cloud:
Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud
2305 Minnesota Boulevard S.E.
St. Cloud, MN 56304
(No subject)
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She's being held in St.
She's being held in St. Cloud? I didn't know- I'll see what I can do to help organize something locally.
Jasmine Malina spoke about
Jasmine Malina spoke about Cece's case and violence against trans women today on KPFA's The Morning Mix radio show after the Free CeCe rally in Santa Rosa, California. It starts at 19:10 minutes.
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Some updates: There's a Cece
Some updates:
There's a Cece McDonald zine here which groups and/ or individuals may want to freely distribute.
Cece's own writings can be seen here.
Support groups have sprang up in Leeds (UK) and New York (USA) if anyone wishes to get involved.
Graffiti from Marais dist, Paris and a gay pride event in Athens, Greece respectively:
There were demonstrations in London and Paris, but as yet no photographs. x
Quote: There were
Video of the London solidarity demonstration outside the US Embassy - 16th June
Photos from the CeCe McDonald solidarity rally in Paris - 16 June 2012
(there are more photographs if you just click on the link above)
Edit: There's an event being held at Wharf Chambers in Leeds on Thursday, 5 July. See further details here.
Why we should be fighting for Cece McDonald
A support committee has been
A support committee has been formed in Glasgow.
Posted
Posted yesterday:
http://freececemcdonald.tumblr.com/post/26834960331/dear-cece-supporters-two-of-ceces-friends
Quote: Demand that Chrishaun
http://freececemcdonald.tumblr.com/post/26836053684/demand-that-chrishaun-cece-mcdonald-be
If anyone is shy then here's
If anyone is shy then here's a sample script that you can use:
"This message is for... My name is... , and I'm a friend of Chrishaun Cece McDonald.
I'm calling to request that CeCe receive the full 20 mg of hormones she has been prescribed and allowed by court order.
It's very important that she be permitted to continue her medical hormone treatment in full.
For her safety and wellbeing, please administer CeCe's full 20 milligram dosage ASAP.
For any questions, contact me at..."
Quote: Cruel and Unusual
http://transcendboston.org/en/t-411/cruel-and-unusual-documentary
Women such as Cece and those featured in this documentary are amazing, so fucking courageous!
TRIGGER WARNING—transphobia, racism, rape, sexual assault/ harassment, gruesome descriptions, self-harming... just about everything.
Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7
Quote: When someone hears
How to write your first letter to someone in prison
Afaik, Cece still hasn't
Afaik, Cece still hasn't received her hormones so folks in the US please call (again)!
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Some ways you can help more
Some ways you can help more generally:
- Write letters & send books to CeCe in prison to show her yr love.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/freecece-mcdonald/cece-admitted-to-st-cloud-send-her-mail-today/288290337933203
- Write letters to the editor asking them to write responsible articles about CeCe's case. We NEED to keep her story in the news.
- Write yr own articles and blog post, post, re-post, forward, spread her story far and wide.
- Start a CeCe Support Committee in yr area!
http://supportcece.wordpress.com/get-involved/start-a-support-committee/
- Organize a contingent in yr local PRIDE Parade to carry signs of support and hand out flyers telling folks about her case.
- Organize a fundraiser for CeCe. It cost a lot to survive in prison. She needs money for commissary, phone calls, writing materials and to fund trips for her family and supporters to visit her. She is also being forced to pay for her attackers funeral! Let's not let her start her new life in debt to the state.
- Donate to her. There's a link on her website www.supportcece.wordpress.com.
Quote: Hello CeCe
The Call-in worked, thank you Community!
(No subject)
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That song is awesome.
That song is awesome.
CeCe’s back in St. Cloud:
CeCe’s back in St. Cloud: Show her some love!