Getting On The Bus-To BTAC 2016

Well, if my Megabus pulled out of the station on time, Dee Dee Watters and I should be speeding up I-45 north to Dallas for the fifth annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference and what I jokingly call; 'Moni's Extended Birthday Week Celebration'

The last two years, BTAC has ended either on or near my Cuatro de Mayo birthday, but this year it's going to end three days short of it on May 1.

Still won't stop me from enjoying this 2016 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference and taking in everything this unique conference in Dallas has to offer.it.

See y'all in four hours Dallas, give or take the traffic.  

Countdown To BTAC 2016 Has Started

We are less than 30 days from the start of the 2016 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas and it's one of my favorite events for many reasons.   .

In addition to the fact it happens in my home state, it's one of the few conferences in which we get to see a significant level of visibility of trans masculine participation.  Since 2013 Black trans women have also been an increasingly integral part of the BTAC action with it being an unapologetically Black trans centered conference open to all who wish to attend..

I believe so strongly in the mission of this organization I sit on the Black Transwomen, Inc board.

It also ends around, on or just before my Cuatro de Mayo birthday, so I treat it as an extended birthday celebration week.. And yep, I'll be doing a couple of seminars this year during the event which runs from April 25-May 1.

The keynote speakers for this year's event are Mr. Cris and Dora Santana, and that's just one of the events taking place during an empowering week that included the Awards Gala, the Mr. and Ms. Black Trans International pageants, the Black Diamond Ball, and the eagerly anticipated Family Fun Day.

There's still time for you to make plans to be at BTAC, which is celebrating its fifth year and is moving to a new hotel, the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum.

Hope to see y'all in my home state in less than 30 days!  

Carter Brown On Can We Talk 4 Real Tonight

The Black Trans Advocacy Conference April 25-May 1 dates are approaching fast, and the Can We Talk 4 Real podcast will be hosting Black Transmen, Inc Executive Director/CEO  Carter Brown to talk about it later tonight with Michelle and Terri Boi.  

Black Transment, Inc has become the Change They Wish To See In The World because Brown actively leads a host of over 40 board, staff and volunteer members of the organization, and continues to multiply the presence of the organization with over nine BTMI state chapters throughout the U.S.

His work, along with Black Transmen, Inc. and its subsidiaries, is based in peace building, community education, public policy initiatives, empowerment programs and direct services. Black Trans Advocacy works with communities in the U.S. and across the globe to foster diversity, inclusion and equality for all people. 

The show will start at 8:00 PM EST/ 7:30 PM CST. and you can call 347-215-8985 and press 1 to become part of tonight's conversation.

Diamond Stylz Talks About BTAC 2016

Diamond talks about BTAC 2016 happening from April 25-May 1, and looking forward to seeing her and my trans brothers and trans sisters.

And congrats on eight years of YouTube video excellence!

BTAC 2016 Approaching Soon

TransGriot Note: Do need to point out in the interest of journalistic integrity that I sit on the board of Black Transwomen, Inc.

This conference up I-45 north from me in Dallas has been growing steadily over the last several years, and will be celebrating its fifth anniversary when it kicks off in April.

It's the Black Trans Advocacy Conference & Awards Gala and this year's event for April 25-May 1 will be moving to a new hotel, the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria.

This year's theme is 'Thinking and Speaking A Better World' and you're invited to join the BTAC family at an event designed to do just that.

I had the pleasure of being its first trans feminine keynote speaker in 2013, so I'm always interested in seeing who will get that keynote nod at every BTAC event.  This year's BTAC 2016 keynote speakers will be Mister Cris and Dora Santana.

And as always, the awards gala, the Black Trans International pageants, the Family Fun Day at Austin Ranch, the Black Diamond Ball and the information filled workshops and panels make this a unique for the conference world exciting, fun filled and informative week in the Lone Star State.

And in addition to it being in my home state and it being one of my fave conferences, it either falls on or very close to my birthday, and it has been a blast the last two years celebrating it during an event with my Black trans family from around the country and increasingly, as Dora's presence as this year's keynote speaker is indicative of, across the African Diaspora.

You have time to get that registration in for the BTAC conference, consider submitting a panel discussion topic or get ready to walk the Black Diamond Ball floor.

So hope to see y'all in the BTAC house this year as we spend the week of April 25-May 1 thinking and speaking a better world so that once we leave we can translate that into action on behalf of our community. .  

