Number One Of 2019- Rest In Power and Peace Dana Martin

I was wondering as the noise faded in my neighborhood from the fireworks illegally being set off and the idiots firing their guns in the air how long it would take for us to lose the first trans person of the year to anti-trans violence in the US?

I got my answer to the question I posed to myself on New Year's Day.  Six days.

We go to Montgomery, Alabama for our first trans murder of 2019.

I was advised by Daroneshia Duncan Boyd that 31 year old Dana  Martin of Hope Hull, AL was found at 11:30 PM CST after people reported a car crashed into a ditch in the 3900 block of Brewer Road off Selma Highway. 

When Montgomery police arrived at the scene, they discovered Martin dead at the scene from a gunshot would to the head.

And as usual, the local media and MPD initially misgendered her.

Rant moment:  I am beyond sick and tired of the media and local police departments being transphobic azzholes and deliberately misgendering and deadnaming trans people.   They then want to get salty when the trans community calls them on their BS.

MPD put out a statement trying to justify their transphobia and the misgendering of Martin.

“Please note that MPD publicly identified the victim as male as determined by legal documents and forensic evaluation,” said MPD Captain Regina Duckett. “For MPD, how a homicide victim identifies is a personal matter that becomes relevant to our investigation only if it is determined to be a reason the victim was killed.”

Naw Captain Duckett, not today.   It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you have a person that is dead that has a penis in her panties, the odds are probably 100% you're dealing with a trans feminine person.

it also doesn't detract from your investigation to announce that a trans person has been murdered.  By respecting the person instead of disrespecting them , you increase the chances of solving the crime.

Rant over, back to the business end of this post.

MPD detectives investigating this case believe that Martin was shot in the general vicinity near where the car was found.   They are asking that if you have any info that will lead to the capture and prosecution of the perpetrators of this crime, to call CrimeStopers at 334-215-STOP  (7867), Secret Witness at 334-625-4000 or MPD at 334-625-2831

Rest in power and peace Dana.  You trans family and our accomplices in Alabama and beyond will not rest until justice is served to the satisfaction of everyone who loved you.

Sorority Bigot Expelled From University of Alabama After Racist Video

Well, looks like another Sorority Bigot Becky had to learn a couple of lessons the hard way.

*Being in the South doesn't give your straight outta New Jersey behind carte blanche to indiscriminately say the n-word.

*Don't put you bigotry out there on the Net where you WILL get called on it, especially by Black Twitter

*This WILL be following you for the rest of your life.

*Being a bigot costs, and you shedding white tears after the fact will not protect you from paying that cost 

In this case it cost Harley Barber her membership in the Alpha Phi sorority and got the 19 year old freshman expelled from the University of Alabama for her expletive filled videotaped rant she posted on of all days Martin Luther King, Jr Day.

Despite her sorority sisters in the Beta Mu chapter warning her not to post it, Bigot Becky kept right on going, doubling down on her videotaped hate speech.

Maybe she was auditioning for the FOX Noise show Outnumbered.   Naah, wrong hair color for that.

And then the hammer came down for her actions.   She was expelled from Alpha Phi sorority and from the University of Alabama on Tuesday.

"Alpha Phi is a diverse, values-based organization and condemns the language and opinions in these videos," Linda Kahangi, the executive director of Alpha Phi International, said in a statement.  "They are offensive and hateful to both our own members and to other members of the Greek and campus community. The [University of Alabama] chapter leadership and supporting alumnae moved quickly to address the offense, and Ms. Barber is no longer a member of Alpha Phi." 

Then the second hammer came down hours laters on Tuesday from the University of Alabama, courtesy of UA President Stuart R. Bell. 

  "In light of the racist and disturbing videos posted by one of our students on social media, I want to express my personal disgust and disappointment.

Like many of you, I find the videos highly offensive and deeply hurtful, not only to our students and our entire University community, but to everyone who viewed them. The actions of this student do not represent the larger student body or the values of our University, and she is no longer enrolled here. 

We hold our students to much higher standards, and we apologize to everyone who has seen the videos and been hurt by this hateful, ignorant and offensive behavior. This is not who we are; it is unacceptable and unwelcome here at UA. These types of incidents affect community members differently. If you have been impacted and would like additional support, please access resources here that are available to you on our campus. 

Over the last year, I have had conversations with many of you who shared your UA experiences with me. You have voiced your pride in the progress we have made, but we still have much work to do. I want to thank all of the students, faculty and staff who met today to have conversations about this event and the steps we can take, individually and collectively, to create a more welcoming and inclusive campus. You have my commitment and the commitment of our leadership team to sustain progress and address directly any issues that arise. 

