HOUSTON – On Transgender Day of Visibility, a worldwide celebration of transgender and non-binary people, the National Association of Black Journalists announced a new scholarship named after transgender journalist and advocate Monica Roberts.
The Monica Roberts LGBTQ+ Task Force Scholarship will support Black LGBTQ+ students studying journalism, mass communications, or otherwise interested in reporting and storytelling, the organization announced.
Recommended Videos
The scholarship was created by the task force’s co-chairs, Tre’vell Anderson and Femi Redwood, and recently unanimously approved by the NABJ board of directors.
“When our industry finally stops misgendering trans folks and hyper-focusing on our traumas, we’ll be able to trace such a Promised Land to the efforts of Monica Roberts,” said co-chair Anderson.
Through her award-winning blog TransGriot, Roberts, who was a lifetime member of NABJ, covered the transgender community “at a time when these stories were often being overlooked by mainstream media outlets.”
The blog, which was started in 2006, set the standard for how to posthumously identify and tell the stories of transgender people.
“Roberts inspired generations of Black queer journalists while also serving as a possible model to trans and non-binary professionals,” NABJ wrote in a press release.
Roberts died unexpectedly outside her Houston home in 2020. She also graduated from Jones High School in 1980 and from the University of Houston in 1984.
“Since I joined Tre’vell as co-chair of this Task Force, we’ve wanted to honor Monica for her work,” said co-chair Redwood. “It is our hope that by creating this scholarship in her name we can not only do that but also support the next Monica and the next TransGriot.”
The task force is asking for help in spreading the word about these exciting opportunities as they raise funds to support students.
Here is how you can send donations:
- Go to: http://bit.ly/GivetoNABJ
- Choose your donation amount and frequency (one-time or recurring).
- Under “Where would you like to direct your support?” select “Scholarships.”
- Then select “LGBTQ+ Task Force Scholarship.”
- Complete the form and hit submit.