In June 2019, Devin Michael Lowe founded the Black Trans Travel Fund (BTTF).
The BTTF is a mutual-aid based organization committed to uplifting the narratives and supporting the livelihoods of Black trans women.
BTTF was developed to provide Black transgender women with the financial resources needed to be able to self-determine and access safer alternatives to travel, where women feel less likely to experience verbal harassment or physical harm.
BTTF was created out of direct response to the relentless and unacceptable violence Black transgender women across the country have been continuously experiencing.
Lowe told Forbes that he was compelled to launch BTTF after listening to his partner, Morticia Godiva, currently BTTF’s Director of Client Services, talk about feeling unsafe traveling through her neighborhood.
“There has always been violence against Black queer people, and Black trans women specifically,” Godiva told Forbes. [Last year,] there was the death of Muhlaysia Booker and Brooklyn Lindsey and Zoe Spears and Paris Cameron and Chanel Scurlock that were kind of like the straw that broke the camel’s back in a way. While we were mourning, we also were strategizing ways to combat this. So, it was just a direct response to the violence, and also a call to action for any allies to make resources more readily available for people that need them.”
And Since its inception, the organization has redistributed over $60,000 to Black trans women in need.
“We are currently providing our service to Black trans women in New York state as well as and New Jersey state, and will be working to expand our efforts to other states soon,” a statement on the website reads. “This is a direct call to action for allies to be able to leverage their resources and make a tangible difference.”
