The State Of The Black Trans Union 2013

While I was watching the State of the Union address I couldn't help but ponder in the aftermath of that speech the overall status of the African-American trans community and where it is several weeks into 2013.

So what is the State of the Black Trans Union through the eyes of the TransGriot?   A mixed bag.

We've made some strides on many fronts.  Two members of the record trans contingent that attended the 2012 Democratic natrional convention in Charlotte were TPOCC executive director Kylar Broadus and the president emeritus of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition Dr. Marisa Richmond.

Kylar also became the first transperson of any ethnic background to give testimony to a US senate committee.  In Washington DC IFGE award winner Earline Budd was nominated for and became a DC Human Rights Commissioner.  We've have more role models become visible around the country such as Janet Mock,. Laverne Cox, Valerie Spencer, Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Minister Carmarion Anderson, Isis King, Carter Brown, Danielle King. Diamond Stylz, Kokumo Kinetic and Cheryl Courtney Evans just to name a few.   

We have all these people (including myself) and other unheralded ones taking on leadership roles in our community.  Many are gaining local, national and sometimes international attention for it but as Ralph Ellison would say, yet we are still invisible to mainstream America. 

Ever since Christine Jorgensen 60 years ago this month stepped her stylishly dressed self on the tarmac at JFK airport the media light and the narrative has been predominately focused on white transwomen.   That still persists six decades later to the point that when CeCe McDonald, one of our own trans women was in trouble, the only person a talk show helmed by a Black woman sought out to talk about the case was a white one.

We are still disproportionately  along with our Latina sisters taking the brunt of the anti-trans murders, and 2013 is already off to a negative start with the killing of Milwaukee rapper Evon 'Yung LT' Young.   The New Year dawned with Sage Smith still missing and former DC Police officer Kenneth Furr receiving a get out of jail free card after being convicted on October 27 of wounding two trans women.   CeCe McDonald is in jail for standing her ground and defending herself while the people who killed Paige Clay and Brandy Martell are still free.

We are still grappling with an unemployment rate almost double the one cis African-Americans face at 27% and haven't had an African-American transperson elected to public office since 1992.  Outside of TPOCC, there are no African-American transpersons that I am aware of who are working in any major LGBT human rights organization.  

In our state and civic locales the LGBT orgs that purport to represent the entire community resemble Republican party convention halls and frustration is growing about that state of affairs.

We are still frustrated by a media blackout (pun intended) that hampers us from getting the attention we deserve to help shed a spotlight on the solvable problems in the African-American trans community that are also Black America's problems.

We are also beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of the dynamic in the African-American community that gives far more unconditional love, respect and authenticity to the fictional Madea character Tyler Perry plays and RuPaul dressed in drag than the proud African-American trans women in their midst fighting for their human rights, dignity and humanity.  
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To borrow Maya Angelou's words, and still we rise.

The Trans Persons of Color Coalition contines to grow and solidify its standing as the go to organization for non-white transpeople.   The Black Transmen Inc, Conference I have the honor along with Kylar of doing a keynote speech for next month in Dallas is in its second year at a bigger hotel.  The TransFaith in Color conference in Charlotte continues to grow in size and positive reputation.

The National Black Justice Coalition also continues to make it clear to the Black transgender community that the 'T' is capitalized in LGBT when they speak of and include us in their advocacy and their programming..    

Speaking of our Black transmen, it has been a blessing and sincere joy to see them stepping up to share the leadership role in our community, do the organizing work that needs to be done and get their much deserved time in the media spotlight as they do so.

The upcoming March 31 unveiling of the first annual Trans 100 list will be the first step in giving recognition to those amazing leaders out there.   They run the gamut from our emerging youth to elder statespersons that give me hope that the future of our Black trans union will continue to improve in 2013 and beyond.

I also hope to see us in 2013 as we continue our effort to build a better, more cohesive African-American trans community, we also take some time to reach out to our trans brothers and sisters across the African Diaspora..  Their voices have been just as muted as ours have been here in the States and they are also struggling for the protection of their human rights and respect of their humanity in their various nations.

