Holy Pride by Shira Kline // Blog Posts // News/Now // Lab/Shul

Sometimes it takes singing the most simple lyric, “I am holy,” by Netanel Goldberg to express, maybe for the first time, a fundamental, naked truth. What does it mean to be holy? This is how Pride feels in 2020 to me. Simple, profound, and true. At the Black Trans Lives Matter march in Brooklyn this month where 15,000 beautiful protesters wore white and walked the streets together in solidarity, we chanted the powerful words of Black transgender activist and writer Raquel Willis:

I believe in my power. I believe in your power. I believe in our power. I believe in black trans power.

When I shouted this chant at the top of my lungs,my heart and body understood these words immediately. My mind is still unraveling them today. What does it mean to believe in our power? What does it mean to believe in Black trans power?

Pride is a constant coming out party, a riot, a protest of conformity. It is the most glorious experience to show up on the streets for this family reunion. Whereas on one day I may think twice about walking down that street holding my partner’s hand, on this day together with the LGBTQIA community and our allies, I am celebrated on the streets for being my full self, with my outward facing giant-hearted personality, not afraid nor ashamed, my body and my style not a token for others. As a cis white woman, this overwhelmingly positive feeling during Pride reminds me instantly of the violence and trauma that my Black trans family experiences all year long.

There are herstories and histories galore telling of the colorful past of Pride, beginning with the Black and Brown trans women who put their bodies on the line to fight the police raids of our safe spaces back in 1969. Stories within stories reveal the lives of queer souls, created in the image of Divine. Their great power and wisdom in their fluid language of gender, family, resilience, and true, simple profound freedom.

As an artist, I am a storyteller, a translator, a philosopher. I seek essential understanding in order to paint with sound, texture with breath, stir the souls of a collective. My inspiration for this work every day is my queer community. It is my honor to nurture, protect, and protest for the lives of my family. I believe in our power, Lab/Shul. Please join me in this year’s Pride to celebrate, resist, and honor our powerful family, past present and future.

Love, Shira Kline

Photo Credit: @Stenmarker