Let's Play TransGriot Jeopardy!

Every now and then I get an interesting comments on the various posts I write that I just have to elevate into a post in order to properly eviscerate it.

This one comes from commenter Renee W, who alleges she's a Black female Republican and took issue with my recent post slamming Angela McGlowan.

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Dear Mrs. Roberts

First of all as a Black female, can I give you a bit of advice give honor were honor is due. You need to get off of Angela's back, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican stand for what you believe and leave it at that.

Mrs. McGlowan has won my favor and regardless of if she doesn’t fit into what you think she should fit into. Watch yourself, because one day you’re going to look around and see a new breed of republican who skin may just be a little darker than you would like. Angela has won my favor as well as the favor of many BLACK women, who are secure in their race. Women who are bold, fierce and willing to stand up for things that are right. Now you take that how you want to take it, and please feel free to comment. I will be awaiting your reply.

Real quick question why in the world would anyone support the abortion industry? When more black baby’s die at the hands of Planned Parenthood than any race. Hummm possible genocide? Duh you think.
I don’t care if your republican, independent, democrat shows me good politics and I will show you real change.
Renee. W --Plainfield--


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Renee, Renee, Renee.
Mrs. Roberts is my mother. I'm Ms. Roberts and happily single. But thanks for the respectful props anyway.

Your Republican minders are going to have to prep you better before you step to me with these tired GOP talking points.

Oldest conservative Internet trick in the book is for you vanilla flavored peeps to go into an African American blog or online space, try to claim you're Black, and then launch into conservative talking points and spin.

There's only a 2-10% chance you actually are Black, but I'll give you the benefit of a doubt on this one just for fun.

USS Monica going to DEFCON 1...spooling up 20 megatons of knowledge to drop on this poor deluded Faux News watching person. Board is green, rhetorical Tomahawks ready. Begin countdown. 5..4..3..2..1..launch

Renee, I too admire Black women who are bold, fierce and willing to stand up for things that are right.

But the women I admire such as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), the late Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-TX), the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the late Audre Lorde, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Jasmyne Cannick, Dr. Marisa Richmond and the late Coretta Scott King stand and stood up for what is right, not right wing.

And what I define as right is advancing the same social justice, civil rights, political and economic justice we've been pushing as a people since emancipation.

And what exactly has Angela McGlowan 'stood for that is right' that motivated you to post a comment on TransGriot to 'get off Angela McGlowan's back'?

Expound on that in terms longer than a single sentence.

Now let's play Final TransGriot Jeopardy!. Remember your answer must be phrased in the form of a question.

The Final TransGriot Jeopardy category is 'Black Leadership', and the answer is:

This noted political scientist and commentator from the University of Maryland penned the 'Definition Of Black Leadership'. Name this distinguished professor.



Times up...the Final TransGriot Jeopardy answer is:

Who is Dr. Ronald Walters?

I am simply judging her by the definition of Black leadership as articulated by Dr. Ronald Walters, and Angela McGlowan falls far short of that.

In case you aren't aware of that...here it is:

The task of Black leadership is to provide the vision, resources, tactics, and strategies that facilitate the achievement of the objectives of Black people.

These objectives have been variously described as freedom, integration, equality, liberation, or defined in the terms of specific public policies. It is a role that often requires disturbing the peace. And we constantly carry on a dialogue about the fitness of various leaders and the qualities they bring to the table to fulfill this mission.

If Angela were working for the uplift of the Black community, maybe I could 'give credit where credit is due'. Impressive resume, Ole Miss grad, minister's daughter. But it's the people she's chosen to align herself with politically that's the problem.

I can't ignore the fact that Condoleezza For The New Millennium supports a party that has worked tirelessly AGAINST the interests of African-Americans for over 40 years. The fact she's from Mississippi makes it particularly odious and she should fracking know better.

She has aligned herself with the racist Teabagger movement, worked for Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and as a Fox News commentator willingly participated in attacks on President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and African-Americans in general.




As for the 'many Black women who are secure in their race' that you claim support Angela McGlowan, I have to ask you, in what alternate universe? Maybe in Fox 'News' watching Bizarro world, but in the reality based universe Black women proud of being Black and seeking to uplift the race are predominately politically liberal-progressive, Democrats and members of Black Greek letter sororities and social organizations, not conservative teabagger sellouts hating on the President, the First Lady and the Black community.

And since you brought it up, let's talk about that proud legacy of negro Republican women such as Condoleezza Rice, Judge Janice Rogers Clown, oops Brown, Star Parker, Amy Holmes, Alveda King and Tara Wall.

So far all I see and hear from the 'new breed' of negro Republican women is the same tired, failed, racist GOP policies and message white male Repugnicans spewed for decades. They are regurgitated by pretty packages all too willing to sell their people out for designer clothes, book deals, media attention and face time at conservative conventions.

I also see many of these women, such as Amy Holmes distancing themselves from their African heritage as well or more concerned with being loyal to the conservative movement and clocking those sellout dollars than they are to the Black community.

Ahh, makes me wanna go get a pair of Ferragamo pumps and rush to change my voter registration to Republican.

Dr. Julia Hare, another fierce Black woman, warned us at a recent 'State of the Black Union' event there's a difference between Black leaders and leading Blacks.

Angela McGlowan sadly doesn't fit into either category.

And finally, why bring up Margaret Sanger in the context of your alleged defense of Angela McGlowan?

FYI for you, contrary to the lies the anti-abortion industry pimps about Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger, she had the support of W.E.B. Du Bois and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If she was as 'racist' as you and your anti choice friends allege, why would she in 1930 open up a family planning clinic staffed with a Black doctor and Black social worker in Harlem?

The mission of that clinic was to enlist support for contraceptive use and extol the benefits of family planning at a time when Black people women were routinely denied access to their city's health and social services

This clinic was endorsed by the way by powerful institutions in the African American community such as The Amsterdam News newspaper, the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Urban League, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Renee, Duh, we're only 13% of the population, so there are far more white women terminating their pregnancies than Black women.

BTW Planned Parenthood was run from 1978-1992 by Faye Wattleton, an African American woman, so that blows your 'Black genocide' talking point straight to Hades doesn't it?.

But if you had other news sources besides Fox, the sacreligious Reich and the conservative movement you would have known that.

Thank you for playing Renee W, and we have lovely parting gifts for you.

Tiger, Now That You Lost 'Honorary White Male' Status, Don't Come Running Back To Us For Support

Now that Mr. Cablinasian has fallen seriously out of favor with the predominately white fans of the golfing world over his marital woes and infidelity issues, I wonder how long it's going to take before he remembers he's Black and tries to appeal to us for support?

Save it homes. Seen this pattern before with the most recent examples being O.J. Simpson and the late Michael Jackson.

Been there and done that. The sad part is I'm a huge fan of the Athlete of the Decade, but I and much of the African-American community is just through with Eldrick Woods.

There are a lot of ways to be Black, but we get more than perturbed with the lot of you who have at least one African descended parent and are in severe denial about the African part of your heritage.

We get a little pissed with you peeps who are chasing 'honorary white male' status, ignore Black women as potential life partners as a part of that and our community as a whole during your pursuit of superstardom.

But when your ample round butts get into trouble or you fall out of favor with whites for whatever reason, you suddenly remember you're Black and start calling up African-American media outlets and magazines to do interviews. You then try to show you're down with the people in your bid to mend fences with the African-American community and garner our support.

Naw homes. We don't want sloppy seconds. We wanted then and still want to be your first love. But your declaration you were Cablinasian, that you had every right as an individual defining himself to make, was seen as a slap in the face by those of us who are proud to be Black.

One of the biggest surprises of President Obama's Inauguration Week last year was Tiger's participation in the Sunday 'We Are One' event.

Many peeps in the African-American community expressed surprise he was even there, seeing his reluctance to speak out on any issues political or otherwise pertaining to the African-American community over the last decade. Even when he did his short speech, he did so without mentioning President Obama by name.

If we weren't good enough for you to show solidarity and pride with beyond the superficial level when you were doing all those amazing things on the golf courses of the planet, give me and the African descended community one good reason why we should show any love or support to you in return, especially in light of the fact that many of your golfing buds like Jesper Parnevik are openly turning on you like rabid dogs?

But being we African descended peeps are a forgiving bunch, after we get over the simmering anger of being jilted and ignored for the last decade, if Mr. Woods is sincere about doing a much better job in the 2k10's and beyond about staying in better touch with his African descended roots, we'll probably make room for him at the family table.

Hell, somebody's gotta show him some love. But it's definitely going to take awhile before we warm up to you again.

Long Time Coming

I've been taking time to sort out my feelings after hearing the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Bill finally passed Congress on Thursday and is awaiting the president's signature on Wednesday.

The act expands federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.

This passage of one of the transgender community's legislative crown jewels has been a long time coming. I've personally done my part by making four trips to Washington DC since 1998 to lobby for both hate crimes and ENDA. There have been legions of trans activists living and deceased that lobbied, wrote letters, faxes and e-mails, told their stories to congress members and staffers, and prayed for this day to finally happen.

I heard about the news from Dawn after returning home from work. As I absorbed the news that it passed, I couldn't help but think about what happened to Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, who the bill was named after.

It also brought up the bitter memories of transpeople in Texas being cut out of a state hate crime bill named for James Byrd, Jr in 1999 and 2001 thanks to the efforts of the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby (the predecessors to Equality Texas) and its then director Dianne Hardy-Garcia.

She said in a January 1999 Texas Monthly interview, “People from different walks of life come to the Texas Capitol to compromise and try to make it so that all of us can live together. Being part of that is a beautiful thing.”

Yeah, Texas transpeople got compromised right out of that bill twice.