If they ask for our help, we must respond by respectfully asking our Diaspora cousins what's the best way for us in the West to do so and then follow through.  

So what's the state of the Black Trans Union?   A mixed bag that's not even close to where we need it to be, but is improving enough to give me hope that when i write this post in 2014 it will be better. 

More Black Trans History Links

It's almost halfway through Black History month 2013 an I realized I haven't done any Black trans history posts yet.

My bad, TransGriot readers.

Buried in the over 6400 posts I've written since January 1, 2006 are many that deal with Black trans history makers. 

In addition to the now three Black trans history quizzes,  I do have posts about various events personalities and compilation posts of the TransGriot Ten Questions Interviews I've done so far.

And yes, people.  I heard your voices speak in terms of you wanting more of those Ten Questions Interviews and will strive to do a better job of bringing those to you in 2013.


Black Trans History-Lucy Hicks Anderson

Black Trans History-Althea Garrison 

Black Trans History-Ajita Wilson

TransGriot Ten Questions Interview-Isis King

TransGriot Ten Questions Interview-Tracie Jada O'Brien

TransGriot Ten Questions Interview- Diamond Stylz

The Interesting Story of Gerald Trenton

The Story of Carlett Brown

Who Was The First African-American Transperson?

The Story of Georgia Black

Black Trans History-Jim McHarris

Jowelle De Souza-Trini Trans Pioneer

LA Area Transwomen Pissed About Transphobic LA Times Article

Just as New York area transwomen were extremely ticked off about the transphobic reporting of the New York that came to a head in the story that was done on Lorena Escalera, our West Coast sisters are highly pissed off about the transphobic reporting in the West Coast's paper of record that has now come to anger raising levels with Sam Quinones' recent LA Times article about Hollywood's sex workers that focused on the murdered Cassidy Vickers.

The Quinones article disrespectfully referred to Vickers and the other trans sex workers as “male hookers dressed as women” and “men with women's breasts and clothes”.

It repeatedly referred to Cassidy in violation of the AP Stylebook guidelines for reporting on trans people by her old name and male pronouns.  It also disrespected the murdered Cassidy by asserting she was 'a gay male who dresses for attention and money.'   And as you wise readers probably guessed,  the trans person in question that was disrespected in death by the article was survey says, African-American. 

Note to the Los Angeles Times and their writers, check the AP Stylebook if you have questions about how to write about a transperson.

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.   
If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly. 

The pissivity of the West Coast girls like us over the article has triggered a petition drive that seeks to gather a modest 1000 signatures.  

In addition to the petition drive that seeks a retraction of the Quinones story, LA trans activists are also seeking a face to face meeting with LA Times officials to air grievances over past LA Times misgendering articles and ensure they don't ever see such a blatantly transphobic article written again. 

Hope GLAAD will also be there in support of the Los Angeles area trans community if and when they have this meeting. .

Today Is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2013

Today is the 13th annual National HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  As someone who has lost two extended family members and many dear friends to the disease, I'm keenly aware of the toll HIV/AIDS had taken on this community.

It was started by the Centers for Disease Control and other grassroots  organizations in 2000 and launched as part of a widespread effort to curb the rate of HIV infection amongst black men and women through “education, testing, involvement, and treatment.”

There are more than one million new cases of HIV infections in the U.S. every year, and nearly half of them are African American men, women, and children. Black men are nearly eight times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white males, while black females are 20 times more likely to be diagnosed than white females.

And sadly, embedded in those statistics are Black trans people.  The Injustice At Every Turn report revealed that 20% of the 381 African American trans respondents to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey  reported being HIV+ and an additional 10% reporting they did not know their status.   There are some major advances that have been made in the fight to defeat HIV/AIDS, and health officials around the world are optimsitic that it can be defeated.

HIV+ infected people are living longer due to netter treatment regimens, more testing despite political interference that catches the disease earlier, and just last month a Spanish research team announced a major medical breakthrough that could lead one day to an effective vaccine against the HIV virus.

