Today is Trans Day of Remembrance/Resilience, a day when we remember all the trans people who have been the victims of violent attacks over the past year and we remind ourselves that we are still resilient. In honor of that, Reina Gossett, Hope Dector and the Barnard Center for Research on Women produced the animated short “The Personal Things,” starring legendary trans elder Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.

The Personal Things from BCRW Videos on Vimeo.

Miss Major has always been a badass, and in this three minute long animated video, she’s no different. With all the spirit in the world in her voice she explains how we can each use our own personal acts to make political change. “You have to find your own way to strike back,” she says, inspiring all of us to be ourselves and reminding us that doing that, especially when you’re trans, is a radical act. Our existence as trans people is beautiful and powerful and amazing. It’s exactly the kind of message we need to hear on a day where we’re reminded that our existence is also something that threatens a lot of people and is hated by a lot of people. This is a beautiful short and Miss Major has some beautiful things to say.

The short was directed by Gossett, features art by Micah Bazant and animation by Pamela Chavez. You can buy posters of the artwork featured in the video in order to support Miss Major’s retirement fund (and wow, has she deserved a happy retirement) online.

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