I thought about the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it finally passed and was signed on July 2, 1964 by President Johnson. Yes, the law was forever changed on that day as well, but the violence against my people continued for three more years.

And yes, this passage of this bill also comes when we are about to embark next month on another year of TDOR ceremonies. I'm writing a speech right now I'll be delivering for a Long Island, NY event on November 22.

Make no mistake about it, the folks that hate us won't care that a hate crimes law has been passed and signed. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important

But the message it does send is that transgender people ARE American citizens who have been violently attacked and murdered just for having the temerity to live their lives and be who they are, and that needs to stop.

It has been a major concern of mine because far too many of the transgender victims of these crimes have been either African descended, Latino/a people or other POC.

Our government said in a 68-29 vote in the Senate and a October 8 281-146 House vote that the federal definition of "hate crimes" needed to be expanded to include us.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said, "The answer to hate and bigotry has to be ultimately found in increased respect and tolerance for all our citizens. In the meantime, strengthening our hate crimes legislation to give law enforcement the tools they need is a necessary step."

That necessary step is better late than never.

While this historic change comes too late for the people who have already succumbed to hate violence, this law once it's signed by President Obama will give the Justice Department some new tools to combat it.

This new law will not make the transphobes stop hating us, but what it will do over time is send the message that it's no longer open season on transgender people.

I am a transgender citizen of the United States. It is NOT okay for you to kill me because you hate me, and if you do so, you will get punished for it.

It puts us one step closer to the full citizenship we deserve and is our birthright as Americans.

It also puts us one step closer to being included in the 'We The People' preamble to the United States Constitution.

White Gay Peeps, Back The Hell Up Off President Obama

One of the things I'm alarmed about is increasingly hearing from the African American acquaintances around the country I talk to, various Black GLBT people and family members who know that I interface with the GLBT community is escalating anger in the Black community over the continued attacks on President Obama.

What's feeding that anger? Hmm, where do I start?

*The Black community is still pissed over the displays of overt racist behavior and being blamed for the Prop 8 loss in California.

*We also haven't forgotten that many of the president's white gay critics were Hillary supporters.

*We remember that many white gay people unfairly attacked the President BEFORE he even entered office in January by proclaiming him as the 'worst president ever on gay rights.'

The one good thing about the Maine marriage fight is that if a loss happens there (and I pray it doesn't) you won't have Black people to blame for it since we're only 1% of the population there.

But with the President in the process of having to clean up the eight years of toxic waste from the Bush misadministration, extricate us from two wars, shut down the Dick Cheney Memorial Torture Prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, get a Supreme Court nomination through the Senate, pass health care reforms, repair and restore our battered national image around the world along with other myriad challenges he's faced since assuming office January 20, it's seen by many Blacks as selfish whining in the context of the major challenges that this country faces when you holler "Obama isn't doing anything for us', "He's all talk and no action' or 'I want (marriage equality/DOMA repeal/DADT repeal) now.'.

Hell, I and other transpeople since 1994 have wanted a trans inclusive ENDA and hate crimes passed. Thanks to you peeps who fought it like right wingers opposing your marriage rights I'm STILL waiting for that to happen.

May I also remind you that Black people have been waiting for full equality for over 200 years now.

I'm also tired of seeing the bullshit meme from white gays online that Black people hate them and don't care about GLBT rights.

No, what Black people hate is you white gays acting like spoiled brats and being called 'racist' or 'homophobic' when Black people of all stripes call your asses out on it. It's not 'racist' to state the fact that President Obama's critics in the gay community are predominately white gays. Deal with that reality.

And oh yeah, pick up a Sociology book and learn the difference between racism and prejudice. Racism=prejudice plus power.

POC's calling out whites for their behavior isn't racist. Only people who wallow in vanilla flavored privilege and conservative white males believe that.

Black GLBT people are especially sick of it. In addition to being stuck uncomfortably in the middle between the white gay community and our fellow African descended citizens when you do that, our votes, money and support of Obama helped put him in the Oval Office along with the votes of Black, Latino/a and progressives of all stripes.

It's also starting to piss off the middle class Black people whose support GLBT people cannot afford to lose. You still have much to atone for in the Prop 8 aftermath and much bridge building to do in the African-American community. Constantly attacking a still immensely popular president in our community who has only been in office ten months is seen as unfair by the Black community and it's not politically smart either.

He gets enough crap from the 'white' wing and so many death threats a day the Secret Service can barely keep up with it, and you vanilla flavored GLBT peeps are complaining he hasn't done enough for the 'gay community'?

Buy a fracking vowel and get a rainbow clue. Last time I checked, the gay community was not made up exclusively of white gay people. We're getting tired and fed up with you vanilla flavored privilege wielding GLBT peeps not only attacking our community and conveniently ignoring the fact that Black GLBT people not only exist, but we chocolate flavored GLBT peeps have a diametrically opposed view of how President Obama is doing.

