Angie Fenton

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

I first encountered Angie not long after I moved here to Da Ville. I was in love with her feature writing for C-J's Velocity minipaper and began reading it religiously. I was happy for her when the Courier-Journal wisely moved her up to edit their celebrity news column called The Buzz. She also ended up getting some TV time at WAVE 3 in that role as well.

As part of her Velocity duties she was covering the 2003 Derby Bash I attended. Her petite figure was hard to miss in a sexy pink skirted suit and pumps while sporting a stylish pink Derby hat.

Three years later I finally got to meet her in person. Dawn and I were featured in a Louisville Courier-Journal article on trans people she authored. In putting that article together we got to know Angie the person and liked what we saw.

She is a classy, funny, determined and intelligent lady that is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Dawn and I both were enthusiastically happy to call our friend after the C-J article was done and later published.

Like the TransGriot, she moved to Da Ville. She's had her challenges in life but to paraphrase Maya Angelou, and still she rises to overcome them and thrive.

You can't help but admire someone like her. Every time Angie's terminally cute self tells me she wishes she had my height, I reply I'd like to be her for a minute.

This busy lady is a competitive bodybuilder in addition to teaching at a local college and writing The Dish column for a local paper called the Voice-Tribune.

Angie Fenton is definitely one of the women I'd love to be when I grow up.

Frenchy's Is 40!!

In the process of doing some research on my fave Houston eateries, I discovered that one of my favorite places to partake of the yardbird celebrated its 40th Anniversary on July 3.

Percy 'Frenchy' Creuzot and his wife Sallie opened the Scott Street Frenchy's location in 1969 as a humble po-boy sandwich stand. He's served up his Creole style chicken, Creole seasoned Frenchy fries, po-boy sandwiches and other Louisiana Creole treats and sides to millions of hungry Houstonians.

It goes without saying that Frenchy's founders, Percy and Sallie Creuzot, are extremely humbled by how Houston has embraced Frenchy's over the past 40 years.

"We are thankful to the Houston community," said Mrs. Creuzot on the Frenchy's website. "We have been able to maintain our family business and make good friends along the way."

It was and still is by far one of my fave places to eat. Dad would sometimes stop by on the way home from work and pick up a huge box of Frenchy's chicken for us to eat on Friday nights.

Since the Scott Street location is located halfway between the Texas Southern University and University of Houston campuses, throughout the years myself and other hungry college students along with kids from nearby Burger King High (oops, Jack Yates High) would buy our Campus Specials and get our grub on.

As I keep reminding you peeps, I'm a proud Jesse Jones Falcon. We don't like anything that wears red and gold.

And since the Scott Street location is next door to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, be prepared to wait if you hit it immediately after Sunday services conclude.

Frenchy's even went Hollywood for a moment. If you remember the movie Jason's Lyric that starred Allen Payne and Jada Pinkett Smith that was set in my beloved hometown, you can see a glimpse of the Frenchy's Scott Street location because Allen Payne's character's mother worked there.

Frenchy's has become an iconic part of Houston, and has spread its Creole seasoned wings to include seven locations around town. The last time I was back in H-town in 2005 it was one of my first stops before heading to my mom's house.

Yo, can somebody from H-town please FedEx me some?

Congratulations to Frenchy's for 40 years of great eating. May you continue to live up to your ad slogan of 'The Taste That Lasts Forever' and be around for the next generation of Houstonians to partake of your delectable Creole seasoned food.

Whataburger

Every now and then I get a little homesick and start missing all things Houston. While I can always head to the local Walgreen's to get my fix of Blue Bell Homemade vanilla ice cream, there are other guilty pleasures of mine that can only be picked up in the proximity of the Houston area.

One of the pleasures of living in Texas that I most definitely miss is Whataburger. I had one three blocks up the street from my old apartment that I frequently visited.

If I was fiending for a double Whataburger with bacon and cheese at 3 AM I had no problem taking a little walk up Bissonnet or hitting the drive thru lane to indulge myself.

I love their milkshakes, but had to back off of them and the nocturnal Whataburgers for a while when my weight climbed to 275 pounds in the early stages of my transition.



So what's Whataburger? It's a Corpus Christi based slice of Texas that has been around for over 50 years and is open 24 hours to the delight of us party animals, third shifters and night owls.



Damn, I'm getting homesick just thinking about it. Time for some Blue Bell.

Where's The Villager's July 2009 Black Blog Rankings?

I know that like many of you, I eagerly await the revelation of the Black Blog Rankings every month.

The BBR's have become an important tool that helps me gauge the growth of TransGriot and set goals that help nurture and sustain that growth.