I know you join me in taking a stand against this and all reprehensible behavior. As members of this community, we are a family and this is our home. Everyone has a right to feel safe and welcome here."

Roll Tide!   She's probably on the bus from Tuscaloosa back to Marlton, New Jersey  now   And if you're wondering if she's a Republican and a Trump supporter, yep she is.

But no Harley, you not only just learned you can't say the n-word in the South (or anywhere else in the USA) you're just the latest bigoted white person to learn the hard lesson that racist speech, especially when it's videotaped, has consequences.

Sweet Win In Alabama!

'I'm betting on Black Alabamians shocking the world despite every GOP attempt to suppress their votes and hopefully carrying Doug Jones to victory.'
-TransGriot,  December 12, 2017


Told y'all.  Congrats to US Senator-elect Doug Jones   You can never go wrong betting on the Black vote, and especially Black women voters.  When properly motivated and turned out, they are the most reliable voting bloc in the liberal-progressive coalition and power Democratic election wins. 

They proved it in Virginia last month and now in Alabama.   Black women voted at a 98% clip for Jones, and Black men in the state were just behind them at 92%   

And where were white women?   Voting for the GOP pedophile at a 65% clip

So let me say this louder for the fauxgressives in the back who seem to be confused about who is the undisputed base voter of the Democratic Party that will lead us to 2018 victory.

It is undeniably Black women.   So time to get in formation in 2018 and let Black women lead you to victory in 2018 and beyond

So when are you Democratic Party going to invest in maximizing turnout of Black voters, ending voter suppression, and stop wasting your time on lukewarm independents who ain't loyal to you?

Anyway, that's a subject for another post, but tonight is one for celebrating this huge win and witnessing the first Democrat to be elected as a US senator repping Alabama in 25 years.

Here's Senator-elect Doug Jones' victory speech

Moral Gut Check Election Day In Alabama

Well Alabama, once again, just as it was during the Civil Rights Movement, the eyes of the nation and the world are upon you. 

This time it is a morality check moment for your state.   Will you elect an ignorant pedophile to the US Senate in Roy Moore, or will you elect  Doug Jones, a man who sent to jail the people who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church and is more moral than the person who claims he is?

Even the Log Cabin Sellouts Republicans, who never miss an opportunity to sell the LGBTQ community for their tax cuts, considered Roy Moore too reprehensible to support and ran an ad attacking him.

Alabama native Condoleezza Rice has also put country over party, calling for her fellow Alabamians to 'reject bigotry, sexism  and intolerance.'

Alabama Black community, it's nation time.   Will you step up, show up in massive numbers at the polls and show off to the world the awesome power of the Black vote that Alabama Republicans fear so much they have desperately tried to suppress it?

I know Daroneshia Duncan and my homegirls in Magic City are planning to bumrush the polls today.   How about the rest of you Alabama Black SGL and cis community?  Make the rest of Black America proud.

If you're registered to vote in Alabama, you have until 7 PM CST to cast those critically important votes. If it hits 7 PM and you're still in line to vote, don't leave. Stay until you get to vote.Do what you need to do to handle your election business because the Alabama Republicans will use every dirty suppression trick to keep you from voting.

They have a long history of voter suppression and are a major reason why the Voting Rights Act was passed in the first place back in 1965.

I'm betting on Black Alabamians shocking the world despite every GOP attempt to suppress their votes and hopefully carrying Doug Jones to victory.

We' and the world will know in a few hours which road you took.   Did you elect the Democrat with integrity to represent you in the US Senate or the Satan's helper Republican?

An Anti-Roy Moore Ad From A Surprising Source

On December 12 the voters of Alabama will head to the polls to choose their next senator.

They have a choice between Democrat Doug Jones, who prosecuted the Klansmen that bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church back in 1963, or moral degenerate Ry Moore, who seems to think that the only suitable girl to date is under age 18 along with other reprehensible back to the 18th century policy positions .

An ad recently started appearing in the state entitled 'Good Christians' which sounds like every other conservabuzzword filled Republican ad you've ever heard, buy comes from a surprising source: 

The Log Cabin Republicans. 

While I've never been a fan of this group and have more than a few archived posts relentlessly mocking them and calling them out on their sellout behavior, have got to give them their props for this ad. 

Seems like they just as horrified as the rest of reality based America about Roy Moore becoming a US senator, and decided to do something about it. 

Check out this broken clock moment ad from the Log Cabin Republicans

   

Transphobia At The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Love my sis Daroneshia Duncan, who as the founding executive director of the Birmingham based TAKE Resource Center,  has been doing some wonderful things getting the Birmingham and Alabama trans community the services they need and organizing them to own their power.