The Black GLBT community is also concerned that your constant attacks are not only pissing our people off and alienating our African American cis and straight allies, you are making our job much tougher in the African American community to make the case why they should support and fight for these issues.

The reality is that Bush left the Obama Administration him a toxic mess to clean up and the man has his hands full. If the rest of us and Stevie Wonder can see that, what's wrong with y'all?

And spare me any spin lines in subsequent commentary of 'you're saying we're 'racist' for attacking President Obama or we can't criticize him.

You can criticize him all you want, but free speech cuts both ways. If you're going to loudly defend your First Amendment right to criticize the president, don't get huffy when I use my First Amendment rights to call y'all out for going overboard on your criticism of President Obama and state the obvious fact about the color of his GLBT critics. Getting mad and attacking Black and other POC critics with the 'racist' and 'homophobic' label because we did so isn't smart either.

Renee's Rule applies to this critique. If it ain't about you, don't make it about you. The people who I'm directing this critique at know who they are.

But seriously, white GLBT peeps. Don't get this twisted. I'm someone who has been in this fight with you for over a decade. I'm a marriage equality supporter and support the repeal of DOMA and DADT, but I also realize that the president can't sign bills to do precisely that unless congress PASSES the legislation. Executive orders can be overturned by the succeeding president as Bill Clinton did to Daddy Bush, Junior did unto Clinton and now Obama is now doing to George W. Bush.

I'm also a proud African descended transwoman who has her antennae up in the Black community, and the chatter I'm hearing is alarming. You can either heed the warning I'm passing along in this post and take the necessary steps to correct this perception problem or dismiss it at your political peril.

But y'all really need to back the hell up off President Obama and give him the time he needs to be the president we believe and know he can be.

What Does It Mean To Be A Woman?

Eternal Lizdom asked this question at her blog and invited women from various perspectives to answer it.

Some of my trans sisters have chimed in with their thoughts, and now it's my turn to do so.

What does it mean to be a woman? I interpret that question the same way that philosopher Simone de Beauvoir does. One is not born a woman, you become one.

My life is a living testament to that de Beauvoir quote. I wasn't born with a female body, but I morphed into my fine brown frame as fast as I could.

I've been evolving toward being the statuesque African descended women who loves her some Monica for 15 years now and I'm still a work in progress.

Diana Ross said it best in an October 1989 ESSENCE magazine interview.

'I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can do anything we set our minds to.'

My mind is set on evolving into a Black woman of trans experience who is viewed as a compliment to Black womanhood, not a detriment to it. I'm on an evolutionary path to be a Black woman who is cognizant of her history, is eager and willing to serve her people, am proud to be trans and is just a phenomenal transwoman joyfully living her life.

While there are some aspects of being in a female body from birth I'll never know, I do know all too well the sting of sexism, was a target for assault long before I transitioned, have the heightened awareness of personal safety and share the pain with my cis African descended sisters about our beauty and Black womanhood in general being demonized, denigrated and dismissed.

In addition to that, I have to deal with the baggage that society heaps upon me for being Black, trans and having the temerity to stand up and boldly demand my place at the African American family table.

I think about the threads of Black womanhood that stretch back to the African continent and how they were spread throughout the Diaspora.

I think about the faith and spirituality that is part of a Black woman's life, be she cis or trans. I ponder where I fit in and what is the status of my and my African transsisters relationship with my African descended cis sisters.

So what does it mean to be a woman? It means comfort in my own chocolate skin so that I can love and accept the person I am and was born to be. It means standing up for my constitutional rights. It means mind and body being in harmony for the first time in my life. It means using the talents God gave me to help my country, my community, and myself. It means striving every day to be the best person I can be. even if there are some days I fall short of that.

But most of all, it means being the best sister, friend, aunt, cousin and daughter I can be, and being blessed that I'm finally able to do so.

Blog Donate Buttons

One of the things I didn't put on this site for a long time on this blog was a DONATE button in my sidebar.

I wasn't really concerned about it even though I saw sites much larger than my own not only put them on their blogs, but in some cases aggressively solicit donations to it.

One thing that changed my thinking on it in addition to a certain Canadian blogger pointing out that fact about blogs larger than mine having them in a phone conversation one evening was visiting Pat Buchanan's blog.

I surfed over there to read his 'Brief For Whitey post and noted that his blog had a DONATE button on it. This is a man who makes ten times the money I do, but has a DONATE button Thirty minutes later I had one on my sidebar as well.

A goal of mine is to eventually get to the point where I can write full time and get paid for it.

I'm also thinking about future expansion. I'm weighing the pros and cons of moving to my own server. People have asked for transcripts for videos. Unlike some blogs that have a team of people to split the writing chores, it's moi wearing a lot of hats as editor in chief/correspondent/researcher/writer. I'd have to hire someone to produce that transcript.