5th Annual BTAC Conference Call For Workshop Proposals

The 5th annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference will be happening in Dallas April 25-May 1, and the call for workshop proposals is now open.

The BTAC organizers are looking for proposals in the areas of HIV/AIDS, business development, career services, financial literacy, spirituality and healing, SOFFA's, health, arts and media, and social justice.

This 5th anniversary edition of BTAC is moving to a new hotel, the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum By The Galleria, and those rooms are going fast.   If you're interested in attending this fast growing conference, better get busy booking your rooms.

You also need to get those workshop proposals in ASAP too.

Registration Now Open For BTAC 2016!

Dee Dee Watters and I zooming past our old hotel on the DART  light rail (and I'm not kidding about the zooming part) on our way to and from Richardson and the just concluded TTNS reminded me that the clock is ticking toward the next time the BTAC family gathers in the Dallas Ft.Worth area for the 2016 Black Trans Advocacy Conference.

The theme for 2016 is 'Thinking and Speaking A Better World' and the dates are April 25-May 1 for this fifth annual edition of it.   The BTAC will have a new hotel hosting it.the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria.   Personally I'm gonna miss the Doubletree Campbell Center, especially since it was on the DART Red and Orange light rail lines, had great views of the downtown Dallas skyline and was an easy trip from the downtown Dallas Megabus dropoff point for me, but sometimes change is necessary for your event to evolve and be positioned for greater success and growth.

Wow, it has been five years for this growing event in which I have been a part of since 2013 when I was asked to be a keynote speaker that year. 

Since it happens so close to Cuatro De Mayo (my birthday) and it's just a four hour drive or Megabus ride up I-45 from me, it has quickly become one of my fave conferences. 

It's also one of the few national conferences in which you get to meet many of our Black trans masculine and trans feminine leaders.  We were also honored to have some trans folks from Brazil, Panama and other places in the African diaspora in the house in 2015, and hope that trend line continues.

And trans women, did I mention all the handsome trans men that will be in the house?  Okay, just wanted to make sure I pointed that out.

I'm not only planning on being there but hopefully taking a more active role in BTAC 2016.  I plan on doing two seminars in 2016 and looking forward to administering more dominoes beatdowns at Family Fun Day  

You have been warned. 

And yes, it goes without saying that cis and trans community allies are also enthusiastically welcomed to attend BTAC 2016.  If you wish to have further information about BTAC 2016, you can click on the following link to do so.

Hope i do see y'all in the BTAC 2016 house.

See y'all in Dallas in a few months for BTAC 2016.  Looking forward to checking out the new hotel, seeing my.BTAC family and meeting more allies during that extended birthday celebration weekend for me.

BTAC 2016 Save The Date

Didn't take long to find out the dates for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference in 2016,

While the location of the fifth annual edition of this conference is yet to be determined along with the host hotel, we do know the dates.

The fifth annual edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference will take place in a city to be determined from April 25-May 1.

As of yet we don't know if it will be in Dallas or back at the Hilton Doubletree Campbell Centre, but we do know we sold out the hotel, drew over 200 people to attend it, and I was told by the hotel management and staff while I was there they want us back.

For those of you who missed this year's event, you now know when it's happening in 2016, so start planning now so you can be there for an amazing conference.

BTAC 2015-Last Day

This is the saddest day of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference for me, the last one.

After spending several days up on the northern end of I-45, seeing old friends, making new ones and building community, it's time for me to go back to Houston and my life there.

But before I do that, I get to say goodbye to my trans brothers and trans sisters, their spouses, our allies and my BTAC family.

In addition to the closing ceremony that officially ends the convention, we'll have the traditional farewell brunch at Blue Mesa.

After that delicious community building exercise, Moni hits the DART Rail Red Line to catch her Megabus back to Houston and commence another 366 day wait for the fifth edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.

And y'all know to check my TransGriot pages for the dates of the 2016 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.

BTAC-Day 4

It's Saturday, and time for Family Fun Day at BTAC.

But before we head to the Austin Ranch near DFW Airport for some great food and spending some quality time with each other, first are the closed session for transmen, transwomen, ciswomen and MCC/Butch Aggressives that will start at 9:15 AM CDT and last until we roll over to the Austin Ranch from the hiotel at 12:30 PM.

Then after a day of fun and community building, it'll be time once again for the Black Diamond Ball that starts at 10 PM CDT.

The ball will be held at the 2816 Commerce Event Center in Deep Ellum, and the address of course if you wish to attend is in the name of the building, 2816 Commerce St.

BTAC 2015-Day 3

My third day at BTAC, and the calendar has flipped to my favorite month in May.



Tonight's big event is the Awards Gala, but before I handle my BTAC business of handing out this year's Monica Robeerts Advocacy Award, have a seminar at 9:15 AM with Espy Bronw entitled 'Sis To Cis'.


It's one in which we continue the conversation we started last year between Black cis and trans women, and should be as infornmative and fun as it was last year.


And yes the peeps keep rolling in for the homestreatch of this year's Black Trans Advocacy Conference.   You can continue to check the Twitter hashtag #BTAC2015 for all the happenings.


I'm also one day closer to Cuatro De Mayo

BTAC 2015-Day 2

Still in Dallas at the Doubletree Campbell Center for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference for my second full day here.



The highlights today will be the keynote speeches by Tiq Milan and Miss major Griffin Gracy.
|The Black Trans Interrnational Pageants will happen later tonight, and many of the seminaras have a health and wellness theme such as Healthcare Hallelujah Trans* Health And The Affordable Care Act  to 'Exploring HIV Health Risks Among Transmen'


I'm also having a blast getting to spend quality time with the trans brothers and the trans sisters I know and geeting acquainted with the trans brothers and trans sisters I'm just meeting for the first time


And love seeing my Dallas fam in Rafael McDonnell and Nell Gaither.
  

I still find it ironic that Diamond Stylz and I live less than 5 miles from each other in Houston, buit i have to bring my butt to BTAC or some other conference to spend quality time with her.


But she knows I love her to death.   And if you feeling down, you won't be after getting hugged by our BTAC First Lady Espy Brown.


There were some amazing conversations taking place here yesterday in our seminars, at dinner and in the hotel lobby.  


And definitely need to step away from the front desk and those sinfully delicious cookies.

BTAC 2015-Day 1

It's actually the third full day of the fourth annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference, but my first full one after my travel day from H-town.


I've always wnted to learn how to do grant writing, and one of the sessions I'll definitely be planning to attend is one entitled 'The Grant Development Process'.


There's also a social media one I'm interested in as I peruse the program offerings for today, Tiq Milan's 'Trans Advocacy Media Training', the Black Trans Community Summit and the TransManifest Open Mic to close out Wednesday's programming.


I wonder who I'll run into today?

In Dallas For BTAC 2015

I've finally made it to the other end of I-45 in Dallas for the 2015 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.


It's not only one of my fave conference because it happens to fall around my Cuatro de Mayo birthday, I'm also here on business.

I'm chilling in my 18th floor room with a beautiful view of downtown Dallas.

It's business and pleasure.  I not only get an opportunity to get my learn on, I get to present the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award to this year's winner of it on May 1 as i creep closer to my birthday.

For those of you who couldn't make it, you can check out the BTAC action  on Twiiter via the #BTAC2015 hashtag.

I did get the chance to witness the beautiful opening ceremony for BTAC which included a libation ceremony in which we honored the ancestors inside and outside the trans community

And yes, so happy te Rockets handled their NBA business back home and beat the Mavericks, so I get to gloat for a moment while I'm inside the Dallas city limints.

Time for me to get ome beauty sleep and get ready for my first full day at BTAC 2015.

Rolling Toward Dallas For BTAC 2015

After attempting another day trip to Austin to handle some lobbying business, I'm boarding a Megabus in 45 minutes for the four hour trip up I-45 to Dallas for the 2015 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.


I love this fourth annual conference for multiple reasons.   It's one that takes place in my home state and in the city where my mom grew up.  It's one in which trans men from around the country are gathered.


And the best part is that it happens around my birthday, and I get spoiled by the trans brothers.

If this bus pulls out of here on time at 1:15 PM , I'll be getting to Dallas just in time for rush hour at 5:20 PM and my train ride to the convention hotel.

See y'all in a few hours BTAC family.

BTAC 2015 Starts Today!

I won't be there until tomorrow evening, but today happens to be the start of the fourth annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas!

Looking forward to this fourth annual gathering in which I get to spend some quality time with the trans brother, their significant others and allies of the community as we  spend a few days learning, laughing, honing our message and building community as we seek to become the change we wish to see in the world.