I'm probably not the only one who feels that way, people across the Afrosphere do as well. So when July 8 came and went without updated BBR's, that triggered concern for the Villager and made many of us in the Afrosphere wonder what was up.

In my last episode of my monthly tracking posts pertaining to TransGriot's progress up the BBR ladder, I was celebrating the fact that Renee got her early birthday present and finally cracked the BBR Top Ten. I climbed to number 34 in those same June 2009 BBR rankings despite taking a massive hit in my Technorati rankings.

I am still only nine tantalizing spots away from reaching my goal of cracking the BBR Top 25, but lost ground toward reaching a Technorati ranking of 200 by Labor Day.

So TransGriot readers, lets see how well I do next month, since the Villager has let us know he'll do his best to have a BBR post up for August.

And when he does, I'll be right behind him letting y'all know if I finally cracked the BBR Top 25 Blogs.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-GOP Lying About Health Care Edition

The GOP Noise Machine is in full throat in its all out attempt to kill the Obama health care plan. The greedy HMO's and insurance companies like the current setup and want to keep making obscene profits.

It's disgusting that the United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't have universal single payer health care for its citizens.

The rest of the world looks at this circus and wonders aloud how the American people allows this travesty to continue. Well, that what happens when 20% of the country is tuned in to a propaganda network and the Republican Party and their cronies are willing to lie to keep it from happening.

All we can do is keep fighting to ensure that one day we join the rest of the world in providing low cost health care for all its citizens.

Speaking of health care, there were fools that were worthy of being carted off to psychiatric care or made you wonder if they're still hitting the hallucinogenic drugs too hard.

While there were many fools who could have garnered our award such as Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the Birthers, PETA, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and the Republican Party, our Fool of the Week is sellout spokesnegro Larry Elder.

Elder distinguished himself in the ongoing conversation around the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates by not only blaming the professor for what happened to him in his own home, but blamed the controversy on in his words 'irresponsible Blacks'.

The only 'irresponsible Blacks' here are you and your Oreo cookie chomping buddies.

In you conservanegroes zeal to defend the po-po's, you neglected or didn't care to to acknowledge that the African-American community's drama with the police didn't arise in a vacuum.

It is rooted in decades of violent confrontations that have resulted in our untimely deaths. There is also systemic racism in many police departments and the historic fact they were used as the stormtroopers enforcing Jim Crow segregation and white privilege.

Larry Elder, shut up fool!

Still Missing Marvin Zindler

Has it actually been two years since our iconic crusading consumer reporter and bane of Houston area slimy characters and dirty restaurants left us?

Was thinking about home when it dawned on me that it's been two years since Marvin Zindler passed away. If you are a native Houstonian, transplant or spent any time in the Bayou City tuned in to Channel 13 news, you know who this man is.

Marvin was the inspiration for the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas Broadway play and subsequent movie.







Obviously I'm not the only Houstonian who misses hearing him say 'Sliiiiiime In the Ice Machine' or his signature 'Marrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyyewitness news' signoff.



You are still missed Marvin, especially by the little people you fought so hard to cut red tape and get justice for.

A Transwoman Trying To 'Make His Band'

As a writer I love shows that have well written scripts, compelling storylines and great acting. I like dramas, I love soaps but I'm not a fan of reality TV shows as many of you longtime TransGriot readers know.

I must have a compelling reason to watch ANY reality TV show because I consider them that much of a waste of my time and the television airwaves.

However, thanks to Zoe Renee at Not Your Typical Girl making me aware of it, I now have a reason to check out Diddy's latest reality offering, Making His Band.

Her name is Jaila Simms, and she's a transsistah from Chicago appearing on the show trying to 'make the band' for Diddy's upcoming 2010 tour.

It is so cool that another transsistah is trying to make her dreams come true. It's also neat that once again a Black transwoman gets some air time, even if the pronoun usage is problematic at best.

Best of luck to Jaila, and I'll be tuned in to see if it happens for her.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

Why am I not surprised that the usual conservative angry white males are screaming 'racism' in light of the recent controversy involving Professor Gates BS arrest and the Cambridge, MA Po-Po's?

The same wallowing in white male privilege people who refuse to acknowledge their ignorance of the concept that racism=prejudice plus power.

It's laughable that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are quick to holler that President Obama is an 'angry Black man' or has 'problems with white people'.



You know it's bad when Faux News distances themselves from your comments.

The bottom line is that African Americans and white Americans will never see eye to eye about the police. You believe in that 'Officer Friendly' po-po's can do no wrong myth.