Basically, it's there so that if you really like a post or feel moved enough to support what TransGriot does, you have the opportunity to drop a dollar (or two or three) if you wish.

Thanks to those of you if you choose to do so

Feeling A Little Blue Today

TransGriot readers,
Taking a break today. Been feeling down about some things going on in my personal life that I need to do some hard, solid thinking about.

It isn't helping that my hormone script ran out as well. ;(

Some of it is just part of being Moni the activist and educator on trans issues. I'm human and need to recharge the batteries every now and then, even if my haters don't think so.

Part of it is the fact I haven't been back to Houston since the summer of 2005 or inside Texas borders since November 2006. Recent opportunities to return to the home state that I was looking forward to such as the family reunion have fallen through.

At any rate, gonna turn off the cable news for a little while, chat with some of my cis and trans girlfriends, talk to my family, watch some movies from my expansive DVD collection, do some fiction writing and pull out the PlayStation 2 and just chill out for a few hours.

After sacking some virtual college quarterbacks I'll figure out a few interesting topics to write about.

Enjoy your day.

First It Was ACORN

TransGriot Note: My friend David Williams in Louisville got this one started. The first two lines are his, the rest are mine. It echoes the famous quote from Pastor Martin Niemoller.

First they came for ACORN, and I did not speak out because I had never benefited from ACORN's services.

Then they came for the Service Employees International Union, and I did not speak out because I was not a union member.

Then they came for the progressive blogosphere, and I did not speak out because I wasn't a blogger.

Then they came for the progressive activists, and I did not speak out because I wasn't an activist.

Then they came for the Democrats, and I did not speak out because I was mad at the Democrats for not being progressive enough.

Then they came for my country, and there was no one left to speak out or stop them from doing so.

Wait Your Turn?

Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well-timed' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.

For years now I have heard the words "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never".

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
'Letter From Birmingham City Jail', April 16, 1963.

Ever since I begun fighting in 1998 in conjunction with other transgender people around the country to expand the work of Dr. King, I have heard a late 20th-early 21st century variation of that paragraph uttered from the lips of numerous gay and lesbian people when it comes to transgender civil rights.

Wait your turn.

Wait my turn? Wait my turn for what?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait you turn' when you pushed for inclusion in civil rights legislation in the 70's?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait your turn' when you demanded that funding for HIV/AIDS research and finding a cure for it get higher priority in the 80's?

Did you 'wait your turn' when you demanded that your rights be acknowledged and respected in the 90's?

Did you gay and lesbian people 'wait your turn' in 2003 when you disastrously pushed for marriage equality one year before a critical presidential election?


How dare you part your lips to even say that to us. We transgender people are the ones who had the cojones to stand up to police harassment in San Francisco in 1966 and during the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 while you gay and lesbian peeps were cowering in your closets. It is transgender blood that is being shed and transgender peeps who are discriminated against, denigrated, and disrespected by our foes and even by you, our so-called allies.

You have repeatedly cut us out of civil rights legislation on every level of government with the soothing words of 'we'll come back for you'. That has been proven over the years to be an odious lie as we wait for you in many jurisdictions across the United States to fulfill your broken promises.

Yesterday, led by your point gay Rep. Barney Frank, you once again cut us out of a bill that frankly, we need more than you do. You uttered the lie that 'we'll come back for you' and help you pass the 'GENDA bill' while pulling HR 2015 that was inclusive and replacing it with a gay and lesbian only one in addition to GENDA.

We transpeople know that you will bury that GENDA bill in a subcommittee, never call hearings on it and let it die a painful death while you selfishly fast-track your gay and lesbian only ENDA bill to the House floor for passage.

The sad part is that President Bush isn't going to sign it, so why start a civil war in the GLB community over this issue?

If there's anything that the misguided pastors of the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition have been proven right on is that your GLB civil rights movement is not like ours. Your GLB movement is selfish, morally bankrupt, exclusive and has been so since 1971, while the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King was a morally strong and inclusive one. You have more in common with the Dixiecrats than with civil rights warriors such as Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).

You say the country is not ready for transgender inclusion in civil rights law. Just today Oprah Winfrey did a show on transgender people and is doing another one on October 12. Transgender people are getting more positive coverage every day. Surveys prove over and over again that the public is more enlightened on the transgender issue than the Barney Franks of the GLB movement who are still drinking the hate-on-transpeople Kool-aid of Janice Raymond and Jim Fouratt.

As a transperson who also happens to be a proud African-American, the 'wait your turn' to me and transpeople who share my ethnic heritage sounds eerily similar to what Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in the Dred Scott Decision majority opinion 150 years ago: That I have no rights that you are bound to respect.

Wait your turn.

Rep. Frank and all you gay and lesbian conservaqueers who share his myopic self-centered views, how long must I and other transgender people wait for their constitutional rights in your infinite wisdom? It's sickening that transpeople in other countries around the world such as Spain and Great Britain are gaining and have more rights that those of us who live in the so-called cradle of democracy.