 BTAC being an easy run from Houston in addition to being scheduled close to my birthday is a bonus.

And yes, got to see who is going to win the award named after a certain blogger y'all know.

This conference is also coming at an interesting time in the wake of the Jenner interview, and gives us a chance to discuss trans issues from a Black transmasculine perspective.

It is a perspective that we really need to hear more of, and we'll have several days at the Doubletree Campbell Center to do just that.  

See y'all tomorrow, BTAC peeps!.

BTAC 2015 DART Mass Transit Options

The excitement is building for me as the April 27-May 3 dates for the 4th annual National Black Trans Advocacy Conference & Awards Gala in Dallas, TX approach and instead of me flying around to country to see y'all, you transpeeps and allies get to come to my home state for a few days.

And yes, I also love this conference because it falls close to my birthday, and it feels like an extended birthday party around my extended trans family for me.  In addition to the great seminars and the Black Trans Advocacy Awards Gala, it also includes the Black Trans International Pageants, the Black Diamond Ball and the Family Fun Day at Austin Ranch.

Will be interesting to see who will win the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award this year   Was pleased to hand it to Tiq Milan in 2014.   Who will I hand it off to on May 1?

This year BTAC attendees who are flying into Dallas will have the option of using their expansive light rail system to get to the conference hotel.

Back in August 2014 the DART Rail Orange Line was finally completed to DFW and the DFW Airport Station was opened for service.   So until 11:35 PM during the weekday you'll be able to ride the Orange Line in the Parker Road direction through downtown Dallas to the Lovers Lane Station, the one closest to the Doubletree Campbell Center.   Trains are scheduled to run from the DFW Station until 1:38 AM, but they end in downtown Dallas.

Once you arrive at the Lovers Lane Station, you will call the front desk and they will send the hotel shuttle bus to pick you up. 

If you're flying into Love Field, you can catch DART to and from the hotel as well.  You'll find your way to the DART Love Field terminal bus stop, then board the DART Love Link 524 bus to the Inwood Rd/Love Field Station at street level.  From there you will catch an Orange Line train in the Parker Rd. direction from the elevated platform to the Lovers Lane Station.

For you Megabus riders into Dallas, you can also access the DART Orange Line to the BTAC conference hotel. The Megabus drops off at the Downtown Dallas Transit Center on East Olive St, and you are only a short two block walk from the transit center to the Orange Line's Pearl/Arts District Station.    Catch the next train in the Parker Rd direction to the Lovers Lane Station.

If you take Greyhound into Dallas, the Greyhound terminal is three blocks south of the DART West End Station where you will catch the DART Rail Orange Line to the Lovers Lane Station.

So what's the DART fare?   It's $2.50 for a two hour ticket or $5 for an all day pass that lasts until 3:00 AM the next day on all transportation modes.

Hope this pointing out the DART travel options to the BTAC conference hotel helps solidify your decision to attend this amazing conference.   Hope to see you peeps there.

T- 2 Months And Counting Until BTAC 2015

Well peeps, one of my fave events is rapidly approaching, and not just because it's in my Texas stomping grounds.

It happens to fall very close to my Cuatro de Mayo birthday.

It's the 2015 edition of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas from April 27-May 3 at the Doubletree Campbell Center, and it's bigger and badder than ever.

In addition to the informative seminars, Family Fun Day, the Mr. and Ms. BTPS pageant and the Black Diamond Ball and Awards Gala, the keynote speakers this year will be Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Tiq Milan.

Registration is now open for the event, and FYI, the DART light rail system now runs from DFW to the hotel via the Orange Line and the Lovers Lane station.

For those of you taking Megabus to Dallas, the DART downtown transit center on E/ Olive St. is where the Megabus drop off/pickup stop is located, and it's a short two block walk from the St/ Paul and the Pearl /Arts District stations.

So now that I've broken down how you can get to the hotel from DFW and the Dallas downtown Megabus terminal, hope to see some of you peeps in he Lone Star State for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference and my early birthday celebration.

BTAC 2015 Dates

The dates for the 2015 Black Trans Advocacy Conference have been announced, and once again it''l be right on the doorstep of my birthday.    BTAC will happen from April 27-May 3, and it will once again be at the Doubletree Campbell Center in Dallas, TX.

