On Sunday, a massive throng of people gathered in the courtyard of the Brooklyn Museum and its surrounding parkway for a protest in support of Black trans lives, according to NBC News. The rally was one of several similarly minded ones that took place nationwide, but it's of particular focus here because it appears to have been the largest of the day.
NBC adds that the rally began around 1 p.m. in front of the museum. After roughly two hours, the group began to march north. As for the organizers of the event, NBC says that a "number of groups, including the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, The Okra Project and Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, co-organized Sunday's rally and march."
An official estimate for the crowd was not given, but feel free to count every head you see in these social media shots and then add it to your estimate of how many people are out of the sight of the cameras:
The rally comes less than a week after a pair of Black transgender women were killed, with one of those deaths coming in Pennsylvania, while the other occurred in Ohio. Both of those deaths are being investigated as homicides.
NBC Philadelphia adds that the body of Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells was found on Monday floating in a river. Police said she was bruised and had both legs severed.
On Thursday, Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs released a statement regarding Fells' death.
"We are reminded with this, and countless other painful losses — especially within our transgender communities — that there is much left to do until we achieve full equality, respect, and support for us all," that office said.
A day after Fells' body was discovered, 25-year-old Riah Milton was found shot to death in Liberty Township, Ohio. Authorities say that Milton (who is from Cincinnati) was lured in an attempt to rob her. An 18-year-old man and 14-year-old girl have been charged with her murder.
