Sorry Ashley, Rev Al IS A Black Leader With A Big Voice

Over at Kulture Kritic there is a post by Ashley Naples that caught my attention.   It is basically critical of the Rev Al Sharpton and legacy orgs like the NAACP.

Personally, I like The Rev for his tell it like it is style and his willingness over several decades to speak truth to power.  I also disagree with her assessment of The Rev and here's why.

My first point is that if Rev Al Sharpton isn't considered a Black leader, why does FOX Noise, right wing talk radio  and the conservafool movement spend every waking moment demonizing him as a 'racist'?  If the conservafools are demonizing him and spending their valuable propaganda air time doing so, they obviously fear him and consider him important enough to make the effort to slime him.

Naples asserted in the article that she aimed at White America that his 'popularity is quickly waning'.  By what metric are you judging that?   Rev. Al's Politics Nation MSNBC show is second in popularity only to whatever waste of programming FOX Noise is broadcasting in that 6 PM ET time slot.   The protest march that he called for in the wake of the Garner non indictment in New York back in December drew thousands and national news coverage.

Speaking of that MSNBC show, the fact that it is on five days a week, he has a daily and Sunday syndicated radio programs means that he has the ability to reach far more people than all those social media bloggers that Naples touted but never named in her piece.

While Ms Naples may sneer at his access to President Obama, I'm willing to bet she hasn't come close to signing her name in or running the White House security gauntlet for a meeting with the POTUS or his advisory team as Rev Al has done multiple times.
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And you never diss or dismiss anyone who has access to the President of the United States, much less got an invite to his second inauguration..

You may be sick of hearing that Rev Al is a leader, but there are other African-Americans who are glad that he is one of the people speaking for our community.

And right now, he is a Black leader with a big voice.

Black Community, Does My Black Trans Life Matter?

In the wake of another young Black transwoman being murdered in Los Angeles, am definitely going to signal boost this post by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi asking the Black community a question that's on the minds of all African descended transpeople no matter what our age is.

Do our Black lives matter?   

They most certainly do.   #BlackTransLivesMatter.    Here's a taste of what Lady Dane had to say.

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Trans women are not killed by trans women, we are killed by cisgender men. Often cisgender black men. Is this why our black community is so afraid of having this conversation? Trans folk are the greatest embodied form of revolution against colonization. Our very existence spits in the face of all that colonization wishes our black community to hold true: is this why our black community is so afraid to have these conversations? Is it that the poison of colonization has seeped so deeply into the  veins of  the black movement that it is easier to ignore black trans folk and use them as place holders then to honor our existence? We must begin to honor not just our fallen  cis brothers but our fallen trans siblings and cis sisters. We must fight against the notion that we black women must ignore our brutalizers, although many of us are forced to co-exist with them

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You can read the entire to the Black community she wrote by clicking this link.

Transmisogyny Isn't Just Being Aimed At Black Trans Women Anymore

Y'all know I love my people and my culture across the African Diaspora.  But damn, I wish elements of y'all would grow up and join the 21st century when it comes to gender identity issues.

One of the things I get tired of in the Black community is the at times willful ignorance around gender and gender identity issues.   News flash, they just don't affect trans folks, they affect all of us because everyone has a gender identity and expresses it in different ways.

As I have pointed out before, you get half your genetic material from mommy, half from daddy.  We are all blends and combinations of traits from our parents. 

As medical science is increasingly proving, there's a thin line and series of events that happen during pregnancy that determines whether you come out of mommy's womb in a masculine or feminine body.. 

One of the things I'm also tired of is the scourge of transmisogyny being gleefully spread by the TERF's and clueless cis women for the last 40 years.   While we trans women are the main targets of it, because the right wingers are giving up on their War Against Marriage Equality, they are shifting targets and money to ratchet up the War on Transwomen.

And because they are doing that, their sliming of transwomen will also have collateral damage effects in terms of that transmisogyny backed by right wing money hitting Black cis women as well.  
What a lot of peeps don't realize is that when you transition, in addition to having to deal with sexism, being walking targets for sexual assault, and all the issues that come with walking Planet Earth in a feminine body,  Black trans women also inherit all the baggage that Black cis women have had to deal with for the last four  centuries in terms of the 'unwoman' meme. So what am I talking about when I say the 'unwoman' meme?

If society has set up one group of women (white women) as the paragons of beauty, virtue and fertility for all women to aspire to, then it stands to reason that you also have to come up with a counternarrative of women you point to that are the ones you don't want others to wish to aspire to be and hate on..

