MadameNoire
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NAACP Image Awards nominations came out on Tuesday (Feb. 2) and someone not pleased with them is Pose star Indya Moore.
Granted, Pose did not premiere a new season in 2020, but Moore took the opportunity after the announcements of nominees to share that she had a bone to pick with the NAACP and the Image Awards for past snubs of the cast.
“I love how we create space to celebrate uplift and acknowledge ourselves , because we go often unseen in this industry.. only to do it to other black people. Are we not tired of singing the same sad song to each other?” she wrote in the caption of an Instagram post on Wednesday. She would go on to say of the stories told during Pose‘s second season, “Nobody is going to tell me they didn’t see our enormously historic story telling, and didnt feel anything??? from the black trans women who performed our trauma for the world? Really? You only saw a black people deliver when they aren’t trans?”
“Its so sad. The transphobia in our community is pervasive and noone is doing enough work to break it down and throw it away,” she continued. “We are often stateless in belonging to anything and these kinds of blatant displays of transphobia via erasure perpetuate that.”
“Just wanted to say that and congratulations to all the black talent that WAS acknowledged- and also NAACP doesn’t acknowledge blackness when its transsexual,” she added.
In a post that the caption accompanied, she wrote out in bold letters that “I just came here to say NAACP and her image awards are transphobic. Thats all.” She followed that up by acknowledging the work of her cast mates, including Dominique Jackson, MJ Rodriguez, and Angelica Ross.
“Its literally triggering to see other pro black collectives go out of their way to skip over trans people,” she said. “I know we weren’t up for noms this year but I just wanted to remind y’all, and everyone who are fans of POSE. I remember that year we were eligible, they actually skipped over black trans talent to nominate white folks, & black queer cis men.”
For the record, Pose has garnered nominations from big awards shows, including as an Outstanding Drama Series via the Primetime Emmy Awards for example. However, when it comes to performances, the only person to really get attention from these awards shows is Billy Porter, who is a gay Black man. He was actually nominated for an Image Award twice last year.
As for how people received Moore’s comments, it’s hard to say. Her Instagram page has been taken down as of late Wednesday night so the reaction may have not been great.
But she is not the first person from the cast to attempt to call out alleged erasure from major Black platforms. Black Girls Rock! caught the ire of Angelica Ross in 2019. She put BET, the home of the annual awards show, on blast for not allegedly inviting Black trans women or mentioning the troubling trend of murders of trans women during the telecast.
“BLACK TRANS GIRLS ROCK!!!!” she wrote on Twitter. “I’m willing to B.E.T. that no trans women were invited or highlighted at #BlackGirlsRock. Is it 18 now? 18 black trans women have been killed this year but NO MENTION during the segment dedicated to the lives lost???”
While we can debate whether or not this practice of calling out Black platforms and awards shows for not being more inclusive of Black trans women and men is the best way to go about things, it’s a fact that in general, our community has had a hard time acknowledging, embracing and protecting Black trans people, and we can certainly do better.
As for the NAACP Image Awards, they are set to air on March 27 at 8/7 c on BET.