We have a negative perception and suspicious hostility to the police rooted in our 400 years of life in America. They were used as the stormtroopers enforcing white supremacy. It never fails that we hear accounts of institutional racism within the police forces of this nation. Far too many innocent Black men, women and children across all ages have died and continue to die as the result of confrontations with white cops.

Oscar Grant ring a bell? Sean Bell? LaTanya Haggerty?

There's a bitter joke that transcends generations in the Black community.

What do you call a Black man with a PhD?

N****r

That bitter joke took new life with Professor Gates arrest. It also brought all those painful memories of negative interactions of African-Americans and white dominated police departments back to the surface.

Combine that that with the racially different perceptions of this incident based on what side of the racial divide you live on and we have a recipe for drama.

13-6

Sonia Sotomayor is one step closer to joining the Supreme Court on the first Monday in October after yesterday's 13-6 affirmative vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to send it to a full Senate vote next week.

Surprisingly, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican vote in favor of the nominee. The rest of the Republicans cast NO votes, including Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) who have previously never failed to vote for a Supreme Court nominee.

Despite the GOP Hateraid for Sotomayor, the nomination now goes to the full Senate next week for the up or down vote she's expected to handily win for her historic confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Justice Sotomayor will sure look good in that group photo this October.

Burr Oak Hits Home

When the news about the horrific happenings at Chicago's historic Burr Oak Cemetery broke a few weeks ago I had this unsettling deja vu moment.

As some of you long time TransGriot readers may know, my roomie Dawn and I both have relatives in the Chicago area. I used to early in my airline days frequently visit them during the early 90's, sometimes with my then best friend and co-worker Eric Shepherd along for the ride to hit some of the house music venues.

I knew that Burr Oak was one of the cemeteries where many prominent Black Chicagoans have been laid to rest. It is also the resting place of Emmitt Till, whose 1954 lynching was the emotional spark that jump started the African American civil rights movement.

When I watched the news coverage of the unfolding events I had a 'where have I heard that name before' alert going off in my head. The reason I was having the bad moment became clear when I called home last Friday and talked to my mother.

My first trip to Chicago was back in August 1986. It was my first airplane ride as we took an Eastern Airlines Moonlight Special flight from Houston Intercontinental to Chicago O'Hare to attend the funeral of my Uncle Leon.

My uncle had passed away on August 2, and the date sticks in my mind because it was the same day as the fatal Delta air crash at DFW.

My mom has a summa cum laude degree in history and is basically our family historian.

She keeps the records of all family events such as our reunions, weddings and funerals and was having the same unsettling feeling I had upon hearing the name Burr Oak earlier this month. Mom decided to pull out and reread my Uncle Leon's program.

When I talked to her, Mom dropped the bomb for me that Uncle Leon was buried in Burr Oak.

I was already concerned, pissed and mortified about the horrific crap that had happened there and greed being the motivating factor for it. It was initially reported that First Lady Michelle Obama's father Fraser Robinson III was buried there as well, but the White House later released a statement that he wasn't.

Unfortunately, there are families like mine all over the country and the Chicago area who do have loved ones buried there. I'm still awaiting word from my Chicago relatives to find out if my Uncle Leon's grave or headstone was disturbed.

Emmitt Till's grave was one of the 300 graves disturbed. After all the pain that the Till family has suffered, to have those painful wounds reopened again in such a disgusting way makes me sick to my stomach.

As Jesse Senior said, there's a special place in Hades for the people who perpetrated this evil. When these wastes of DNA are brought to justice for it, may the Cook County court system and the state Of Illinois throw the book at them so they can spend the rest of their miserable lives rotting in jail.

Being Trans Is A Worldwide Thang

One of the things that I love about the Net and compiling TransGriot is that it consistently reaffirms for me that I have brothers and sisters all over the planet.

It reminds me that no matter what corner of Planet Earth we call home, we transpeople deal with the same basic issues of fighting for our human rights, dignity and self respect. I'm reminded that we have wonderful cisgender allies who support us in our struggles as well.

One of the fringe benefits is that some of my international sisters like Pau Fontanos in the Philippines or Leona Lo in Singapore have become my friends. I'm looking forward to meeting many others if I'm blessed to one day resume my Air Marshal traveling days or they cross my path here in the States.

But whether the Forces of Intolerance want to admit it or not, transpeople are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.

We have also reached the tipping point that all oppressed peoples soon reach.

Transpeople are fed up with having our human rights trampled upon by cisgender people desperately trying to prop up their specious fundamentalist religious beliefs, their failed political agendas and personal prejudices.