But until that glorious day happens and there's a cure for AIDS,  we need to do a much better job of getting our people informed about HIV, getting them tested and making sure people know their status.  It's the only way at the present time we are going to reduce infection rates and eventually eradicate it.

Two Months Later-Sage Smith Is Still Missing

January 20 marked two months since the November 20 day that Sage Smith went missing.

Still no word about Sage, but a "person of interest" has been named in this case.  Charlottesville, VA police are searching for evidence in a landfill, and a $10,000 reward has been offered. 

A half-dozen officers are searching for evidence in a landfill in Henrico County, the location where the trash from Charlottesville was sent when Smith was reported missing on November 20.

The family is still trying to keep their hopes up, and you may wish to consider sending your positive thoughts and prayers to them for a swift resolution to this case and Sage's safe return.

Will keep you posted if any newsworthy developments happen.

 

Trans Organist T. Desiree Hines Passes Away

Was stunned and saddened to hear the news from Tona Brown that trans organist T. Desiree Hines passed away January 24 due to the Stage Four neuroendocrine cancer she was bravely battling.

I had the pleasure of having a few long conversations with her, and when I last checked in with Desiree she had moved to Kansas City, MO, was playing the organ at Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and had started her studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Before moving to Kansas City she was a well known fixture in the Philadelphia TBLG community.  But mere months into her KC stay she received the devastating medical news last March. 

Despite that the Jackson, MS native stayed upbeat about her situation and fought it tooth and nail despite the long odds until the end.

"When I'm sick, it affects me. But it is actually given me a better outlook on life, more drive to be a better person, a better musician," Hines said.

Rest in Peace Desiree.   Heaven just picked up one heck of an organist.   You will be missed. 

Black Trans Year In Review 2012

Transpeople were in the news in 2012, and Black transpeople played major roles in not only making it but  also making some trans history in the process.

Our year did get off to a negative start with the murders during the 2011 holiday season of two of our young transsisters. Shellie Hilliard in Detroit was brutally killed in late October and Dee Dee Pearson was shot to death on Christmas Eve in Kansas City.   The new year was barely five weeks old when Washington DC's Deoni Jones was stabbed at a bus stop in February.    The murderers of Hilliard and Pearson were caught and eventually brought to justice during 2012 while Deoni Jones' killer Gary Niles Montgomery's trial will start June 10..  

Hilliard's killer Qasim Raqib was sentenced to 25-40 years March 26 and Pearson's killer Kenyan Jones got 30 years.  Unfortunately the persons who killed Chicago's Paige Clay and Tiffany Gooden, Detroit's Coko Williams and Oakland's Brandy Martell have yet to be brought to justice.

Speaking of justice, CeCe McDonald stood her ground against transphobic Minnesota white supremacist Jonathan Schmitz and friends who unfortunately died in the incident they started.  She was until May 2012 the only person facing charges and received a plea bargained 41 months in jail for it.   Molly Shannon Flaherty, who instigated the incident still has yet to be punished for it.

The Marsha P. Johnson case was reopened by the Manhattan DA's office 20 years after her death was controversially ruled a suicide.

Victoria Carmen White's alleged killer Alrashim Chambers got away with murdering her when an Essex County jury acquitted him May 25.   A few months later I posted an article from Chambers trial foreman Dennis Heffernan explaining their reasons for doing so.

We also observed the ten year anniversaries of the execution style killing of transteens Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis in Washington DC (whose killers still haven't been brought to justice) and the mysterious death of Nizah Morris in Philadelphia. 

We also marked ten years since the passing of pioneering trans man Alexander John Goodrum on October 3.

There was also an ugly New York incident that garnered headlines in September in which the boyfriend of transwoman Jalisa Griffen was slashed by a transphobe at a Greenwich Village McDonald's.  

Former DC police officer Kenneth Furr was convicted in October for an ugly August 2011 incident in which he fired his service weapon at three trans women and their companions in NW Washington.  He is due to be sentenced in January 2013.  


While the infuriating pattern of trans women of color being messed with, disproportionately killed due to anti-trans violence or not receiving justice continues, major strides happened for the Black trans community in 2012.  

