21st Century: Memoirs by Transgender Women of Color Telling Their Stories of Survival and Independence

(Gaywebsource.com) Los Angeles California

In the 21st century, there are 5 transgender women of color telling their stories of survival and independence. These transgender women have faced insurmountable odds to become their authentic self.  Their life stories speak of rejection, discrimination and violence for just being who they are.  Janet Mock, Toni Newman, Lovermme Corazon, Ceyenne Doroshow and Ryka Aoki are courageous to share with us their personal journey of transistioning from one gender to another.  Lets celebrate these women and their memoirs.

1) Janet Mock’s Redefining Realness.(2014)

According to Amazon.com  “In 2011, Marie Claire magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. Those twenty-three hundred words were life-altering for the People.com editor, turning her into an influential and outspoken public figure and a desperately needed voice for an often voiceless community. In these pages, she offers a bold and inspiring perspective on being young, multicultural, economically challenged, and transgender in America.

Welcomed into the world as her parents’ firstborn son, Mock decided early on that she would be her own person—no matter what. She struggled as the smart, determined child in a deeply loving yet ill-equipped family that lacked the money, education, and resources necessary to help her thrive. Mock navigated her way through her teen years without parental guidance, but luckily, with the support of a few close friends and mentors, she emerged much stronger, ready to take on—and maybe even change—the world.

This powerful memoir follows Mock’s quest for identity, from an early, unwavering conviction about her gender to a turbulent adolescence in Honolulu that saw her transitioning during the tender years of high school, self-medicating with hormones at fifteen, and flying across the world alone for sex reassignment surgery at just eighteen. With unflinching honesty, Mock uses her own experience to impart vital insight about the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of trans youth and brave girls like herself.

Despite the hurdles, Mock received a scholarship to college and moved to New York City, where she earned a master’s degree, enjoyed the success of an enviable career, and told no one about her past. She remained deeply guarded until she fell for a man who called her the woman of his dreams. Love fortified her with the strength to finally tell her story, enabling her to embody the undeniable power of testimony and become a fierce advocate for a marginalized and misunderstood community. A profound statement of affirmation from a courageous woman, Redefining Realness provides a whole new outlook on what it means to be a woman today, and shows as never before how to be authentic, unapologetic, and wholly yourself.”

http://www.amazon.com/Redefining-Realness-Path-Womanhood-Identity/dp/1476709122/

2) Lovemme Corazón’s Trauma Queen (2013)

According to Amazon.com “Lovemme Corazón’s debut book, Trauma Queen, is a memoir documenting the struggles of being a child survivor of rape and abuse. Through the use of multi-genre writing (poems, prose, story-telling, etc), this book is a collection of years of journal/diary entries. Lovemme is unapologetically facing the taboo truths of what it means to be a survivor and how that trauma shapes their life.”

http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Queen-Lovemme-Corazón/dp/0991900839/

3) Ceyenne Doroshow’s Cooking in Heels (2012)

According to Amazon.com “In Cooking in Heels, Ceyenne Doroshow offers up 40 Southern-style favorites with a Caribbean twist. As a transgender woman who was inspired to write her book while serving prison time for a prostitution conviction, Ceyenne might not seem like the most likely representative of home cooked family values. But her book, which is peppered with good humor and begins with the story of her life, shows that food and love are the ties that bind, and family is what you make it.”

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Heels-Cookbook-Ceyenne-Doroshow-ebook/dp/B00AC51MK0/

4) Ryka Aoki’s Seasonal Velocities (2012)

According to Amazon.com “Seasonal Velocities invites the reader on a fragile and furious journey along the highways and skyways of discovery, retribution, and resolve. Through her poetry, essays, stories, and performances, award-winning writer Ryka Aoki has challenged, informed, and shared with queer audiences across the United States. Seasonal Velocities was honored as a 2013 Lambda Award Finalist.”

http://www.amazon.com/Seasonal-Velocities-Ryka-Aoki/dp/0985110503/

5) Toni Newman’s I Rise-The Transformation of Toni Newman (2011)

According to Amazon.com “A True Tale Of Rags To Riches of African American Transgender

I Rise, the controversial coming of age novel by Toni Newman will bring tears of joy and perseverance

I Rise, is the true story of Toni Newman’s transformation from an effeminate, conflicted male to a proud, educated transsexual. You will follow Toni on her rise from a “sissy boy,” a scholarship student, a business professional, an escort, a drag queen, a NYC prostitute, an LA dominatrix, and finally, a transsexual attending law school in order to help her transsexual sisters in need. Along Toni’s journey you will see the highs and lows, as well as life-long quest for self-acceptance….

Toni is ex playgirl magazine model and male fitness model turned Transgender to lose it all. Toni graduated from Wake Forest University in 1985 with BA degree. In the late 90’s, Toni was the CEO of MPI Productions, producer of male/female fitness calendars, sold all over the United States and abroad.

An outcast to society, Toni fell from grace landing on the streets of New York City. Living in a crack house, and eating from a trash can, Toni’s life had spiraled out of control. Fallen, but not beaten, Toni Newman decided to RISE. In the footsteps Ted Williams, Toni Newman is a true testament of determination.  Toni Newman is studying law now to become an attorney to fight for the rights of all transgender persons everywhere.”

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”  Dr. Maya Angelou

http://www.amazon.com/I-RISE–TRANSFORMATION-TONI-NEWMAN-ebook/dp/B004ZF7Z04/

Read these stories and celebrate these women for the courage to stand and be heard.

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