We want the same things cisgender peeps want. To borrow from the United States' Declaration of Independence, we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

As we courageously stand up and fight for our rights, we also find that it's liberating and powerful as well. We move beyond the shame and guilt over being trans and proudly embrace that part of our identities.

We transpeople simply want the ability to live our lives peacefully in our various homelands, pursue our versions of happiness, want a fair shot at gainful employment, a roof over our heads, food to eat, and non-judgmental health care.

We want friends and family who love and care about us while maximizing the talents our Creator has given us for the benefits of ourselves and the various nations we reside in.

The Forces of Intolerance can delay, deny, resist and even kill us, but they will lose. The moral arc of the universe is bending toward worldwide justice for transpeople.

I hope I'm blessed to live long enough to see that day.

Bye Sarah!

Sarah Palin said goodbye to the Alaska governor's chair yesterday, but unfortunately we haven't seen the last of Tina Fey's walking comedy routine.

For some reason she and a delusional part of the American electorate seem to think that she's presidential material. And when these same voters think Junior did a 'heck of a job' for the last 8 dysfunctional years, I have every expectation of seeing her trolling for GOP votes in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2012.

There's only one part of her rambling disjointed speech I agreed with believe it or not.

And first, some straight talk for some, just some in the media because another right protected for all of us is freedom of the press, and you all have such important jobs reporting facts and informing the electorate, and exerting power to influence. You represent what could and should be a respected honest profession that could and should be the cornerstone of our democracy. Democracy depends on you, and that is why, that's why our troops are willing to die for you. So, how 'bout in honor of the American soldier, ya quite makin' things up.

Yo Sarah, sounds to me like you were talking about your friends at Faux News.

While we wish Sarah the Quitter would just head back to Wasilla, not likely.

'Purple Rain' 25th Anniversary

Damn, has it actually been 25 years since that hot Houston summer day my brother and I rolled up to the Almeda 8 and bought tickets to see Purple Rain?

The movie opened 25 years ago today, but was preceded by the release of the soundtrack album on June 25. The award winning album sold 11 million copies in the US.

When the movie was released on July 27 it grossed $70 million in US domestic ticket sales. It also catapulted Prince to a level of stardom in the 80's rivaled only by Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Purple Rain is still one of my fave movies especially since Morris Day and Jerome Benton's antics had me cracking up, except for the one scene in which Jerome slam dunked a sister in a dumpster who was berating Morris for standing her up.



This 'The Password Is What' routine is the classic Abbott and Costello 'Who's on First' baseball comedy routine hilariously remixed for the 80's.

The movie is still one of my fave all time ones. It was worth every penny I spent on it then at my local multiplex and all the subsequent cash I spent on the VHS and DVD tapes.

It's also amazing to note the fact it's been 25 years since it first debuted.

International Blog Against Racism Week? Thanks But No Thanks

I recently received an e-mail invitation to participate in International Blog Against Racism Week which will take place July 26 to August 2

While I'm honored and deeply appreciate the invite on one hand, on the other it's mildly insulting.

TransGriot, Womanist Musings, Racialicious, Race Wire and countless other blogs inside and outside the Afrospear deal with the subject of racism and all its ugly permutations and perniciousness in our society 24/7/365 (366 days in a leap year).

So to have a week dedicated to blogging about race tends to make me roll my eyes and say thanks, but no thanks.

I know the hearts of the people who organize this annual blogosphere event are in the right place. Yes, I am cognizant of my role as one of the leading African-American bloggers who also happens to be trans and a womanist.

I catch enough hell during the other 51 weeks when I talk about race issues in conjunction with living my life as an out and proud African descended transperson and nobody wants to hear it.

What makes any post I write during this week any different from the almost 1800 plus ones I've written on TransGriot?

Those of us who blog about race issues for more than a week already know and are painfully aware that racism permeates everything about how this society is organized and how it functions. It's going to take more than just one week of blog posts focused on the issue in order to permanently eradicate 400 plus years of accumulated racist baggage from our society.

If people are serious about eradicating racism and not just dealing with it in half hearted piecemeal fauxgressive measures, then it is going to take consistent, sometimes painful education, lots of work and constant self examination to make eradicating racism in our society a reality.

One week of blog posts may jump start the education, discussion, and some action on the racism eradication front, but it can't stop with just a week of blogging and then go back to 'bidness' as usual.

It is going to require people stepping out of their comfort zones to confront racism as it occurs. It also means that some peeps need to get their 101 on.

And the fundamental piece to begin all of these upcoming Racism 101 discussions is based on this formula you'll need to commit to memory.

Racism=prejudice plus power

If you think otherwise, then this discussion is over before we even get a chance to get it started, and whatever post you compile for this week is a waste of your time and mine.