Janet Mock made TheGrio's 100 People Making History Today list in January among some of the other awards and accolades she's garnered. 
Janet also started the #girlslikeus Twitter campaign as well as continuing work on her eagerly anticipated autobiography.

The inaugural March 29-April 1 Black Transmen's conference happened in Dallas with Rev. Louis Mitchell as its keynote speaker.  The second one will take place March 13-18 in Dallas. 

That wasn't Rev. Mitchell's only keynote.  He was also at the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference in June giving their keynote address as well.

Earline Budd was nominated for and sworn in to a seat on the Washington DC Commission on Human Rights along with another trans woman.  DC also began an anti-trans discrimination campaign with posters featuring a Black trans woman and Black trans man. 

A first in the Midwest trans pride event was organized by Kokumo in July. 

The Trans Persons of Color Coalition (TPOCC) continued its rise as the national organization representing the interests of transpeople of color. It was visible at events such as the PTHC, the TransFaith In Color conference in Charlotte that I keynoted and OUT on the Hill.

TPOCC executive director Kylar Broadus was making a lot of history in a busy 2012 for him. He because the first transperson of any ethnicity to testify at a US Senate hearing in June.  He was part of the DNC's platform committee and also became the first African-American trans man to attend a Democratic National Convention in September.   Dr Marisa Richmond was also in the house in Charlotte for her second DNC convention along with 11 other trans people.  

Kylar also was at the White House along with Dr Richmond and Washington DC Human rights Commissioner Earline Budd for a meeting with White House staffers on trans issues that took place during the TDOR.

Isis King blazed another groundbreaking trail as the first transwoman to appear in an American Apparel ad.

And yes, your favorite blogger did her part to make some trans history as well.   I got published in EBONY.com in March.  In June I was part of the first ever trans themed panel at Netroots Nation in Providence, RI.   In September I was honored to be one of the four trans women (the others were Danielle King, Rev. Carmarion Anderson and Valerie Spencer) taking part in a first ever town hall discussion during the 2012 OUT on the Hill that was moderated by Laverne Cox.  

A few hours later Laverne was part of a CBC-ALC panel discussing media.    

By the way, the upcoming 2013 OUT on the Hill  in September will have a trans masculine panel.

And unfortunately we're ending this year with our young transsister Sage Smith still missing.

Those were just some of the stories that were part of our Black trans year in review for 2012.   I hope this post is even longer and chock full of even more groundbreaking achievements for our community in the twelve months ahead.

Beyond Althea Garrison-Run Black Trans People Run!

The 2012 election cycle is rapidly receding into the history books and the winners during these hard fought campaigns across the country will begin to be sworn into their offices and go to work in January.

But this completed election cycle also reminded me that it has been twenty years since stealth trans woman  Althea Garrison was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature in 1992.

The major reason we found out about the historic piece of Black trans history was because Eric Fehrnstrom, the person who outed her at that time when he was a columnist for the conservative leaning Boston Herald, was the communications director in the failed Mitt Romney presidential campaign

I've seen an increase since 1992 of open trans politicians running for and winning offices around the world. Three transwomen, Georgina Beyer in New Zealand, Vladimir Luxuria in Italy and now Anna Grodzka in Poland won seats in their national legislative bodies while others in several nations have tried and fallen short of doing so. .

I've seen several trans people run for and win public offices in the United States from mayors to small town city council seats.  Kim Coco Iwamoto twice won election to the Hawaii state school board in 2006 and 2010 and Vicky Kolakowski that same year won a Alameda County, CA judicial seat.  Others have run for office and lost.  Some have done so multiple times for different offices like Vermont's Karen Kerin.  

But unfortunately the common thread in all those American trans people who have run for and either won or lost races is that they haven't been African descended trans people.

And that needs to change.

It's been painfully obvious to me over a decade of lobbying at the local, state and federal level that in addition to getting current legislators up to speed on the issues that affect trans people and voting  for politicians who are supportive of our issues, we also are in dire need of transpeople sitting at the table helping to formulate the policies and write the laws that govern us.

