TV and Movies: Angelica Ross Is Creating A Healing Space for Cis and Trans Women

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Pose and American Horror Story star Angelica Ross opens up about the importance of building bridges between all women, cis and trans.

Angelica Ross has her hands full. Aside from starring on shows like American Horror Story and Pose, she also serves as the CEO of Trans Tech Social Enterprises, a company that focuses on the economic empowerment of trans and gender non-conforming people in the digital space. But for the past few months, Ross has added a new venture to her repertoire: an online talk show called The Turning Point.

The latest episode, “I Am My Sister,” takes its title from a well known Iyanla Vanzant quote: “I am not my sister’s keeper, I am my sister.” In a two-hour conversation timed to coincide with Women’s History Month and International Transgender Day of Visibility, Ross brought together a panel of dynamic women, including Bevy Smith, Aaryn Lang, Candice Benbow, and more to have a public conversation about the relationship between cis and trans women.Together, they tackled a myriad of topics ranging from anti-trans violence, intercommunal transphobia, to solidarity and sisterhood.

“For me, the Trans Day of Visibility is a time when we can teach and we can learn how to amplify the voices of Black and brown trans people and to listen and learn from those voices, because there's so much to learn,” Ross tells them. “It's also about not just visibility but helping transform that visibility into equity and into agency over our bodies and over our narratives.”

Back in 2019, Ross ruffled feathers when she called out the lack of trans inclusion in BET’s annual Black Girls Rock special. Since then, she has approached this delicate topic in a nuanced way by proposing that all women ask themselves how they can be better sisters to one another.

“Like mother Oprah would say, ‘Focus on your own race,’" she says, stressing the importance of balance and self-preservation. “I can focus [on running my own race] as the overall conversation moves us all forward. As far as focusing on what people are doing versus what they’re not doing, that's taking away from the time that I need to finish producing what I'm producing.”

As Ross continues to juggle her many projects and forge new paths for herself and others, she has maintained her commitment to unapologetic trans visibility. To mark Trans Day of Visibility this year, Ross spoke with them. about the “I Am My Sister” episode of The Turning Point and the future of Black trans representation in Hollywood. 

THE TURNING POINT LIVE: I AM MY SISTER - VIDEO  >> HERE

What motivated you to tackle the divide between cis and trans women as a topic for your show?

I am very sensitive to what's going on in our society. I'm highly aware. So when I speak up on my social media and on many various platforms, it's often because I'm tuned in and feel the need to say the thing that other people are not saying [so I can] push us forward. I know that in Hollywood, a lot of people are getting by, by not saying anything, by not revealing that they're actually not supportive of trans people. Maybe they don't want us to see us die, but it pretty much stops there as far as their advocacy is concerned. I wanted to lift the rug in the same way that the rug of racism and white supremacy has been lifted due to the past [presidential] administration. The increasing numbers of trans people dying in the violence epidemic and the increasing numbers of bills sweeping across the country signaled that it was time to amplify this conversation.

What are some of your personal highlights from the I Am My Sister episode?

Wow. There were so many gems that were dropped because we were honestly just packed with guests who are brilliant Black women in their own right. One of the things that stuck out for me was when I was having a conversation with [activist] Sage [Grace Dolan-Sandrino], and we stumbled upon the notion that she wanted to make sure that cis women understood that we don't want to be cis. Then we got to the point that, “I don't want to be cis. I want to be safe.” That was one of the things that dropped like an anvil on our audience because so many people started to comment and understood it. It was like a light bulb went off for people at that moment and they were like, "Ah, got it.” They just want to be safe in expressing who they are, safe to love, safe to go to work, safe to live.

 “I think we all need to realize that just because you think you're a nice person, that doesn't mean that you're a safe person to be around.”

What do you think can be done to create a more cohesive healing space for some of these issues?

I think we all need to realize that just because you think you're a nice person, that doesn't mean that you're a safe person to be around. We have to hold ourselves accountable. Queer Black and brown folks have learned so much because we’ve had to fight for our dignity and have to sort of be academic around it and explain it in As, Bs, and Cs for people. So now many of us are able to model how to check ourselves. I've had moments where I recognize that I was unsafe. I was an unsafe space for trans men because of my lack of understanding and ignorance towards them. Just because I'm a trans woman doesn’t mean I understand trans men. It's one of those things that I constantly check myself about. I'm just like, "Okay. How can I be more informed? How can I be more inclusive? How can I be more precise, more impeccable with my words, with my actions?" That's something I think we need to ask ourselves daily because it's so indoctrinated into us that none of us can take for granted thinking that we are safe. This means you shouldn't assume someone else is safe.

Before we go, let’s talk quickly about the direction of on-screen representation. What are your thoughts on Black trans visibility in a post-Pose Hollywood landscape?

The series finale of Pose is coming up around the corner, and it's going to leave a huge hole in our audience’s hearts and in the field of trans representation. I am very hopeful that people like Janet Mock, myself, Laverne Cox, Rain Valdez, and other folks who are executive producing content will fill that gap, that we will not wait for another white man to be able to extend his privilege, that we will have built upon the experiences that we had and take our place in leading these narratives. I'm not really concerned about Hollywood's short attention span for trans stories — or about their consistent, almost predictable move of turning our trans stars into symbols to virtue signal that they are on the right side of history when they're really just saying, "I hope that you think this is enough so we don't have to continue doing more of this." So I'm really not concerned or paying attention to watered-down offerings because I'm well on the way to creating something much more substantial.

Angelica Ross’ talk show The Turning Point broadcasts live on her YouTube channel.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

source: By Shar Jossell   www.them.us