Will little six year old Jazz, the transkid profiled in Barbara Walters 20/20 story on transgender people have to wait until she's 21 to get constitutional protection?

How about Rochelle Evans in Fort Worth? Will she have to wait until she's 45 to get a law that protects her civil rights?

How long will transgender prom queen Crystal Vera have to wait? How long will Jake, the 16 year old transman profiled on today's Oprah show have to wait?

Rep. Frank and Speaker Pelosi, do you have the balls to tell the parents of these transkids that they must 'wait their turn' for their constitutional rights?

How long will transpeople who've been fighting this pitched battle with you for a decade over ENDA and simple inclusion in the GLB community since the 1970's have to wait? Can you walk into a TAVA meeting and tell our transgender veterans who honorably served our country, fought to protect, extend and defend people's civil rights and freedoms abroad that they have to 'wait their turn' to have the same freedoms extended to them at home?

Can you look all the parents and family members of deceased transpeople such as Rita Hester, Tyra Hunter, Gwen Araujo, Brandon Teena, Deborah Forte, and hundreds of others in the eye and tell them that transpeople have to 'wait their turn 'to have their civil rights codified into law?

So if you couldn't 'wait your turn', then why would you dare ask us, the shock troops of the GLBT movement to do something that you yourselves are unwilling to acquiesce to?

Why Don't You Do More Transgender Posts?

Every now and then while I'm out and about in Da Ville I run into peeps who when they find out I'm the TransGriot, rave about my column or the blog.

One of the questions I got asked recently was why I don't have more content on transgender issues.

While transsexuality is a subject that I could literally find tons of angles to discuss, being a transperson is only one aspect of all the things that make up me. There are transgender bloggers, but not many of them focus on the issues of being TWB (transgender while Black).

As you TransGriot readers have discovered, I had (and still have) a relatively interesting life prior to transition that I've barely scratched the surface of. I have interests beyond just talking about being trans. I have sistafriends I hang out with, talk to on a regular basis and help sort out their drama. I'm keeping abreast of the news. I'm reading various books and listening to my massive CD collection. I'm also working 40 plus hours a week while squeezing time in to work on my novels.

I deeply appreciate the fact that many of you enjoy your time on TransGriot and keep coming back. As any writer will tell you, we love it when the work and sometimes late hours we put into compiling interesting and quality blog content is acknowledged by the comments you leave on the various posts. (hint, hint)

But as one of the few African-American peeps who talk about transgender issues, some of the stuff I relay to you is personal. My own family is struggling with a lot of the issues as well, so I have to balance what I can personally talk about versus a desire to not have too many details of their lives exposed to millions of people. I chose to do that in the name of educating peeps on transgender issues, they didn't.

Then there's simply writer's block. There are days or nights I sit in front of this computer and have a wonderful idea for a post, then I start typing, don't like the first, second or third draft and set it aside for a few hours. Sometimes I just hold the idea for a later time. Sometimes I end up just sitting there staring at the computer screen until I give up, shut it down and do something else for a while.

Rest assured, there will always be transgender content in this blog. It isn't called TransGriot for nothing. But the 'griot' in the blog name also means that I'm living up to the West African griot tradition of kicking knowledge to you on a wide variety of subjects as well.

I'm Not Surprised

During the time I was working for Continental Airlines, Houston hosted the 1992 GOP convention. Many of those delegates went through IAH to get to the convention and return to their homes scattered across the country. I met some of the GOP leadership like now Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), other George HW Bush cabinet peeps, and convention delegates from various states as I worked flights during this period.

The day after it ended, I had a Seattle flight I was working. I was killing time until a short air traffic control delay was lifted before I could board the plane. In the lobby there was a group of teenaged kids who had just attended the convention. They had their GOP t-shirts on and were energized about working for George HW Bush's reeelection. Three girls approached the podium and engaged me in a discussion about joining their party and voting for Bush senior.

After politely listening to them for a few moments I replied, "No thanks, I'm voting for Clinton."

"But why?" one of the eager young white females replied.

"Your party has engaged in practices and behaviors over the years that have led me to conclude that people who look like me aren't wanted. Until your party gets serious about competing for my people's votes and doing the things necessary to get those votes beyond symbolic measures, I'll continue to be a Democrat."

I'm recounting this conversation because of the news that GOP frontrunners John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and Mitt Romney all declined invitations to the All American Presidential Forum to be held on September 27 at Morgan State University for the GOP candidates. A similar forum was held on June 28th for the Democrats and all eight contenders showed up at Howard University for it.

I'm not surprised that Guiliani isn't gonna show up. He's 'scurred' about the questions that will pop up about his contentious relationship in NYC with the African-American community and the Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo NYPD incidents that happened under his tenure.

McCain has 'F' grades on his NAACP Civil Rights report cards and Romney is probably afraid he'll get hit with questions about the Mormon Church's negative beliefs about African-Americans. Only one of the GOP candidates, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) even bothered to show up for the presidential forum during the recent NAACP convention in Detroit.

