It is impossible to declare that Black lives matter without reiterating the fact that Black trans lives matter. While much of the public conversation about police violence tends to overemphasize cisgender Black men, Black liberation isn’t possible unless all Black lives are valued and protected. More specifically, our society must reckon with the ways that transphobia and state-sanctioned violence—at the hands of police officers and civilians—continue to harm Black trans and gender nonconforming people.

In 2020 alone, there have been at least 16 incidences of someone murdering a transgender or gender nonconforming person in the U.S., with Black trans women bearing the brunt of these cases, according to the Human Rights Campaign. It’s worth noting that the true number is likely higher, as many of these deaths go misreported and unreported. Other times, trans and nonconforming people survive these violent attacks, as was the case for Iyanna Dior, a 21-year-old Black trans woman who, in early June, shared that she’d thought she was going to die when a group of people had attacked her a week prior. Though these attacks can leave long-lasting physical and mental trauma, mainstream society ignores or forgets these crimes all too easily.

Right now countless people around the world are activated—ready to push for the protection of Black trans lives—and that’s a good thing. But this fight didn’t start in 2020. It’s imperative to recognize and support trans organizers and trans-led organizations that have been consistently working toward change.

SELF spoke with Ianne Fields Stewart, a queer nonbinary transfeminine actress and founder of the Okra Project, an organization that provides meals cooked by Black trans chefs to Black trans people experiencing food insecurity. By partnering with different chefs, the Okra Project has been able to bring in-home cooking experiences to Black trans people in New York City and Philadelphia. Since providing in-home services during the new coronavirus pandemic became increasingly difficult, the Okra Project now focuses primarily on distributing funds to Black trans people during this time. However, nourishment remains a core mission. “Growing up in the Deep South taught me the value of taking things slow, of prioritizing community, prioritizing chosen family, and sitting around the table together and eating,” Stewart tells SELF. “It taught me the value that comes when someone chooses you and cooks for you.”

Below, Stewart talks to SELF about the Okra Project’s inception, how its journey reflects the lived experiences of Black trans people, and their long-term vision for the organization.

SELF: I can only imagine how stressful it is to take care of your needs while shepherding the Okra Project through this transition. It makes me wonder how you’re practicing self-care at a moment like this.

Stewart: Oh, I am wondering that too. [Laughs.] I have my own therapist, and that is pretty important to my self-care. And then the rest of it is trying to establish boundaries around when I work and when I won’t.

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Can you take me back to the moment when you decided to start the Okra Project?

Absolutely. It was December 2018, and I was sitting on a couch in a virtual organizing meeting with my friend Nyla Sampson, who created the Black Trans Solidarity Fund, a reparations group dedicated to shifting funds from the mainstream back into the hands of Black trans people. The idea just popped into my mind. I had been looking for something to do for the holidays because I have the privilege of going back home to a family that loves and supports me. So I thought, Wouldn’t it be nice to create something that would help us move through a time that can be difficult for so many people? I proposed the idea to Nyla on a Sunday. On Monday we had a meeting with our first chef, Meliq August of Zaddy’s Kitchen. On Wednesday we released the project, and on Friday, we had raised $6,000.

We’d only anticipated that this was going to be a holiday thing. I never imagined that the Okra Project would become what it has, but we made the commitment to run this thing until the wheels fall off, and they have not fallen off yet.

Have there been a lot of stumbles and roadblocks, or has the expansion of The Okra Project been somewhat seamless?

No, no, no. Organizing is never seamless. We have been through periods of transition, when we have had to pause our direct services. Unfortunately we’re going through another one of those due to COVID-19, as far as our chef services are concerned. There have absolutely been periods where we weren’t able to support what we envisioned, so we created other avenues like the #ByOkra series, which allowed us to create a monthly beauty and wellness affinity space for Black trans folks. In that way the work has been seamless because whenever we come up with an idea, we get a lot of support for it. But if it was seamless overall, we wouldn’t really be doing our jobs because the real lived experiences of Black trans people are not seamless.

Two initiatives that grew out of this period have been the Nina Pop Mental Health Recovery Fund and the Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund, which aim to provide one-time mental health sessions with qualified Black therapists to Black trans and nonbinary folks. Can you say a little bit more about why you decided to start these funds?

The protests for Black lives had really begun in earnest and would turn into a long string and a series of protests, rallies, and vigils—all of which are so beautiful and so necessary. But as I was watching this unfold, the Okra Project had pretty much shifted all of our work to funds redistribution through the COVID-19 relief fund and our international grocery fund. And so I knew that there was something deeper that needed to happen.

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Every day I’m waking up with pain, and my siblings are waking up with pain, from seeing Nina Pop die and Tony McDade die. And we also see that there is not enough attention or reaction to either of those deaths. We’ve also seen Iyanna Dior beaten on camera by a crowd of people, none of whom have been held accountable for their violence. So we’d talked about providing mental health support, but it suddenly struck me, and I knew what I wanted to do: I created the two funds, and we’ve reached the point where we raise about $100,000 a day, which is an incredible blessing.

In this moment of widespread attention and support, are there other programs you’re launching or ruminating on? What’s the long term vision for the Okra Project?

At the moment the vision is to make sure that we at the Okra Project are set up to effectively continue to do this work. We have to constantly resist the capitalist push to move at a pace that doesn’t make sense. We have to move slowly, we have to hit forks in the road, and we have to make mistakes because that’s the only way that the work can be sustainable.

A long-term vision is to open a brick-and-mortar location. The dream is that this would be a community center where Black trans people can gather and commune. It would be equipped with an industrial kitchen where local food organizations could donate fresh ingredients and our chefs would cook meals for Black trans folks who are coming into the space. The hope is also that it would be a 24-hour space so that our Black trans sex workers could find safety and community there.

I’ve watched videos of you speaking at protests and talking to Black trans folks. What’s one thing you would want to say to Black trans people at this moment?

I love you. Take a nap. You deserve it.

To learn more about the Okra Project or to explore ways that you can donate and get involved visit www.theokraproject.com.