The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) Mourns the Deaths of Jaheim Barbie/Pugh and Courtney "Eshay" Key

WASHINGTON, DC - December 29, 2020 - The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is profoundly saddened by the news of two murders during the holiday season. Jaheim Barbie, also known as Jaheim Pugh, a Black gender nonconforming youth of 19 years, was shot to death as they exited a Christmas party in Prichard, Alabama on December 13th. Just twelve days later, Courtney "Eshay" Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was shot and killed in the East Chatham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. These thefts of precious young lives, like so many others, were the product of ignorance and hate.

Jaheim Barbie/Pugh is said to have been figuring their identity out - something all adolescents have a right and mandate to do. Their gender pronouns shifted between he/him and she/her and Jaheim's mother reported that they identified as both a man and woman. Jaheim is remembered fondly by loved ones. A suspect in the murder has been arrested, though Alabama does not protect transgender and gender nonconforming people as protected groups and the murder will not be investigated as a hate crime.

Courtney "Eshay" Key's life was stolen on Christmas Day. Initial misgendering by police created a delay in the reporting of her death. Described as "hilarious and determined," Courtney "Eshay" was deeply loved. Her family has begun making funeral arrangements under the shadow of a belief that she was targeted for being transgender. Police continue to misgender her as they investigate her murder. To call this a tragedy is truly an understatement.

"Aggrieved. Nauseated. Enraged. Perplexed...are a few of the words that come to mind but each fail to adequately describe how difficult it is to write statements mourning the lives of members of our community who have been stolen from us" said David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). "The year is not over and we are still learning about senseless killings of members of our community who are still making sense of who they are and how God purposed for them to show up in the world; and news of members of our community being left to die while the event is streamed live on facebook... Where's the compassion? What happened to the community?

This year, NBJC has tracked the deaths of 49 transgender and gender nonconforming people, the highest number of annual deaths recorded to date. Most (60%) have been Black trans women, all younger than 40 years of age. The average age at death across all those taken from us in 2020 is a mere 29 years. The long-standing, continued epidemic of violence against trans and GNC communities must be addressed at all levels of government, in all of our communities. It is crucial that protective legislation be passed, that we ramp up educational efforts to eliminate stigma, and that we don't wait until people are a news headline to care.

To get involved in changing your local laws, you can learn more here. To learn how to increase safety and inclusion, look here.

The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America's leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV.