Article By:   
​NEESHA POWELL-TWAGIRUMUKIZA

Imagine you’ve grinded for years as a member of a community coalition to get a hearing for a historic bill that will drastically improve your life if passed. A hearing is finally granted, and when the big day arrives, you scramble to get your John Hancock at the top of the list to give testimony.  Once the hearing begins, hours go by without your name being called. Although you signed up before them, representatives of organizations from other parts of the country and from other countries get their time at the mic before you. Worse, their speeches are denouncing the bill that you and other local grassroots organizers have put your blood, sweat, and tears into, labeling it harmful instead of helpful.  This was our reality on October 17th's hearing date.  [Read Article]

Tamika Spellman’s interview is a part of ‘Voices in Movement’ December 2019 theme, ‘On Belonging.’ To read the descriptor of ‘On Belonging’, please click here.
Trigger Words: Police violence, violence against women.

HIPS staff members Cyndee Clay, Alexandra Bradley, and Jessica Martinez deliver powerful testimony at DC's City Council hearing on the Community Safety Act of 2019.  Decriminalizing sex work would prevent some of the city’s most marginalized members—trans women of color, in particular—from entering the criminal justice system for engaging in consensual sex.

#I’ve found another family with the people I organize with. We were proud to join the legacy of freedom fighters like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who called to decriminalize sex work and invest in community in the 1970s. And we knew that to fully decriminalize sex work in the District, we had to shift hearts and minds. Through DECRIMNOW, we started uplifting the stories and perspectives of the countless Black and brown trans sex workers who experienced violence and wanted to be safe.  Now, after decades of fighting to be respected and supported, the D.C. Council is starting to take the needs of people in the sex trades seriously. 
[Read Article]

LGBTQ activists and advocates has dropped off copies of a letter addressed to members of the D.C. Council, signed by 72 different organizations, advocating for a bill that would  decriminalize sex work in the District of Columbia.  The four key arguments in favor of the bill are that decriminalizing sex work will 1) allow sex workers, particularly transgender individuals who otherwise can’t obtain jobs due to discrimination, a way to make money to survive; 2) decrease the incidence of violence and harassment that sex workers face at the hands of clients, criminals who target sex workers for money, or even police; 3) decrease rates of HIV by allowing transgender people more time and space to negotiate condom use; and 4) allow sex workers to access resources, government benefits, and employment opportunities that they would otherwise be denied if they have a criminal conviction for prostitution. [Read Article]

With a bag of condoms and a stack of business cards, Tamika Spellman, HIPS Policy and Advocacy Associate, began a route she knew by heart, peering out the window of her Lincoln sedan at dark sidewalks where she once stood.   Spellman rolled down the window,“Ya’ll got condoms?” she called.  On the corner of 51st and Meade street, they found a woman wearing a pink tank top and a fanny pack. Spellman offered her condoms.  “I just want to make sure you’re safe while you’re working,” said Spellman.  “Don’t worry, I question them before getting in the car,” the woman said.  “I know, but you can’t ever tell these days,” Spellman said. “Too many other girls have been killed, and I just want to make sure you out here being safe, sugar.” [Read Article]