Why You 'Scurred' Of Me?

One of the things I get mildly irritated about and have been throughout my transition journey is when fellow transpeople either run like Flo Jo away from my presence or consciously avoid interacting with me in public situations.

While I understand that some of my transpeeps can be antisocial at times, and others are so adamant about maintaining their stealth bubble to the point they want zero public interactions with any transpeople, it still wouldn't kill you to say hello and keep steppin'.

If you're 'scurred' because you think that being in proximity to my out and proud of being Black and trans behind will lead to people questioning your gender identity, chill.

The cisgender women friends I have in my life have that same possibility of shade being thrown at them just for the radical act of being proud to have me as their friend and be seen with me in public. If it doesn't deter them from getting to know me, what's your excuse?

If my cisgender girlfriends and cisgender male friends realize it's one of the tradeoffs for having the Phenomenal Transwoman in their lives on an everyday basis and they aren't ashamed or afraid of it, then why should my own transpeeps be?

It's especially galling in light of the slings and arrows I constantly take being the sword and shield for you. I'm fighting for yours and my civil rights that you are too timid to stand up for. I'm dispelling through this blog and other myriad education efforts the falsehoods and race based myths regurgitated about you.

I'm taking the time to 'ejumacate' people about how our transitions are different from vanilla flavored ones. I'm cheerfully and willingly spending my personal time, cash and vacation time in doing that trans education simply so that future generations of transkids can just focus on being the best people they can be.

I'm not asking for a chocolate chip cookie. All I'm asking for is just a simple "Hi, how are you doing?" when I pass you in the 'hood.

If you want to take the conversation beyond that, that's all good as well. The more loyal friends I have in my life, the better.

But I'm not the person you should be 'scurred' of. The peeps you should be keeping a nervous eyeball on are part of the Forces of Intolerance.

I'm the one that's diligently working to make your life better, not harder.

Computing Reeducation

As many of you know the motherboard on my desktop died last Friday. A new replacement one has been ordered and hopefully I'll be back doing my thang on Computer Prime soon.

In the meantime, Polar graciously lent me his Compaq laptop in order to tide me over until I get my beloved desktop up and running.

I have owned a computer since I bought my first HP 2600 series minidesktop back in 1997. I prefer and love desktops probably because the vast majority of my computing time and Web surfing over the last decade has been spent in a desktop environment.

Since I've never owned one, much less played with one for an extended period of time until now, it has taken me a few days to get acclimated to the quirks and idiosyncracies inherent in laptop computing.

It took two days for me to get out of the habit reaching to my right and using my right hand to manipulate a mouse to do whatever I needed to do while typing various posts. My thumb kept brushing the pointer thingy and moving my cursor as I typed, which kept pissing me off while typing the first post I attempted to do.

It also took me far longer time wise to compose that first laptop generated post than it normally does on my desktop system.

I had to adjust some of my computer quirks I feel comfortable doing as well.

I use a technique in which I rapidly move the cursor instead of just highlighting the messed up text and hitting the 'delete' key. I had to not only go back and correct the jacked up text, but figure out how to move the cursor to do it.

I type 55 WPM as well, so it's slowed down my typing speed as I've had to get acclimated to holding my hands up in a much higher position than normal and being cognizant of not trying to inadvertantly hitting combinations of keys that may trigger stuff I don't want or need to happen.

I'm relearning how to cut and paste on this laptop. I'm also trying to figure out what I have to do so I can start putting photos back in my posts to make them look nice and illustrate what my words have to say.

Yeah, I could simply call Polar and ask, but the Taurus in me wants to at least try to do it on my own before punting and dialing up the Bear Cave to ask him.

But now that I've had the opportunity to play with a laptop, I have to admit that I'm beginning to like it enough to the point I may seriously consider buying one in the future as a backup.

The price has come down on them and the computing power is going way up. The portability is also a nice selling point as well.

It would help me in terms of being able to access info during my lobbying trips to DC. If I need to blog while I'm on one of my road trips I won't need to hunt for a desktop so I can do so. It would allow me a more rapid response time as well in those situations.

So yeah, my desktop being down sucks. It puts a crimp in some of the stuff I like to do while composing posts, but I can always go back and paste the photos on them later.

In the meantime, I'm going to start making lemonade out of this lemon situation and get 'ejumacated' on the mysteries of laptop computing.

Saggin' Pants

TransGriot Note: It's time for another one of my song rewrites. This time with the help of TLC, I'm taking dead aim at the (thankfully) diminishing number of peeps who love wearing saggin' pants, an unfortunate relic of prison culture that needs to go the way of the jerri curl and 8 track tapes.

