Beyond the Rainbow: Pride, Prophecy, and the Ongoing Work of Liberation
Pride Month’s Last Sunrise
June 30 always feels different. Corporate rainbows come down, the parade confetti has blown into the gutters, and yet the struggles that birthed Pride remain. I’m grateful for the joy, art, and unapologetic brilliance of my queer, trans, and non-binary kin. But celebration without vigilance is hollow. So, on this final morning of Pride, I’m looking backward and forward at once—toward a revolutionary past that’s too often erased, and toward a present-day sister carrying that same fire.
Romaine-la-Prophétesse: A Queer Glint in the Haitian Revolution
Romaine Rivière, a free Black coffee planter from the Spanish side of Hispaniola, didn’t enter history books quietly. By 1791, he was Romaine-la-Prophétesse, draped in ribbons, rosaries, and a plumed turban, channeling visions from the Virgin Mary. He preached abolition, raised an army at Trou Coy, and terrified colonial authorities who dismissed him as a “hermaphroditic tiger.”
Historians now read Romaine’s gender non-conformity and Afro-Catholic mediumship as strategic, sacred, and deeply rooted in Kongo traditions where male prophets could embody feminine power. His sermons ended with swords drawn; his masses fused Catholic ritual with protective amulets and herbal medicine. In short, Romaine made the spiritual political and the political spiritual—insisting that no one should remain enslaved under church or crown.
Why surface this story today? Because erasure is a policy tool. When queer and trans ancestors are painted as curiosities or fanatics, present-day bigots get cover to claim queerness is “new” or “un-African.” Romaine’s life torpedoes that lie.
Qween Jean: The Lineage Continues
Fast-forward to New York City, 2025. If you’ve marched for trans liberation in Washington Square Park, you’ve likely heard Qween Jean on the bullhorn. Haitian-born, costume designer by trade, she co-founded the weekly Black Trans Liberation protests in 2020 after the murders of Nina Pop and Tony McDade. Her résumé reads like a syllabus of embodied activism: weekly marches, direct action against police violence, mutual-aid kitchens, MoMA PS1 installations, and a Drama Desk nomination just to keep things interesting.
What links Qween Jean to Romaine-la-Prophétesse isn’t merely Haitian heritage or gender variance. It’s the refusal to separate identity from liberation work. Both understand visibility as a tactic but never the end goal. Both center the most vulnerable—enslaved Africans then, unhoused trans youth now—and both treat “impossible” freedom dreams as non-negotiable.
Lessons for the Classroom and the Streets
Spiritual courage fuels structural change. Romaine’s Afro-Catholic cosmology and Qween Jean’s Black Trans Liberation theology remind us that freedom work sits at the crossroads of spirit and strategy.
Gender non-conformity is not a footnote—it’s a driver. Erasing the queerness of past revolutionaries blunts the radical edge of their victories.
History is a relay, not a museum. The baton passes from Trou Coy’s insurgent chapel to Stonewall’s bricks to Washington Square’s megaphones. Our task is to run the next leg, not rewrite the route.
A Closing Invocation
As Pride month sunsets, I’m saying thank-you to Romaine, to Qween Jean, and to every unnamed soul who risked status, safety, or life so we could love louder. Their spirits insist that liberation is unfinished business. May we meet July 1 with the same audacity.
Stay rooted, stay tender, trust what you know.