And guess what group of women got that narrative assigned to them?   Yep, Black women.

They are called every pejorative you can throw at them. They are called 'ugly', even by fools that are social scientists.  Even their own men, who are supposed to be their defenders and protectors join in the assault on Black womanhood by leveling a weaponized level of the b-word at them courtesy of gangsta rap music. 

And one of the words they'll get to throw at cis Black women as a weaponized insult since the b-word will increasingly come under attack is the t-word.

If you're 4' 11", 5' 11" or 6' 11" with your heels on, you don't have that classic Coke bottle feminine curves, are on the darker end of those 23 shades of Black skin tones, don't possess the sistah booty, are an athlete or don't fit the stereotypical standards of femininity, your femininity will get called into question, especially as a Black woman.

One of the pejoratives they will use while doing so is the t-word.  

And it won't be just Black men engaged in the process of doing so, it will also be Black women policing the femininity of other Black women using 'that's a man' shade.   

If you think I'm kidding about that, check out the Black gossip blogosphere and see the comments that get aimed at Wendy Williams, Fantasia, Brittney Griner and Joseline Hernandez

If Black cis women are getting their femininity disrespected, what hope is there for Black transwomen to even have ours acknowledged by the greater Black community?   Until we girls like us are recognized as the beautiful women we are inside and out, it's going to be difficult to bring down the levels of anti-trans hate violence the transmisogyny fuels inside our community.. 

Bottom line Black community is you need to cease and desist with aiming transmisogyny not only at us, but at Black cis women.   It's not cool, and the off the charts anti-trans violence directed toward is is spilling over to affect the lives of cis Black women .  

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Black Men, You're A Misogynistic Punk If You Hit Any Black Woman, Cis Or Trans

One of the things we definitely have to work on in the rapidly approaching New Year is eradicating this misogynistic attitude amongst young Black men, (and men in general) that it is okay to hit and fight women.  That attitude gets ratcheted up a few notches if the woman in question is trans

That transmisogynistic attitude needs to be checked especially in the wake of Islan Nettles death two months ago.  Because some punk was upset to discover she was an attractive trans woman, he brutally attacked her on the street and rendered her unconscious until she died a few days later.

That's right, I said punk.  

I was alerted by Jaila Simms concerning a video of a man fighting and body slamming a woman, subsequently knocking her unconscious and her friend fiercely coming to her defense. 

I'm still trying to gather the information as I write this as to whether the woman who was attacked is a cis or trans woman.   Some of the misogynistic and transphobic comment in the thread accompanying this video on Facebook claimed she was trans, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.   

So let's run with the assumption for a moment that the woman in question is trans.   If she isn't the following comments still apply to her as a cis woman.

I don't care what lies you cis peeps were told or disinformation has been fed to you, but a trans woman is a WOMAN, and should be treated and respected as such. 

And this bull feces of you alleged Black men trying to justify swinging your fists at Black women cis or trans is disgusting, unacceptable, nekulturny behavior that needs to cease and desist.

Trigger warning for the upcoming video that sparked this post. 

Post by Tàs Mi.

So let me repeat what I said before the video break.  I want you cis Black men and you cisgender men of other ethnic backgrounds to burn this in your brains, too.

I don't care what you were told, a trans woman is a woman.  Putting your hands on her in anger is never justified or acceptable behavior.   When she or any woman is out and about in the world, should be respected and treated as such even if she is screaming in your face millimeters from your nose because she's pissed off at you. 

I don't care who started this incident that is on this going viral videotape.  Bottom line is that as long as you walk this Earth in a male body, you are NEVER justified to hit ANY woman whether she is cis or trans.

The societal rules don't change just because a woman is trans, cis men.  By dint of you being testosterone based lifeforms, you are still stronger than any woman you will ever come in contact with.  A trans woman may have been born in a male body, but after a year on estrogen has less body strength than the average cis male because of her hormone replacement therapy (HRT) even if you are the same height. 

She being a trans woman doesn't give you the right if you get into an argument with her to hit or strike her either.   If you're a so-called man, you will back the hell away and out of that situation without using violence because that what men are supposed to do.  

If you don't like the fact a transwoman transitioned, that's your transphobia talking and you need to get a life and some counseling to help you get over that, not her.  The trans woman is just simply trying to live her life to the best of her ability.  She gets enough micro and macroaggressive crap from society for simply existing.  She does not need a beatdown or being body slammed by you just so you can grab your crotch afterward like a gangsta rapper and feel more secure in your manhood.