Saggin' Pants'
(sung to the tune of 'Girl Talk' by TLC)

You see I had this brother who was mad at me
Because I dissed his pants that were saggin'
Told the truth so I really don't give a damn
Cause saggin' pants I'm about to slam (oh)
Some of y'all say what's the fuss
Saggin' is prison speak damn
Saying you like being a bottom man
We women wanna know these thangs
If you like to ride the ding a ling

(bridge)
Pull 'em up
If you don't want peeps to talk
And don't want your feelings hurt
Pull 'em up
Cause if you don't
Peeps are gonna tell the world

(chorus)
Peeps talkin' bout your draws being out there
Damn right we're talkin' all about ya
Don't forget about this little mantra
'Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'
Don't wanna see your booty too
You're not walking you're waddling boo
Time to change your jacked up worldview
'Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'

Listen y'all need to know this
You're not welcome in anybody's business
You're gettin' mad because of it
Pull 'em up and there won't be no shyt (oh)
Some of y'all be killin me
Thinkin' you cool
But you're more like a comedy
Dissing you got your pressure going
But we hate seeing your draws showin'

Pull 'em up
If you don't want peeps to talk
And don't want your feelings hurt
Pull 'em up
Cause if you don't
Peeps are gonna tell the world

Peeps talkin' bout your draws being out there
Damn right we're talkin' all about ya
Don't forget about this little mantra
'Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'
Don't wanna see your booty too
You're not walking you're waddling boo
Time to change your jacked up worldview
Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'

What up papi
You think you got game?
(Well holla at me)
Your saggin' pants are really lame
Don't make ya happy
Pull up the Lee's
And you'll get some TLC
You got the pants below your booty
And that ain't me
You be killin' us with the pants that don't fit
And your fashion sense is illegit
Please get a new approach
Your fashion game's a joke
Signallin' prison style you like rear end pokes
I'm bigger than that
Time to face the fact
Saggin' is history
And seriously wacked
If it's the last call for alcohol
You can't meet me at the bar
They won't let you in the club
To meet the superstars (yeah)

Peeps talkin' about your draws being out there
Dann right we're talkin' all about ya
Don't forget about this little mantra
Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'
Don't wanna see your booty too
You're not walking your waddling boo
Time to change your jacked up worldview
Cause your pants are saggin'
Your pants are saggin'

About Damned Time II

While I was channel surfing earlier tonight in search of something to watch other than the brewing political news du jour, I stumbled across another Larry King Show on transgender issues.

When I saw another all white transgender panel, I was about to turn it off CNN until something told me to hang around for a minute.

Listening to my inner voice was rewarded when I was surprised to see something different from all the previous CNN transgender panels:

Somebody who shared my ethnic heritage.

My little sis Isis King popped up for this discussion. I was happy to hear her get to articulate her thoughts on not only her recent experience on America's Next Top Model and her SRS surgery with Dr. Marci Bowers, but get a chance to actually point out that transition issues are different for the African-American community.

Too bad that nugget came at the end of the segment, but maybe it's something that the CNN peeps would like to explore. (hint,hint)

Hopefully this is only the beginning of having the experiences of transpeople of color begin to get injected into these discussions.

More Universal Healthcare Video

I've been talking about the need for the United States to join the rest of the industrialized world and implement universal single payer health care for 'errbody' in our nation.

Best way to do it is pass HR 676, which expands Medicare coverage to all and bans insurance companies from denying peeps coverage due to 'preexisting conditions'.

Since the GOP, the HMO's, and the American Medical Assn. have been spreading lies about the Canadian healthcare system, time to post more video debunking those lies.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Moni's Computer's Down Edition

As some of you are aware, the motherboard on my computer died last Friday. I've been suffering from computer withdrawal and lack of interconnectedness with the Net.

I've also missed the everyday conversations and interactions I have with various people on the blog, Twitter and friends around the world.

My computer tech Polar is working to get me back online as quickly as possible. In the interim, he's kindly loaned me his laptop so that I can get back to my ongoing TransGriot mission of kicking knowledge to y'all about all things trans and otherwise.

Speaking of kicking knowledge, let's see what fool (or fools) earned our disdain as our fool for the week.

This week's fool is a repeat winner.

GOP spokesnegro Ron Christie gets the nod in the wake of his asinine comments on MSNBC.

Christie was one of the negro sellouts working in the Bush misadministration and now frequently spouts right wing BS on the various talking head shows.

He was peddling the conservative talking points that the prez shouldn't have commented on Skip Gates' recent BS arrest by the Cambridge, MA po-po's.

