Black Trans Lives Lost: Remembering Lea & TierraMarie
More than a year after her death, Lea Daye’s name and memory still hold enormous weight.
Community members, family, and local advocates gathered outside the Cuyahoga County Jail on Monday, August 30th - the anniversary of Daye’s passing - to celebrate her life and to protest the systems of injustice and discrimination which perpetuate homelessness and mass incarceration among black, brown, trans, and other marginalized people.
While these systems of oppression no doubt influence all of us, they are genuinely and especially dangerous for trans women of color, whose lives are routinely threatened merely for their existence - like TierraMarie Lewis, another black trans woman whose life was taken earlier this year in Cleveland.
For the sake of Lea and of TierraMarie we cannot be silent. We must speak up and speak out in love to fight the intolerance that silences the voices of our trans neighbors.
HRC Mourns Lea Rayshon Daye, Black Transgender Woman Killed in Cleveland
“‘Lea’s death is unacceptable. Increased risk factors such as homelessness, combined with racism, sexism and transphobia, conspired to lead to a death that never should have happened,’ said HRC Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative Tori Cooper. ‘Our system failed Lea, as it has failed so many people, especially Black transgender women.’”
Death at Cuyahoga County Jail, Second in Two Months, Was Trans Woman Lea Daye
“The second death at the Cuyahoga County Jail in as many months was a black 28-year-old trans woman named Lea Rayshon Daye.”
”Daye is the second person to die at the facility this summer, after more than a year of no reported deaths. That spell of inmate survival followed a nearly yearlong span in 2018 and 2019 in which nine people died, eight by suicide or drug overdose.”
What Cleveland Must Learn From the Murder of Tierramarie Lewis
“What Tierramarie needed most was a safe place to call home. She tried hard to find that home. Unfortunately, no matter where she went, she could not find a place that protected her from the daily harassments, humiliations, and dangers that trans people face in shelters everywhere. Black trans women especially are routinely beaten, robbed, raped and murdered while seeking safe housing.”
TierraMarie Lewis
By: Carey Gibbons, NEOCH LGBTQ Community Outreach Coordinator
NOTE: This article appeared in the August 2021 edition of The Cleveland Street Chronicle
On June 13, 2021 I got a call from Devinity, Trans Wellness Coordinator, at the LGBT Center. This is a call I never want to receive. She tells me that one of our mutual clients has been killed. This client was Tierra Marie Lewis.
I met Tierra Marie at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland in October of 2020. The circumstances that led us to working together were she was discharged from a sober program here in Cleveland. Tierra Marie was not from Cleveland, she came here to get a fresh start. She was working on getting sober and wanted to obtain her GED. From our first meeting I could tell that TierraMarie was a bright light, and truly not afraid to ask for what she needed. In this moment she wanted Burger King, and cigarettes. We left the LGBT Center to get her Burger King; it was a privilege for me to be able to provide her with these small requests. After we grabbed food, our next stop was Norma Herr Women’s Shelter. I walked into the shelter with her because she had all of her belongings and I was not sure how much that would allow her to bring in. One bag of belongings is all she could bring with her. At this time Tierra Marie didn’t have a phone, and was new to the city. So the LGBT Center was a place that she would often spend the majority of her time. For a bit, Norma Herr seemed to be working, until it stopped working. This is when Tierra Marie’s time is Cleveland became very unstable. She was shuffled around from shelter to shelter. At each location there was disrespect, name calling and simply not meeting Tierra Marie were she was at. She was discharged from all shelters in the Cleveland area.
The beauty of Tierra Marie is that she never gave up. She was strong, positive, and kept trying to reach stabilization. Tierra Marie, you are truly a gift to this world. As an outreach worker walking along side of you during your time here was a honor and privilege. I believe that your death will not be in vain, and that we can truly make a difference for Trans Women of color.