In the words of the Trans Women of Color Collective National Director, Lourdes Ashley Hunter, “Every breath a Black trans woman takes is an act of revolution.” It is no secret that Black transwomen are hyper-visible in our society and within the Black community. Black transwomen are targeted and simultaneously erased because it is assumed that their identities are not valid nor is their humanity seen as worthy. The concept of validity and worthiness is based in oppressive beauty standards, violent binary expectations, and anti-Black racism perpetuated on a systemic level but also reproduced and enacted by individuals within our society.

Last week, Caitlyn Jenner broke the Internet when she debuted her new identity by sharing images of her Vanity Fair photoshoot online on Monday morning.

It’s a well-documented fact that shared oppression does not always foster a supportive and united front. Black women are super aware of the ways in which Black men—despite our joint experiences under racism—are often all too quick to step on us; perpetuate and dismiss our experiences of misogynoir; and gloss over our specific problems under white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy. This can be viewed in a nutshell by the current swathes of classist misogynoir being directed at Amber Rose by her ex-boyfriend, Kanye West, who has previously been vocal on issues of white supremacy both through his work and his words. Whilst the hate thrown at us by Black men is straight up abominable and is rightly a source of much frustration for Black women, we must remember that those of us who are cisgender and/or straight are not exempt from the ability to step on, degrade and oppress those who are meant to be our kinfolk, just like Black men do to us. That is, queer Black women are routinely let down by our heterosexual and/or cis sisters who are meant to have our backs.

I recall a protest I recently went to during downtown Detroit’s annual Noel Night, a Christmas themed celebratory event hosted by the Detroit Institute of Arts. It’s huge—most residents from across the Detroit metro area attend it. Unlike the hundreds that milled around outside the DIA however, I was one of a hundred or so others lying on the ground looking at the stars.