Help A Pioneering Blogger Out

One of the people who was instrumental in giving my nascent blog a leg up back in 2006 was when Pam Spaulding graciously ave me a link on her wildly popular and award winning Pam's House Blend blog .

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet her and Alvin McEwen during the 2012 Netroots Nation and personally thanking her for doing that.    Pam is a beloved and well respected figure in our ranks, and it saddened me to hear that due to health issues she closed down the Blend after nine years.

Those same health issues that caused her to close down Pam's House Blend have now caused her to lose a longtime job she had, and she's going to need a little help from us to get her through this fiscal crunch she's in.

So if you can help a blogging sister out, please do so.   Link is here.

Aww, Pam's House Blend To Shut Down July 1

Sad and surprising news coming out of North Carolina as my blogging shero Pam Spaulding announced that after nine years, she is shutting down her groundbreaking and award winning Pam's House Blend blog July 1.

Pam's blog along with the November 2005 kick in the butt from Jordana LeSesne were some of the motivating reasons I decided to get off the fence about it and found TransGriot back in January 2006.  One of the first blogs to link to the neophyte TransGriot and give it an initial traffic and signal boost was Pam's House Blend. 

As a fellow red stater and African-American I appreciated her thought provoking views and perspectives on the LGBT movement and other subjects and loved the fact she wasn't 'scurred' to talk about race and class issues inside the community either.

During the life of the Black Blog Rankings that Wayne Hicks of Electronic Villager compiled, Pam's House Blend quickly rose to the number one spot in them and stayed there for 15 months until the Villager shut it down in October 2009.

People marvel and talk about when I meet them the pace that I crank out posts here at TransGriot but Pam made me look like a slacker. There were days where she would have as many as ten posts up in a single day to my mere three or more as the news cycle dictates and many of them were long form ones. 

Pam was running the Blend, up late writing and traveling to conferences across the country while holding down a full time non LGBT activism related job and battling ongoing health issues.   

I had the pleasure of finally meeting her and one of her baristas Alvin McEwen during Netroots Nation in Providence last year and spent an enjoyable and hilarious at times few days hanging with them.   

She said in her post she's not disappearing from the scene entirely, and that good news. “I’ll continue to be active on social media and make time to mentor folks as I can. It’s just time for someone else to pick up the ball and run with the daily activist grind, and forge new ground in an ever-shifting new media.”

Pam, while I'm going to miss surfing over to the Blend on a regular basis, best of luck and megasuccess in whatever you decide to do from this point forward. 

Also looking forward to the next time I get to spend some quality time in your presence.

Black Gossip Blogs Spouting Transphobic BS Again

I've never liked the Black gossip blogosphere for more than a few reasons, but the overriding one is the rampant transphobia in their ranks and the comment sections of those blogs.

There have been more than a few times I've called them out about their transphobic attacks aimed at their fave punching bag Wendy Williams, and went after Sandra Rose when she posted her ignorant comments concerning Kye Allums.

Now they are aiming their transphobic animus at Joseline Hernandez of the VH1 series Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta.   While it's not one of the shows I watch since I'm not a 'reality' show fan, what has gotten my attention is the loud 'that's a man' chatter being aimed at Joseline.

Dayum, here we go again.   Why am I not surprised Sandra Rose's trifling behind and Bossip are front and center in trafficking the transphobia? 

Not cool Sandra with the misgendering of Joseline, but then again you never exceed the low expectations I have for you.  Bossip used the anti-trans slur word 'shim' in the title of another post slamming Joseline.  


Here's the comment I left at one of the blogs in which the comment threads are gleefully engaging in transphobia.

SMH at the rampant transphobia and ignorance running amok here. A little more or less testosterone in vitro and many of you would be in the same situation as transpeople are.

News flash for you scientifically illiterate folks aiming transphobic shade at Ms. Hernandez.  Women come in all shapes, sizes, body combinations and configurations.   Just because a woman is over 5'7", has broad shoulders and other physical traits considered part of the masculine spectrum doesn't mean she's automatically trans. 

I have trans girlfriends who are petite, ultrafeminine looking size 7 shoe wearing divas and cis girlfriends of varying heights and combinations of traits who wear size 12 pumps.You are a blend of genetic material from mommy and daddy, and started your in vitro developmental phase as female, so you are inevitably going to get a blend of gender characteristics from both parents

The other aspect of this transphobic shade being hurled at Joseline I don't appreciate is because it's playing into the 'unwoman' meme deployed far too often against women of color, and especially women of color with non-stereotypical feminine personas or body configurations.