I'm happy for the trans people in various states that have stepped up, run and won or lost their various political races and broke barriers in the process.  We need more qualified trans people to run for public office if we're going to get the trans human rights coverage we deserve. 

Some of those qualified people running from office must be African descended ones.   One of the reasons why is because in a lot of cases, our chocolate transition journey is not like a white transperson's transition journey because of cultural factors and the deleterious impact of race and class on it.

And it's not like we don't have support in the Democratic Party.   There were thirteen trans delegates in Charlotte for the DNC convention last summer, and two of them were African-American.. 

Even Vice President Joe Biden has recently verbalized that trans rights are human rights, and one of the ways to make them a reality is get political power so we can write good laws for our community and be in a position to block bad ones.

Some of our Black gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are already running for and winning public office and have been for several years now.  

I said it during that OUT on the Hill trans panel that it was past time for us to do the same if we are going to have the issues that impact us as African descended transpeople dealt with.

It's also clear that we need to build upon what Althea Garrison started in 1992..

We need to run Black transpeople to send the message to the world trans community that American trans community leadership is not monoracial and we are stepping up, ready and willing  to take our rightful place on the world trans leadership stage.   

It's increasingly becoming clear that we will need to have politicians who are boys and girls like us, and that can only happen if we're in the political game to win it. 

So run Black trans people run!  

Nizah Morris Case-Ten Years Later

One of the cases I've been tracking ever since I started the blog is the Nizah Morris case. 

In the pre-dawn hours of December 22, 2002 she was at the downtown Key West bar at 13th and Walnut streets attending a party being held there.  She was allegedly severely inebriated and collapsed in front of the bar around 2:00 AM.  Someone called the paramedics to take her to the hospital   While waiting at least 20 minutes for the paramedics to arrive a Philadelphia police officer arrived at the scene. 

The 47 year old Morris declined the police officer's offer of a courtesy ride to take her to the hospital but instead asked to be taken home.  She was helped by bar patrons into the back of the police cruiser and unfortunately never made it there.

Instead she was found lying on her back at 16th and Walnut by a passing motorist unconscious with a fractured skull and bleeding from the right side of her head.  She had a life threatening subdural hematoma that required immediate medical attention and Morris was taken to Philadelphia's Jefferson University Hospital in critical condition.   She was on life support for several days until she was taken off of it and died at 8:30 PM EST on Christmas Eve.

The next day Morris' death was declared by the medical examiner as a homicide.   And you knew there had to be a little transphobia lurking in this story as well.   On December 26 Nizah's mother Roslyn Wilkins was notified of her daughter's death by a police detective who said to her, "He's dead"   

After Wilkins complained about the misgendering way he broke the news of her child's death to her, that detective was removed from the case.   The family was even more disturbed after looking at photos taken at the medical examiner's office that showed Morris with what appeared to be defensive wounds on her hands.
  
And yes, what would a story about a murdered African-American trans woman be without a heaping helping of media disrespect and misgendering?   When the Philadelphia Inquirer published their initial account of the morris story on December 31 they referred to Nizah as a 'prostitute' and stuck the misgendering 'male prostitute' in the body of the story. 

On January 1 after a memorial service attended by over 300 people Nizah Morris' body was cremated.      

That was ten years ago, and to this day the Morris family nor the Philadelphia trans community has gotten a consistent story from the PPD about what exactly happened to Nizah Morris on that fateful night.   It also hasn't helped that information, tapes and evidence pertaining to the case has mysteriously disappeared

The Morris family and others in the Philadelphia rainbow community suspect that excessive force was used on Morris, the PPD knows more about what happened on that fateful December 22 night than they are acknowledging and are covering up what really happened.

The three officers involved in the Morris incident, Thomas Berry, Elizabeth DiDonato and Kenneth Novak remain on the Philadelphia police force and were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in December 2003.

In the latest intrigue surrounding this case it seems the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office refuses to confirm or deny whether it has a police log pertaining to the Nizah Morris case, even though such logs are considered public records under Pennsylvania state law.

The case has been investigated by the Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission for several years and neither the family or the Philadelphia LGBT community has gotten a satisfactory explanation of what happened.