For those of you flying into DFW airport for the 2015 BTAC, great news for you in that DART's light rail Orange Line now runs to and from DFW .    You can ride it all the way to the Lovers Lane Station near the hotel

And the DART East Olive St Transit Center dropoff point for Megabus in Dallas is a short two. block walk downtown to the stations in which you can catch the Orange and Red lines headed to the hotel area.

So for those of you looking for local transit options to get you to the host hotel and back to the airport or bus , they are available.

As for the conference, The National Black Trans Advocacy Conference & Awards Gala (BTAC) is a distinct educational and empowerment program event, home to nearly 300 plus trans and gender non-conforming individuals, our family, friends, community allies and corporate partners from across the country who are focused on advancing black trans equality.

BTAC is a unique life changing (5) day program that furthers education, provides linkage to resources, community building and organizing, leadership development and celebration of diverse identities.

BTAC is host to over 50 workshops, seminars, CE courses, general sessions, open-forum discussions, and guest speaker presentations bringing together community educators and leaders to address the critical issues of access and parity in our society. The conference is provided free and is open to the public to gather, educate, learn, build and grow together in unity.
BTAC featured programs and events:

(5) Days of Empowerment
Black Trans Community Summit
Career Services & Job Fair
Health & Fitness Expo
Transgender Advocacy Awards Gala
Mr & Ms Black Trans International Pageant
Black Diamond Ball
Family Day in the park.
TransManifest - Live
Minority Business Expo
Hats Off Luncheon
InterFaith Summit
TRANSFORMATIONS Health & Fitness Competition
...And More

So yeah you have time to make plans to get to Dallas and hang out with your peeps from Texas and around the nation at the Doubletree Campbell Center.  

And yeah, that's my birthday weekend, so I'm planning to be in the BTAC house again.

Deadline: April 1, 2015
Registration: http://btac.blacktrans.org/
Scholarship: http://blacktrans.org/attendee-scholarship.html

Back In H-town From BTAC 2014

Well, finally back in Houston after a memorable BTAC 2014 weekend for me.

I couldn't attend the entire conference because of the pressing HERO business here, but did make up for lost time after my arrival in Dallas Thursday night.

Friday afternoon an amazing Black sisterhood discussion co-facilitated by Espy Brown and myself happened in which the cis and trans women in the room talked about the issues and concerns that concern us.  

That discussion needed another hour but it brought major insights to how both sides see things and hopefully helped pave the way for friendships to form. It was also the beginning of giving our cis sisters the knowledge they need to be better advocates for us when they end up in situations in which they have to quickly and confidently check other transphobic women.   

We also left that session in agreement that trans women are women and we both need to be doing a better job of working together.  It's a discussion we'll probably do again at a future BTAC event.

The community town hall immediately followed.  A tell it like it T-I-S is discussion moderated by Tiq Milan in which we discussed a wide range of issues impacting our community.

Several hours later at the Advocacy Awards Banquet, we got to enjoy a performance by KOKUMO and Dr. KRZ, Louis Mitchell and I were in the Skyline Ballroom to personally hand out the awards named for us   And did I mention all those handsome brothers, their lovely significant others and our allies in semiformal attire?

And who won the Monica Roberts Black Trans Advocacy Award for this year?    Tiq Milan. 

Houston represented this year (as usual).  Major shout out to Dee Dee Watters for winning a well deserved Newcomer of the Year Award and Tye West who was also honored during the Friday banquet.  

Always good to see my Dallas peeps Omar Narvaez, Rafael McDonnell, Katy Stewart, Nell Gaither and my homegirl Arianna Lint who did double duty with us and LULAC.

Saturday was Fun Day, and as we pulled out of the hotel on another clear and cloudless day enroute to Camp El Har Stevie Wonder's classic song Fun Day was playing in my head, and that exactly what it was.

A fun day to laugh, play games, and get away from the hotel for  few hours while building community before we moved into the screening of the movie Shirts and Skins, the TransManifest and the Black Diamond Ball

I did get to read two of my poems for TransManifest.   One of them was the fave poem of the BTAC fam and a request from Auset O'Neal entitled Y'all Love Madea But Hate on Me' and the other was 'Bathroom Trans Hate'.

And just as quickly as BTAC 2014 begun, it was over.  I hate I missed the early days of it, but the closing service on my birthday was a nice way to tie everything together and send us on our way back to our various parts of the country renewed, refreshed and ready to do the work necessary to continue the Black Trans Renaissance and build our community..

See y'all next year BTAC fam, and hopefully for the entire event.