The journalists who will be asking the questions for the five confirmed Republican presidential candidates showing up in Baltimore as I write this are Ray Suarez of The NewsHour, columnist Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal Constitution and NPR's Juan Williams. Tavis will once again be moderator for the event which will air on PBS starting at 9 PM EDT.

I read Tavis' comments on the snub and he's not a happy camper.

"The word frontrunner has taken a whole new meaning for me," said Smiley in an interview with Lee Bailey. "I didn't know it meant being out front and running from people of color."

"The frontrunners, specifically Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain and Mr. Guiliani, have said to us they will not be on stage at Morgan State University on September 27th. All the Democrats showed up in June, but the front running Republicans have said they will not be there. They have also told Univision that they will not be there for the Hispanic debate. So, collectively, what the Republican frontrunners have told both black and brown Americans is that we don't appreciate you, don't value your issues and you're not a priority to us."

"You can't go through an entire primary process and refuse to talk to black and brown voters," he continued. "It's unconscionable, it's untenable, it's unthinkable and no one should be elected president in 2008, in the most multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial America ever and, in the process, ignore and ditch those voters. If you're not going to talk to all of America then you don't deserve to be president of all of America."

That's been the GOP game plan since Nixon concocted the 'Southern Strategy'. Like Tavis, I'm sick of Black conservatives spouting that bullshit 'you need to get off the Democrat plantation line'. You Black conservative clowns continue to apologize and make excuses for your GOP massas. These GOP peeps say they want to compete for our votes, but don't have the cojones to show up at our conventions, our events or give interviews to our media peeps to address our issues.

You black conservatives have shown the African-American community repeatedly over the years where your loyalties lie.

In 2004 the negro Ken Blackwell led the charge to suppress our people's votes in Ohio (he doesn't deserve to be called Black). Ward Connerly is the point negro in trying to get affirmative action programs killed. Don't even get me started on Uncle Thomas, the 'honorary white man' as conservative commentators call him on the Supreme Court.

And all you Black conservative bloggers and GOP butt-kissing preachers have been deafingly silent about how your vaunted GOP showed the world how much they cared about New Orleans and its African-American residents, but can flap your gums ad nauseum when it comes to same-sex marriage and hatin' on GLBT people.

And you want to know why reality based African-Americans vote at a 90% clip for Democratic candidates?

Thanks to the naked racism that's spewing out of your base over the immigration issue, you're driving Latinos away from your party as well at a record clip. 'Bout time they woke up to the true nature of the Republican Party.

Can't wait for September 27 to get here. I'm gonna make sure I have plenty of popcorn on hand to munch on for what promises to be an entertaining evening.

My Memories of September 11, 2001

As many of you know, today is the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

Like people who remember what they were doing in my parents generation when they heard about JFK and Dr. King being assassinated, or people like myself who remember what they were doing when the Challenger exploded after liftoff in 1986, that moment in time is frozen in everyone's memories.

I was back home in Houston preparing to fly to Louisville the next day for interviews I had set up. But that morning I couldn't sleep. I kept tossing an turning to the point I finally gave up and got out of bed about 6:30 AM CDT. I flipped on the TV to Good Morning America and used it as the backdrop for checking my e-mail and typing a few chapters of my first novel I was working on.

I was alerted to the first inklings of the tragedy to unfold when Charles Gibson broke with the story of a fire being reported at the World Trade Center. That piqued my curiosity enough to make me walk into my living room, angle the TV where I could see it and go back to my bedroom to resume what I was doing on the computer.

I called my homegirl Carol Lee who lives in Yonkers to find out what she'd heard and as the story kept unfolding I gave up trying to rework that chapter in Capital Gains.

I was watching the live feed when the second plane crashed into the other tower. I knew from my airline industry time that it was a commercial bird by recognizing the profile of a 767 and that it was no accident. There are no-fly zones around mega skyscrapers like the World Trade Center set up to specifically avoid repeats of planes colliding with buildings like a plane did in 1945 with the Empire State Building.

Well, I was on the phone wih Carol for the next several hours as the rest of that terrible morning unfolded before hanging up. I thought about my last vacation visit to New York in May 2000 and how my wish to go up to the observation deck on the 110th floor would go unfulfilled. I was planning to do that during my trip but weather wouldn't permit it. The first two days I hung out with Carol it was rainy and cloudy before the skies cleared to have brilliant sunshine that Saturday. I was also waiting for a piece of my luggage to get delivered to her place that didn't arrive with me as well. I decided to blow off the trip to the WTC until my next visit.

I haven't been near the NY area since.

After confirming that the other peeps I knew in the area were safe, I thought about those previous trips to New York. No matter what part of town you were in, the imposing view of the Towers let you know you're in New York.

It's weird now when I watch movies that are set in New York and see the Towers in those shots. It's just as weird NOT seeing the Towers in the New York skyline.