The question i continue to ask in this case is the same as always.  What does the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and the Philadelphia PD know about what happened to Nizah Morris, when did they know it, and if the po-po's are involved, who did it? 

“Bring in the feds,” Wilkins said.  

I agree with the family in the call for federal authorities to get involved in this ongoing investigation.  It's sadly ten years later and we are still no closer to answering the simple question of what did happen to Nizah Morris in those predawn December 22 hours.

Happy 20th Birthday Sage!

Today is Sage Smith's 20th birthday.    Unfortunately she's still missing..  We'd hoped that she'd be back home by now celebrating this day with her family and friends.

And she should be. 

Sage should be doing what any twentysomething would do on their Big 2-0 birthday.  She should be at home tearing into her gifts and preparing to blow out twenty candles on her birthday cake enveloped in the love of her family and friends. 

Instead she's been missing since November 20.  Christmas is approaching, the person who last talked to her in Erik McFadden has left the Charlottesville, VA area and several searches have revealed no clues to Sage's whereabouts.

One thing people have been pissed off about is the lack of media coverage, but it looks like that may be starting to change as well.  

Continue to pray not only for Sage but her family in this trying and painful time for them.  If you have any information concerning this case please call Crimestoppers at 434-977-4000.

TransGriot Update:  Found out there will be at Lee Park in Charlottesville, VA a rainbow balloon release in honor of Sage's birthday starting at 5:30 PM EST.  If you live in the area and can attend please consider going to the event and supporting the family and friends of Sage.

Sage Smith Case Update-Sage's Birthday Approaching And She's Still Missing

Sage Smith's 20th birthday on December 13 is rapidly approaching, and the trans teen that has been missing since November 20 still has yet to be heard from by family or friends.   Someone else that hasn't been heard from besides Erik McFadden, the last person to talk to Sage is the media.

Kinda sad that if you Google 'Sage Smith', links to my blog posts pop up.   I shouldn't be one of the few peeps commenting on it, a point GLAAD's Daryl Hannah made in his HuffPo post he wrote about the lack of media coverage in this case 

Yeah, I'm not happy about this, but I'll put my pissivity about this indifference toward this young POC transperson's life on pause and turn the focus of this post back toward finding our trans youngling.

A vigil and walk is happening later today starting at 6:30 PM EST.   If you live in the area and can support the family and this event, please do so.

The Vigil and March, will begin at 6:30pm Saturday at 731 Orange Dale, we will start with prayer, then words of reflection from family and friends,. Then we will walk from Orange Dale, down 9th street, up the 9th/10th street connector, right on Main street, than down to the Train station ending at around 7:30. This will symbolize the lantern shining to help Dashad find his way home, as well as the light which must be shined on his disappearance, to find out what has happened to Dashad. We also will have media there to help in spreading the word. We need peoples help in supplying the candles. We have gotten support from at least 3 area churches so far, and are trying to enlist other civic leaders.

If anyone has eyeballs on Erik McFadden or you have any pertinent information relevant to this case, please call the Charlottesville, VA Police Department at 434-977-4000.

And let's continue to pray for the safe return of Sage to her family.

Sage Smith Case- Police Want To Chat With Erik McFadden

While there's unfortunately still no word about Sage Smith and her family has yet to hear from her a week after being reported missing, there is some news in this case.  The Charlottesville, VA police have a person they wish to talk to that may shed light on what happened to her.

21 year old Erik Tyquan McFadden was the last person she talked to on her cell phone the day she went missing on November 20.  According to McFadden's Facebook page he is a student at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. 

The Charlottesville police spoke to McFadden, who admitted he did talk to her, they were supposed to meet on that day but according to him it never happened.

Since that conversation with the po-po's occurred McFadden is believed to have left the area and his whereabouts are unknown.  Police want to talk to him again, but as of this writing have not issued a warrant for his arrest nor have they named him as a person of interest in this case.

The Smith family, friends and supporters held a candlelight vigil Wednesday for Sage at Lee Park according to local media and asked for anyone who had information in this case to come forward.   A Facebook page has also been created for that purpose as well.

