2013 has been an extraordinary year but few things touched my spirit as did the making of my short film, "Shirt vs. Skins".


     On a hot Atlanta spring day, I watched a man walk up the street with his tee shirt off and tucked in to this back pocket. I sat at a red light, melting in the sweltering heat of my car, coveting the man's freedom to take off his shirt and walk down the street. I want an occasional cool breeze to blow over my bare body too but these girls would likely stop traffic or cause an accident, not to mention get me arrested. The light turned green and I drove on. As I approached the next light, I found myself arguing WITH myself about unfair nature of shirts vs. skins and how liberating it would be to walk out on a basketball court, take me shirt off...no sports bra...and yell, "Check ball!" like it's the most normal thing in the world.

     That's when it hit me! TAJIR! I immediate pulled over, called Tajir, and came up with the story for "Shirts vs. Skins" in that conversation. Tajir was on board right away and thankfully so. He was my anchor in the making of this film as I had no experience telling the story of a transgender male or female. I learned SO much from Tajir and in that gained a life long friend with whom I shared producer credit on the film. Tajir gave more than his amazing acting to the project. He came out. He gave his story. He gave his spirit. He gave his body. He gave his hope. He gave his fears. He gave his courage. He gave his love.  I am forever indebted to him for there is no repayment for all Tajir gave...to me.




     The Youtube version of the film was suppose to be a temporary screening of the film. We wanted to share the film with family, friends, and supporters and then replace it with a final edit. However, in the first 24 hours, we ended up with a thousand hits and a handful of comments and did not want to loose those stats. We have a final version in IMDb for film festival submissions. We are SO incredibly proud of what we have accomplished. And while the world is talking about the lovely and amazing Janet Mock and Laverne Cox reppin' for the T in the lgbTq, please allow me to turn your attention to Tajir S. Hawkins. If you don't know...


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