Monica Roberts was a transgender rights advocate who was the founding editor of TransGriot, a blog focusing on trans women of color and the issues that concern them.Roberts founded TransGriot in 2006, breaking new ground for the trans community.
The “griot” in the blog’s name is a West African term meaning “storyteller.” TransGriot became a beacon to the trans community and particularly to Black trans women.
Roberts, who began her own transition in the mid-1990s, was the first to provide nationwide coverage of homicides against trans women of color.
She combed news reports to find murder victims who may have been misgendered – for example, a police report describing a “man in women’s clothing” – and when she connected the dots to find a.