Monday, July 18, 2011

African-American Trans Woman Dissed By DJ At Nashville Event

Forresta Bee formed a protest last week at radio station 101.1 The Beat Jamz after disc jockey Dolewite made transphobic remarks during an LP Field event earlier this month.When Forresta Bee attended the 101.1 The Beat Jamz All White Party at Nashville's LP Field on June 4, little did she suspect that transphobia was going to be included with the price of her ticket.

According to Ms. Bee and a story in the Out & About blog, after the fashion show, DJ Dolewite of the Dolewite & Scooby show invited people to dance on the stage that was set up for the show.

When Forresta joined in on the fun, she was greeted with the comment from DJ Dolewite, "If you don't get your Amazon, Shaquille O' Neal-looking ass off the stage, you better now." and alleges she was immediately confronted by a heavyset guy tugging at her arm and telling her to get off the stage.

This incident at the All-White Party happened one day after Tracy Morgan's highly publicized anti-gay rant.

This is the third annual edition of the All -White Party that the Clear Channel owned hip-hop programmed station has conducted in Nashville, and this year it was attended by a record 3800 people. 

Not surprisingly, Forresta has yet to receive an apology for what happened from either DJ Dolewite or Rich Davis, the Operating Manager of Clear Channel/Nashville.   In the face of their intransigence and stonewalling on this issue Bee has obtained legal counsel to explore her options.  

Forresta Bee recently conducted a protest at the WUBT-FM studios to draw attention to DJ Dolewite's disrespect of her.   She believes that role models in society have a special responsibility to inform and positively influence young people in terms of TBLG rights issues, and feels DJ Dolewite should consider his platform as a well-known local radio personality and community opinion shaper.






"I don't feel I should be secluded and told I can only go to certain places," Forresta Bee said in the Out & About interview.  "You shouldn't be judged. When you say stuff like that, kids are listening to that and you're teaching them it's OK to think that."

And she's right about that.   Radio station DJs have a revered place in the African American community and our history, something as the child of one I'm acutely aware of. 

Since they have refused to issue the apology to Ms. Bee, y'all know what to do.  Time to be agents of our liberation and help a trans sistah out.   You may want to e-mail  WUBT-FM and let DJ Dolewite know how foul and transphobic his behavior was.




No comments: