Kairo Jamal Evans joins me for this Conversation on Race to talk about his experience as a 25-year-old Black Trans Man. He’s an entrepreneur who makes tee-shirts to spread the word of self-awareness. Listen in to hear about his transition, his tee-shirt business Kuriosity focuses on self-awareness through self-research.
Key Points:
- Growing up Black in Oakland and not being aware of racism until he was a little older.
- Having a white grandmother and the fact that his mother had to deal with racism.
- Transphobia in the LGBTQ community
- The murders of Black trans women in the US and Black trans men
- Male privilege as a trans man but also potentially targeted as a Black man because of racism and higher chances of being stopped by police or white racists
- Kairo shares his experience of being stopped by police while driving
- He has to always act calm with police no matter what
- Kairo has a YouTube channel and he’s noticed that YouTubers who are white get more attention and support than YouTubers who are people of color
- Racism in the LGBTQ community
- Dealing with being Black in the LGBTQ community
- Trans man are sometimes targeted by lesbians who can be antagonistic
- Surprising to me it’s mostly younger lesbians who are the most harsh
- He accepts that he’s in a different mindset
- How his family came to accept and support him
- Why aren’t more people taking up the cry for Black Trans people
- How heartbreaking it was after the murder of Tony McCabe that he was misgendered
- The dangers of being trans and being Black trans
- It takes a whole village to grow the community
Bio of Kairo Jamal Evans in his own words:
My name is Kairo Jamal Evans. I am a female to male trans man, born and raised in Oakland, CA. I graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 2013 and continued a collegiate education for 3 years at the California State University, Northridge. (GO MATADORS!) My focus in school was on film, which is a career I still plan to pursue. I began my medical transition in the Fall of 2016, which even though was a difficult process, in the beginning, has grown to become the best decision I’ve ever made. I now have started a small t-shirt line [Kuriosity Clothing Co.] with personal designs, and one day plan on opening a studio for kids to come to create, and learn more about the arts! Since becoming me, I have developed an astonishing amount of confidence. I am now ready to take on the world as my true self.