This weekend they hosted in Birmingham their first ever Alabama Trans Persons of Color caucus, and after the two days of empowering seminars and events, they took the attendees to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Sunday for a tour. 

Unfortunately Duncan posted an account of the visit on her Facebook page in which she stated that several of the attendees were constantly misgendered and harassed throughout their tour of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and a male employee took pics of them on his personal camera without their consent. 

When he was asked why, he tried to use his alleged status as a godchild of the late civil rights warrior Rosa Parks as a human shield for his problematic behavior.

Sinseriti Starr asked to see a BCRI manager to express her dissatisfaction with how their group was treated, and she and the TAKE group was approached by an all cis male security staff, disrespectfully told no manager was on duty and to immediately leave the Birmingham Civil  Rights Institute building.

And nope, Moni ain't happy hearing about that.

One thing they are going to learn at BCRI is to not piss off and disrespect my Magic City family

It seems as though the BCRI has embedded transphobia in their midst they need to address with their staff.   When Duncan posted about their less than pleasant experience at the BCRI, another person responded that the same thing happend to a youth group she was chaperoning several years ago .

One thing they also need to learn is that Black trans people are Black people.   We didn't forfeit our Black Cards or Blackness when we transitioned, and that Civil Rights Movement history is history we are immensely proud of.

We are also perusing that history in order to replicate the success of the African American Civil Rights movement into the trans rights one.

Another lesson they will get taught and hopefully learn is that you will treat Black trans people with the same dignity and respect you would demand for yourself,

And you will learn that lesson starting today.

Denzell Thomas Charged In Jazz Alford Murder

Some good news to report in the Jazz Alford murder.

23 year old Denzell Thomas, who was already being held on $200,000 bond in the Jefferson County Jail for a home invasion robbery and shooting of a trans woman, is now being charged with the murder of Jazz Alford.

Thomas was already facing attempted murder and first degree aggravated robbery in the home invasion case in which another trans woman was shot in the face, and now he's facing a murder charge for allegedly killing Alford.

Alford was buried in North Carolina on October 1, and we'll now be watching to see if justice is served in this case.   .

Rest In Power and Peace Jazz Alford

Once again it's my sad duty to report we have lost another trans woman to anti-transgender violence.

The latest sister to prematurely join the ancestors is 30 year old Jazz Alford.  The High Point, North Carolina resident was found on the floor of her second floor motel room shot to death by the housekeeping staff at the Kings Inn in Birmingham, AL on September 23.

As you probably guessed, the local media not only misgendered her in the initial reporting of the killing, but dead named her on top of it.

"She was such a loving person and we didn't know anybody who would want to kill her," said Toya Milan, Alford's sister who also happens to be a girl like us.

The Alford case was followed up by a 24 year old trans woman in the eastern Birmingham suburb of Homewood, AL being shot in the face October 3 during a home invasion robbery.  The trans woman in that case is still at UAB Hospital, and she is recovering from her injuries at this time.

23 year old Denzell Thomas was arrested and charged with attempted murder and first degree robbery in the home invasion robbery case.   He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on $200,000 bond and being questioned by investigators as a person of interest in the Alford slaying.

Alford's death now makes this the 22nd trans person slain in 2016.  This also makes 2016 the deadliest year ever for US trans murders.  It also keeps up the infuriating to me patterns of the majority of the victims being African American trans women, but being under age 40.

And yes, I blame the anti-trans rhetoric deliberately being thrown around by the Republicans for their political gain for the escalation of anti-trans violence.

I also have to ask the question when Black community, will our Black trans lives matter to you as much as cis Black ones do?

Rest in power and peace, Jazz.  Your life was taken far too soon from those of us who loved you, and we will not rest until the person who took your life is brought to justice.

Rest In Peace, Mercedes

It's my sad duty to inform you TransGriot readers about the murder of another US trans woman.

According to the Advocate, 17 year old Mercedes Williamson's body was found May 30 by George County Alabama police.

Her alleged killer, 28 year old Josh Brandon Vallum, was charged with Williamson's murder several days after police recovered the teen's body.

He is reportedly a longtime member of the Latin Kings gang, and confessed to his father on June 1 that he'd killed someone.   Bobby Vallum reported the conversation to the police, who found Williamson's partially decomposed body hidden under debris on the property around  9 AM on June 2.

Mercedes Williamson's life was sadly ended before she even had a chance to live it.   That's what pisses me off about these murders of our trans kids.   I hope and pray justice is served in this case.

rest in power and peace, Mercedes.