Miss Major in conversation with Toshio Meronek
celebrating the publication of
Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Legacy of a Black Trans Revolutionary
by Miss Major With Toshio Meronek
published by Verso Books
The future of black, queer, and trans liberation from a legendary transgender elder and activist
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a veteran of the infamous Stonewall Riots, a former sex worker, and a transgender elder and activist who has survived Bellevue psychiatric hospital, New York’s jail system, and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Miss Major Speaks is both a document of her brilliant life—told with intimacy, warmth, and an undeniable levity—and a roadmap for the challenges black, brown, queer and trans youth will face on the path of liberation today.
Toshio Meronek is a San Francisco-based writer focusing on housing and queer politics.
Advanced Praise for Miss Major Speaks:
“The extraordinary insights in this book, always punctuated by Miss Major’s razor-sharp wit, allow us to understand how liberation movements for trans, queer and other routinely marginalized people can hold the most emancipatory potential for all.” – Angela Davis
“Miss Major Speaks is the rarests of gifts, like sitting at the feet of a wise, no-fucks-given elder, listening to her testimony, and being fortified by her brilliance. This book is a monument to the life’s work of Miss Major and the liberation movements she’s shaped. It reminds us that we are all we got and that is plenty.” – Janet Mock, author of Redefining Realness
“Though she has faced many struggles in her eight decades on Earth, Major’s resilience, optimism, and often bawdy humor shine through…a powerful and enlightening read.” – Pax Ahimsa Gethen, Trans Writes
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/