He also took issue with President Obama calling the situation 'stupid'.

First of all, the case and all charges have been dropped against Professor Gates, so it's NOT an ongoing case as you erroneously stated on MSNBC.

And hello, you Oreo-chomping disgrace to Black America, what the hell do you call it when a cop arrests you for breaking into your own house?

We all know if Professor Gates had been a white male, nothing would have happened once he pulled out his ID and proved he lived there. I doubt he would have had to pull out ID to prove he lived there, the cop would have just probably taken his word for it.

Ron Christie, shut up fool!

Apollo 11 40th Anniversary

Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.

With those eight words the decade long race to the moon ended and President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade was fulfilled.

It's been a long time since the United States space program has had the kind of support or clear vision since those heady days.



Hopefully they can regain that with increased competition from the Chinese and a new mission to the Moon to establish a permanent base there and a manned mission to Mars.

If the human race is to thrive and survive, we need to begin exploring the final frontier.

That includes establishing off earth colonies for humankind as well.

Computer Down

Hey peeps.
Will be offline for a few days. Motherboard died on my computer yesterday and it will be at least a week before I can get back up on The Net.

I do have some posts on automatic that will come up during my anticipated downtime.

I have to order some parts for it, and that's a pain since I love writing something on an everyday basis.

So as soon as I get my computer technical difficulties settled you'll see me back on my regular posting schedule.

Pat's Ten Minute Hate

Post-racial America my ass.

Ever since Barack Hussein Obama became the Democratic nominee and eventually president of the United States, conservative white males (and females) have been losing their damned minds and letting their inner racists out.

Fear of a Black Planet is driving them crazy.

Exhibit A is last night's rant of conservabigot Pat Buchanan on the Rachel Maddow show.

Who is Pat Buchanan kidding? My ancestors did the yeoman's share of the labor in building this country while you pocketed the money, sipped ice tea on the veranda and raided the slave quarters at night to get some brown sugar when you were horny.

My ancestors built Washington DC, so it was past time we had an African-American family living in that nice white house our labor built. I'll be just as happy to see a Latino or Asian one in it as well or a female POTUS.

Speaking of unpaid labor, you owe me and other African Americans $175,000 each. That's the current value of the 40 acres and a mule reparations settlement that was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson.

News flash Pat, many of the inventions, scientific and technological innovations that make life easy in the USA were created from the genius of African descended people.

To quote NAACP founder W.E.B. DuBois, 'Would America have been America without her Negro people?"

Hell to the no.

But back to focusing on PatricKKK. This 'downtrodden white male' shtick is getting old and needs to be on Faux News, not MSNBC. It's obvious by the policies you and your fellow rich conservative white males espouse you don't care about 'downtrodden white males' until it's election time and you're trolling for GOP votes.

It's obvious Pat is living in the 1950's, but too many people share or enable his fracked up attitudes.

The last president should have proven to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that incompetent white males exist. Even the guy who was your party's 2008 nominee for president graduated 894 out of 898 in his Naval Academy class.

Many times we peeps of color have witnessed white males because of the color of their skin and legacy programs get college admissions slots and executive and other positions they aren't qualified for.

Now we have an unqualified white woman being considered GOP presidential material in 2012.

You know who I'm talking about. The one who has a slight resemblance to Tina Fey.

She just quit her job in Alaska, has a taste for expensive clothes, doesn't know the Constitution, current events, history or geography, hates bloggers and newscasters that ask her softball questions that stump her.

Pat's distorted view of affirmative action and his attack on Judge and future Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor just highlights the moral bankruptcy of conservatism.

Only in Pat and conservative bizarro world is a Phi Beta Kappa summa cum laude Princeton grad, a Yale Law School grad who edited the Yale Law Journal considered lacking in intelligence and unfit to be on the Supreme Court simply because she isn't conservative, white and male.

You already have seven white males on the Supreme Court, oops eight. I almost forgot in your infinite wisdom you declared Clarence Thomas to be an 'honorary white male'. You can have him.

Intelligence and competence is not just concentrated in white males. Affirmative action wouldn't have been necessary if white males like yourself weren't clutching to power like a wino holding his last bottle of MD 20/20.

2050 will be here soon enough, Patrick. You'd better make sure those affirmative action rules and regulations are in place and properly working for your great grandkids instead of trashing them.

DeLee Guilty!

Dwight DeLee has been found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.

So somebody finally got legally whacked for killing an African-American transperson.

But I can't get too happy. He wasn't found guilty of 1st degree murder. The sentencing phase has yet to be completed. I'm also bothered about the attempts to intimidate witnesses that need to be investigated and prosecuted.