I'm also convinced that the transphobic shade being hurled at her is what prompted Hernandez to tweet the frontal nude photo of herself showing her genitalia in an attempt to 'prove' she was female.


One of the rules I have for TransGriot is that if a person has not publicly declared they are trans, until they do so, I don't publicly speculate about their gender identity or how they express it unless they are causing demonstrable harm to the trans community.  

Until Joseline has a press conference, I'in presuming out of respect for her that she's a cis female.

Too bad some of you in the Black gossip blogosphere have gone in the opposite nekulturny direction.

Welcome To TransGriot

For you peeps who met me in DC while I was attending Out on the Hill, the CBCF Annual Legislative Conference or while I was speaking at the town hall on Wednesday, welcome to TransGriot, my cyberhome.


This post explains how I came up with the name for this blog, and it has been in existence since January 1, 2006.  You can thank musician Jordana LeSesne for challenging me to take my writing to the blogging level.

We had a November 2005 phone conversation in which I was talking about our erasure due to the lack of Black trans blogs and she bluntly asked me when I was going to start one.

On January 1, 2006 at 12:01 AM EST  TransGriot started with this post.   The mission statement came later as the blog evolved and grew to become what it is today.  

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community.  I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

And from what many of you told me as I interacted with you at Out On the Hill and the ALC this week, I have been succeeding in fulfilling that mission statement and you are deeply appreciative of the work and writing that I do here. 

The awards I've either won or been nominated for attest to the quality of my work, but there is always room for improvement and continued evolution in making TransGriot better.   

And yes, if you feel inclined to drop a little change in the TransGriot Tip Jar in the left hand margin, that's all good too and greatly appreciated.

So to my new readers and longtime ones, welcome to TransGriot.

Naah, Didn't Win A BWA This Year

In case you're wondering what happened concerning my 2011 Black Weblog Awards nomination in the Best LGBT Blog category, the live awards ceremony happened Saturday night during the just concluded Blogging While Brown convention in Los Angeles 

The winner in the Best LGBT Blog category was The Skorpion Show.

Hey, they got more votes than I did.  That's life.  I got nominated for the second straight year, I have a quality blog of my own and it was an honor just to have that happen for the second straight year.   

I thank all you peeps that nominated me for the 2011 award and voted for me as well.  It's deeply appreciated. 

But there's always next year.  

The 2011 Black Weblog Awards Voting Closes June 17

As you may be aware of, I was nominated for the second straight year in the 2011 Black Weblog Awards Best LGBT Blog category.   Voting is happening for that as we speak and will continue until June 17.

While it's an honor just to be nominated for the second straight year, I would like to win it again.

But that depends on y'all    Here's the link to the BWA 2011 ballot, vote often until June 17.

The 2011 Black Weblog Awards Voting Continues

Don't forget loyal TransGriot readers you can still vote for TransGriot in the Best LGBT Blog category until June 17.   The winners will be announced at a July 9 ceremony during the Blogging While Brown convention being held in Los Angeles July 8-10.

To get your vote on for me and the other finalists in the Black Weblog Awards, you can click on this link.

Thanks for your support and your vote

Voting Has Started For 2011 Black Weblog Awards!

After a nerve wracking week of wondering if I made it,  I'm pleased to report that for the second straight year TransGriot has been nominated in the Best LGBT Blog category for the 2011 Black Weblog Awards!  

Yay, me!.   

My esteemed competition for this year's Best LGBT Blog award is Pam's House Blend, the Skorpion Show, Southern 4 Life and Son of Baldwin

The voting commenced yesterday  and will run through June 17.    The winners in the various Black Weblog Awards categories will be announced in the first ever Live Awards Gala at the Blogging While Brown Conference in Los Angeles on July 9.

But whether I win this award for the second straight year is in your hands, so vote early and often until June 17.

2011 Black Weblog Awards Nominations Closing May 7

Just wanted to remind you loyal TransGriot readers that the 2011 edition of the Black Weblog Awards nomination process closes on May 7.

So if you haven't nominated your fave Black blogs such as Womanist Musings, TransGriot, Jack And Jill Politics, What Tami Said (just to name a few) better bust a move before May 7.   

We can't be in the process to win these awards if we aren't nominated first, and I'm shooting for a repeat of my 2010 win in the Best LGBT Blog category.

Here's the link to do so, and thanks for your support.