Neither is swinging your fists at this woman going to alter the fact she is still walking Planet Earth in a female body, and has to cope with all the baggage that comes with that.  Multiply that societal baggage load as a Latina, Asian or Native American woman, and triple it as an African descended woman.  

Black women have been demonized as the 'unwoman' for the last four centuries vis a vis the beauty standard that exalts white women as the penultimate in beauty and fertility.  Not only does the Black woman not need you Black men, who are supposed to be their defenders and protectors, demonizing them with the b-word or worse epithets, we don't need you swinging at us as if we were a boxing ring opponent with you. 

Megathanks, props and prayers go out to Jamisha Smith for standing up for her friend who was unconscious after being body slammed and possibly saving her friend's life.   Our prayers go to this young woman who was attacked as well.  

And FYI to the waste of DNA who put his hands on this sistah, karma is not only a you know what, she wears a dress and stiletto heels, too.  

Instead of proving your manhood, all you proved to the world is that you are a violent misogynistic punk who is not worthy to date, much less be intimate with ANY woman. 

And Black community, it's past time we said no to and diligently worked hard on eliminating in 2014 and beyond the misogynistic violence being directed at all Black women cis and trans that is injuring or killing far too many of our sisters.

Carter Brown Challenges Black Leaders To Stand Up For Trans Community

The TDOR Unite! online ceremony was last night, and one of the videos that stood out for me was Black Transmen founder/CEO Carter Brown challenging the Black community leadership to speak out and stand up for the Black trans community.

Black Community Issues Are Black Trans Issues

I have repeatedly said on this blog that Black trans issues are Black community issues.  I'm going to flip the script in this post and point out that Black community issues are Black trans issues, too.

When the unjust Zimmerman verdict was read I like just about every African-American in this country was outraged about it and I showed up at the July 14 rally at City Hall along with other Houstonians pissed off about it as well.

While I was there I decided since the organizers of the rally were offering the people gathered there a chance to speak, I would do so not only on behalf of myself but for the Houston trans community.

The people gathered in front of Houston City Hall that day also needed to see a trans person who shared their heritage.  They now know because I stood up and proclaimed my trans status to that gathering and talked about the issues that united us that day that Black trans people are also concerned about the issues of the day that affect the Black community we are intertwined with.

It was interesting to note that when I was done, I had a few people buttonholing me afterward asking if I was going to run for office here in H-town.   We'll see.

Before anyone who doesn't know my trans history (unless they read this blog or see my Twitter feed or Facebook page) gets to the point of finding out about that part of my life, all they have to go on is my skin color and my gender presentation.   

My transition almost 20 years ago did not change the fact that I'm a proud African-American, nor does being trans mean I gave up my Black card.  I still have to deal with people hating me because of that Black skin with the anti-trans hatred being thrown in as a bonus.  

I also don't have the luxury of separating my trans status from my Blackness.  They are the same.  .

The point is as a Black person, voter suppression laws aimed at the Black community affect me in two ways.  The first is voting while Black.  The second is mismatched ID because of laws (or the lack of them) making it difficult for trans people to easily change their documentation to match the person they are projecting to the world now.  That can affect mine and other trans people's ability to vote when the voter ID voter suppression laws are requiring state issued ID's to go with your voter registration cards and requiring forms of ID like passports that cost money to acquire for people facing 26% unemployment. 

Stop and Frisk is another issue that affects us.  Many of the people disproportionately messed with by the NYPD were trans African-American and trans Latina women who in the infallible wisdom of NYPD officers were soliciting for prostitution.  If they had more than one condom on them, were arrested for it.

Trayvon Martin being killed also affects the trans community.  It has me concerned that one day this scenario could play out and result in one of our trans men being killed or wounded because of some armed bigot who mistook him as 'a threat' instead of a fellow human being.

Because we trans people are an interconnected part of the Black community, the issues that affect the entire community in general also affect us.  The sooner the Black community recognizes that fact, the better it will be for all of us so we can collectively deal with what ails Black America.
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'Dark Girls' Documentary

All Black women get smacked with the 'unwoman' meme, but it's even worse on the dark skinned sisters.

Check out this clip from the documentary Dark Girls, directed by Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry which explores the biases and deep seated attitudes inside and outside African American culture about skin color.


Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.