God bless all the people who lost their lives in those heinous attacks, their families who are still struggling without them in their lives, and the folks who are suffering medically because they selflessly went to help their fellow human beings in a time of need.

My Day At The Clinton Presidential Center

As a history junkie I've always loved presidential libraries. The Carter Center is on my must see list next time I drive down to the ATL. Next time I go back home I'm thinking about making the run up to Aggieland and checking out the George HW Bush one on the Texas A&M campus.

My grandmother Tama took me and my brother during the summer of 1977 on a bus trip with her church group to see the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, TX and the LBJ Presidential Library 30 miles to the east in Austin on the University of Texas campus. It was an all day excursion that I enjoyed, especially when the shuttle took us over a hill that gave us an awe inspiring view of the Texas Hill Country. I remember saying to my grandmother at the time, "No wonder LBJ loved this place."

I was even happier when we arrived at the library and I got a chance to check out the memorabilia from the LBJ presidency, take pictures on the museum grounds and see the nearby state capitol dome before we boarded the bus for the two hour run back to Houston.

In November 2006 I drove the 800 plus miles from Da Ville to Dallas so that I could attend my cousin William's November 11 wedding. My route took me through Little Rock and past the Clinton Presidential Center all lit up in its nighttime splendor and I resolved to check it out on the way back.

On the return trip as soon as I crossed the Arkansas-Texas border I stopped at the welcome center just outside of Texarkana. You pick up a red 'William J. Clinton Passport' that you get stamped at the various places you visit on the presidential tour. Three of the locations, his birthplace in Hope, the boyhood and teen home in Hot Springs and the museum in Little Rock were on or close to I-30. Fayetteville, (or as we called it when I was at UH in the old Southwest Conference days 'Fayettenam') was in the upper northwest corner of the state close to the Missouri line and not on the agenda.

Twenty five miles later I was exiting I-30 and heading toward downtown Hope, President Clinton's birthplace. There's an old Missouri Pacific railroad station that has been renovated into a museum. It has some memorabilia from the time he grew up there, the '92 and '96 presidential campaigns and his time as governor of Arkansas. It even has pictures of a concert that Elvis Presley did in Hope before he made it big and a large collection of railroad memorabilia.

After you see a short film on their favorite son's life, you start a self guided driving tour that takes you past his birth home on South Hervey Street, Brookwood Elementary school on South Spruce Street that he attended in 1952-1953, the home he lived in on East 13th Street until his family moved to Hot Springs in 1953 and the Rosehill Cemetery where his mother is buried. I spent an hour and a half taking pictures, spending time at the various tour stops and meandering through Hope before I pointed the car back in the direction of I-30 and headed toward Little Rock. I burned so much time in Hope that in order to get to the museum before it closed at 5 PM I reluctantly had to bypass Hot Springs.

I hit Little Rock around 1:15 PM and after jumping off Exit 140 parked on the large parklike site of the Clinton Presidential Center. It's a three story building right next to the Arkansas River that looks like a futuristic unfinished bridge, a play on the 'Bridge to the 21st Century' theme of his presidency. On the site is a renovated railroad station that serves as the repository for his presidential papers. The gift shop is a free shuttle trolley ride just up President Clinton Avenue in downtown Little Rock.

I noticed when I parked the car there was a convoy of TV trucks in the lot and parked close to the building along with two black limos. I found out why about thirty minutes later. The museum was packed with tour groups. Many of us there that day were still in post-2006 election euphoria. I gave a shout out to a group of my mom and sister's sorors who were touring that day along with other groups of African-Americans.

I spent most of my visit happily perusing the various interactive exhibits, the memorabilia and reflecting on just how jacked up this Bush presidency was compared to the Clinton one. I was on the third floor looking at a temporary exhibit of cowboy movie posters and a hand drawn picture of the 'High Noon' gunfight scene by a young Bill Clinton when a young woman excitedly shouted, "He's here!"
"Who's here?" I asked.
"The president is here!"

That news traveled through the museum with lightning speed and triggered a rush of museum patrons to the lower levels of the building. It was the reason the TV trucks were there. I discovered after I quickly ambled from the third floor of the building to standing outside the Great Hall and talking to one of the museum employees that Salon.com was having a luncheon event that day (November 13) in which Brother Bill was speaking. I stood outside along with the other museum patrons hoping that we'd get a chance to see him and shake his hand when he was done, but the Secret Service had other ideas.

After hopping the trolley and grabbing some souvenirs at the gift shop I headed back to Louisville. The next time I'm in the area I'm definitely stopping by there again. The museum was definitely worth the $7 I paid to get in and was a positive, uplifting way to spend a day. Many of the conversations I had with folks from all over the country that day expressed our common desire and resolve to bring that type of forward thinking leadership back to the White House and our country.

I can only hope and pray that next year the rest of the country is hungry for that type of leadership as well.