If I hear any information or important updates concerning the ongoing Sage Smith case, I will pass it along to you TransGriot readers as fast as I receive it.

Search For Missing Virginia Trans Teen

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One of our young transsisters is missing in the Charlottesville,VA area.  The local police and the family of Sage Smith is asking for help in finding her.

The 19 year old has been missing since November 20 when she was supposed to be meeting a man on a date and missed a planned Thanksgiving dinner with her mother..

Sage was seen around 5:00-5:30 PM EST on that date by a friend in the 500 block of West Main Street in Charlottesville. The 5 foot 8 Smith was last seen wearing a black jacket, dark-gray sweatpants, a black scarf and gray boots, police said.

If you have any info, please call the Charlottesville VA Police Department at 434-977-4000

Let's hope and pray Sage's family gets an early Christmas present this year with their child's safe return to their lives and it happens before her 20th birthday on December 13.

Laverne On Being Black And Trans

You hear my take on being Black and trans on a regular basis here at TransGriot.  Stumbled across this video of my sis Laverne Cox expressing herself on the topic.

Take it away Laverne

Black Trans Women Became Visible Because We Had To Be

Was sent a link by reader Segmoh Hareema Akinak to a Clutch magazine story by Ella Vincent discussing how Black LGBT women became visible.  

Was surprised to note that it included me and Janet Mock in it since when they discuss women in these online heteronormative and cisgender oriented spaces, far too often trans women get left out of the discussion or dissed when people try to include us in it..

I appreciate the shout out, but I do need to expand on the #girlslikeus portion of Vincent's piece.

Black trans women are visible because we had to be for our own survival, political evolution and our sanity.  We face anti-trans violence aimed at us that we will sadly be memorializing this week in TDOR events here in the States and around the world.  We were getting ignored not only by our own transpeople and our African-American family inside and outside the community, but being erased from the trans and LGBT history we helped make.

Don't even get me started about the Black unwoman meme that is magnified when it focuses its negativity on African descended trans women and slaps us with a definition of Black trans femininity that is not who we see when we look in the mirror. 

In the face of that, it amazed me when I read about the Gallup survey that noted that 4.6 percent of African-Americans identify as LGBT along with 4 percent of Latinos and 4.3 percent of Asian-Americans while only  3.2 percent of white Americans say they are LGBT.   But the media faces representing the LGBT community and dominating the leadership ranks of professional TBLG rights organizations lobbying for it are far too often white ones.  The minuscule numbers of transpeople involved in those Gay, Inc organizations far too often aren't transwomen of color either. 

It's been glaringly obvious to me since the 90's that we desperately needed out and proud Black transwomen telling our stories and offsetting the disco era hate speech pushed by radical feminists about trans women. 

I've been part of that effort since 1998 and I'm happy I now have help in this vital visibility project from a new generation of out and proud trans women such as Janet Mock, Isis King, Laverne Cox, Rev. Carmarion Anderson, Bali White, Danielle King, KOKUMO, Dee Dee Chamblee and countless others around the country.

It's also wonderful that in addition to the new attitude we Black trans women have about fearlessly telling our chococentric truths about our transfeminine lives and stepping up to leadership roles in the various communities we intersect and interact with, we also have our trans elders such as Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Gloria Allen, Miss Major, Tracie Jada O'Brien, and Sharyn Grayson passing on their hard won knowledge and community history to us so we can pass on that history to future generations of African descended trans kids and our allies.

As New Black Transwomen, we not only had to become visible to attack the shame, guilt and fear that deleteriously impact our lives, we needed to do so in order to own our political and personal power, love ourselves and build pride in becoming and being who we are as proud African descended women. 

Black transwomen have become and are visible in this second decade of the 21st century because for the sake of the transkids wishing to walk in our pumps, we had to be.  

 

Happy Birthday, Miss Major!

This is a post I'm so happy to write because at times she's had a challenging year.  

One of the highlights of my trip to Charlotte besides the honor of giving that keynote speech at this year's TransFaith In Color conference was having Miss Major sitting by my side before I got up from the table to deliver it and being able to spend some quality time with her.

