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Moka Dawkins edit
Moka Dawkins is a trans-BIPOC Toronto-based activist and former sex worker who was a 2022 Toronto Pride Ambassador[1]. She is currently associated with many community-based organizations that focus on BIPOC-related issues, Canadian transgender rights, carceral abolition, and HIV-positive Canadian prisoners[2]. In 2015, she was charged with manslaughter for the death of Jamie Foster, who was her friend and client[3]. Dawkins experienced life-threatening violence from Foster on the same night of his death which caused her to act in self-defense[3]. She was imprisoned for four years in a Toronto men’s prison where she was placed in solitary confinement for most of that time[4]. While imprisoned, Dawkins experienced physical and verbal abuse from both official staff and other inmates based on her transgender and BIPOC identities[4]. These experiences of both structural and direct violence throughout all her interactions with the Canadian Criminal Justice System influence the reasons why Dawkins advocates for many social justice groups[1]. In 2018, she helped officials implement more policies relating to protecting trans prisoners and their rights to have gender-affirming care[1][2]. After being released from prison, Dawkins was nominated for “Person of the Year” in 2020’s Inspired Awards[1], was the subject of a 2020 documentary Surviving the Block[4], and created a podcast that focuses on giving advice and discussing issues within the LGBTQ+ community[5]. She is enrolled as a student at two different colleges[1]. Dawkins continues to be a voice and leader in the Canadian trans-BIPOC community despite her many ongoing activism and academic projects[2].
References edit
- ^ a b c d e "Moka Dawkins – Trans Pride Ambassador – Pride Toronto". Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ a b c Pasternak, Shiri; Walby, Kevin; Stadnyk, Abby, eds. (2022). Disarm, defund, dismantle: police abolition in Canada. Toronto: Between the Lines. ISBN 978-1-77113-592-4.
- ^ a b Reporter, Betsy Powell Courts (2018-10-17). "Sex worker Moka Dawkins guilty of manslaughter in stabbing death of client". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ a b c Snow, Rebeca (2020). "Surviving the Block". Yap Films.
- ^ "T-Time Tips with Moka Dawkins". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-11-24.