But what I'm upset about is that TruTV didn't bother to cover this trial like they did the Zapata one.

It's not quite over yet, but Dwight DeLee will be getting jail time for kill Lateisha Green. How much of the 10-25 years he's facing is up to Judge Walsh.

TLDEF released a statement following the verdict, and thanks to Andy Marra, Laura Vogel and the TLDEF team who monitored the trial and supported the Green family.

Without them, this trial would have been invisible.

"Today, justice has been delivered for Lateisha Green with DeLee's conviction for committing a hateful act of violence," said TLDEF Executive Director and attorney Michael Silverman. "The jury's verdict provides Teish's family with the closure that they deserve and need, and sends a clear message that hate violence targeted at transgender people will not be tolerated."

Today's verdict is the first hate crime conviction for the slaying of a transgender person in New York State. It is only the second such conviction in the United States.

TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman has been working with the family since Lateisha's death in November. Silverman was on the ground in Syracuse, NY throughout this week's court trial working closely with the family. TLDEF collaborated with its sister organizations including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Rainbow Alliance of Central New York.

"Despite this legal victory, transgender New Yorkers still face a serious risk of violence and discrimination," added Silverman. "New York State law does not include gender identity or expression in its hate crime law and that sends a dangerous message that it is acceptable to leave part of our community vulnerable to hateful acts of violence simply because of who they are. We call upon the New York State Senate and the United States Senate to pass transgender-inclusive legislation that will protect everyone regardless of gender identity and gender expression."

TLDEF will also be attending DeLee's sentencing on August 18th at the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse, NY.

Lateisha Green's family released this statement following the verdict:

"Teish, a beautiful girl. A wonderful daughter. A brave soul. Teish was all of these things despite the adversity that regularly tried to weigh her down and overshadow her love of life. She was taken away from us too soon. All it took was one bullet.

"A bullet from a rifle that pierced her lungs and heart. And it took this one mere bullet to end Teish's life because she happened to be a transgender woman. We have spent months waiting for this day to come.

"8 long months that have kept our family captive to our fears, sadness and anger. Afraid to leave our homes, sad to have lost Teish and angry that we couldn't prevent this from happening to our little girl. But today, the jury delivered a verdict that will end most of the horrors experienced by our family and friends.

"The jury convicted Dwight DeLee of killing Teish in cold blood. They found him guilty of targeting Teish simply because of her difference. And the jury has made it clear that any loss of life in our city and county because of anti-gay and anti-transgender bias is unacceptable and wrong. Justice has been done.

"But we will never get to see Teish ever again. She will forever live in our hearts and minds. And it is our duty to share her story so that Teish's memory will be kept alive. We do this so this series of painful events will never happen again to any other person because they are different.

"Our family and friends will continue to talk about Teish so others may know the love and support that every child deserves regardless of their differences. We want to thank everyone who stood behind us and gave our family strength during such difficult times. The overwhelming amount of support has meant so much to us. We want to close by saying life is precious. Teish knew that and that's why she would tell everyone here to be brave. To be authentic and true to yourself. And Teish would give a beautiful and bright smile to everyone here. Thank you."

DeLee Trial-Deliberating

The prosecution and the defense in the DeLee trial, the accused killer of Teish Green, rested their cases Wednesday.

After instructions from the judge they retired to deliberate the case. There have also been disturbing reports of attempts at witness intimidation as well.

You can read TLDEF intern Laura Vogel's blog entry for Thursday here.

As of this writing there was no word of a verdict in this trial, and lets hope and pray that the Green-Cannon family receives justice.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Apollo 11 Anniversary Edition

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. I remember breathlessly watching the television coverage of the mission from its July 16 blastoff from then Cape Kennedy to the moon landing itself and the subsequent EVA from astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin that occurred after it.

Speaking of watching things, time for me to do what I do on a weekly basis. Find the fools who are on this planet making one small misstep away from man, and one giant leap for foolkind.

There were once again, many worthy candidates this week. Pat BuKKKanan, Jeff Sessions and other GOP senators grilling judge Sonia Sotomayor, Zell Miller, Philly's Valley Swim Club, and the spokeswomyn for the Lu's womyn-born-womyn pharmacy in Vancouver, BC.

Our runaway winners this week were the peeps at Free Republic.

The Freepers went crazy over First Daughter Malia Obama wearing a t-shirt with a peace symbol on it at the recent G-8 summit in Italy and responded with over the top racist psychobabble that was so nasty newspapers in other nations picked it up before the admins climbed out of their white sheets and shut down the disgusting thread.

People, she's 11 years old. Damn.

Free Republic, shut up fools!