Today is Miss Major's 70th birthday and I wanted to take some time to wish one of our iconic sheroes and trailblazers a very happy one.  

I and the transwomen of my generation and beyond thank you for being out there fighting for our human rights, being a tell it like it T-I-S is advocate for us and representing us with class and dignity all these years while doing so.  

Thank you for the quality time and wisdom you share with me every time we are blessed to get to spend some time together in the same locale, some of the community history that you enlightened me with during those times, and giving me the strength to be an out and proud as a African descended transwoman.   Hopefully I and others will continue to blessed with the opportunity to bask in your presence and wisdom as one of our trans elders and icons

May your birthday be full of love and blessings and you get to enlighten us with your wisdom for years to come.

Love you, and Happy Birthday Miss Major!     May you have many more to come.

More News In The Nizah Morris Case

Our late trans sister Nizah Morris in Philadelphia has been gone almost ten years.   The Philadelphia trans community and our allies have never gotten a satisfactory explanation of how she died from a fatal head wound on Christmas Eve after leaving a downtown area LGBT bar seriously inebriated.and receiving a courtesy ride on December 22, 2002 from the Philadelphia Police Department.

In the latest intrigue surrounding this case it seems the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office refuses to confirm or deny whether it has a police log pertaining to the Nizah Morris case, even though such logs are considered public records under Pennsylvania state law.

Something else to make you go hmm about the Morris case and the ongoing investigation into it.

It also leads me to ask the question I asked last year and add to it.   What does the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and the Philadelphia PD know about what happened to Nizah Morris, when did they know it, and if the po-po's are involved, who did it? 

Thanks to Kathleen Padilla for sending me this PGN link about the updated news in the Nizah Morris case

Diamond Stylz-Louis Mitchell Interview

Been a while since I posted some video from my Houston homegirl's video blog.    Posting an interview she did with another one of my fave transmen, Rev. Louis Mitchell

It's TBLG History Month!

As a child and godchild of historians, I have always believed it is important to know your history.

It not only fortifies your self-esteem against the inevitable micro and macroaggressive attacks that will be leveled at you and your self esteem by your oppressors, but it also helps you as the marginalized person to know where you've come from, where you've been, know that people like you have played major roles in building this community and fighting for its human rights and help chart the course for the future.

October is LGBT History, month, and what I will do since this month will probably disproportionately be focused on the L:G end of the community, is laser beam focus it on the 'T' end of the community.

I'm going to focus it on the African-American trans end as well since we get even less coverage of our accomplishments and our trans history has been whitewashed out of the predominately vanillacentric trans narrative.  It's important for us and the next generations of African descended transpeople that we not only know our history, but honor our trans elders who helped write it, be cognizant of the fact we are at this moment in time ourselves making history and pass it on.

So to get this edition of TBLG History Month started off properly, here's some links to some previous posts I wrote here that you can peruse to get this month off to a proper transcentric start. 

Black Trans History Compilations

Kylar Broadus Makes History In DC Today

The 1965 Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit In

Tyra Hunter Anniversary

The Story of Georgia Black

Happy Twentywhatever Birthday Isis!

It's October 1st and I wasn't going to let today slide by without a TransGriot Happy Birthday shout-out to my twentysomething little sis in the Big Apple.  Sorry we missed connecting while I was up there, but I know it'll happen sooner or later.

I remember I wrote in my open letter to you back in 2008:

"Your confidence will grow as you learn who Isis is, get comfortable with your body and figure out what type of woman you want to project to the world. As you work through that ongoing process, you will eventually get to the point in which you feel as strong, sexy, beautiful and confident as the Egyptian queen you chose to name yourself after."

It's four years later and you have fulfilled that prediction I made for you at that time and then some.  You represent #girlslikeus with class, dignity and a regal style and I'm so proud of you for that.  

And yep, I really enjoy those moments when we get the chance to talk.  Need to do more of it when both our busy schedules allow it.

Happy birthday Isis!   May your special day be a wonderful one filled with abundant blessings, and may you have many more!