NAACP Passes Pro-Trans Resolution!

You longtime TransGriot readers are quite aware that I have been calling out for years the NAACP's cricket chirping silence when it comes to what is happening to Black transgender people .

They are the oldest civil rights organization in our community, and whether you feel that way or not, the 110 year old  NAACP's voice is still respected in the progressive civil rights community and with elements of our people.

I have urged them to not only say the words 'Black trans lives matter' from their convention stage, but pushed for NAACP state and local chapters to take action to make sure those words, when they are finally spoken publically, are backed up with policy.

Today, I was thrilled to hear that a resolution supporting the trans community was passed yesterday by the delegates of the 110th NAACP convention in Detroit!

The resolution reads:

Be it resolved that the NAACP will work with all of its Units to work to support equal protection for transgender individuals so that all members of our community can live free of violence, shame and discrimination.

This is a huge win for the Black trans community!  One of our legacy civil rights orgs has actually passed a resolution that acknowledges our existence. 

We in Black Trans World want all members of our Black community to be free from violence, shame and discrimination.   It's imperative that we at least get the process and conversation started about how we do so for Black trans individuals in collaboration with the NAACP before we start plunking down our T-bills for memberships.

Hopefully this opens the doors for conversations with the Black trans community as to the best way to accomplish coordinated action that makes a reality the goal set forth in that resolution.

One Month To BTAC 2019

One month from now, me and a few hundred friends and BTAC family members will gather in Dallas, TX once again for the 8th annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference and Awards Gala.

The theme this year is Level Up! Elevate The Revolution

BTAC 2019 will be taking place once again at the Wyndham Dallas Suites Park Hotel in North Dallas, and I'm looking forward to spending a week there to recharge, reconnect with my BTAC family, bask in the wisdom of my trans elders, get my learn on, and dish out some well deserved domino butt kickings.

I'm also looking forward to the other events that are part of a BTAC conference in the Trans Manifest Live, the Mr, Ms and for the first time Mx Black Trans International Pageant, the Awards Gala, our Family Day and the Black Diamond Ball..

And oh yeah, it's the kickoff to my birthday celebration week.

I also want to challenge my Houston area Black trans siblings to show up in numbers to meet your Black trans siblings from around the country and the world.

Still not too late for you to join us in Dallas for this conference, and if you need information as to how you can join us or be a sponsor of the event, check out btac.blacktrans.org for further info.

Hope to see y'all there in four weeks.

Black Trans History Is Undeniably Black History

Today is the start of Black History Month.   It's only 28 days (29 in a leap year) but for me, EVERY DAY and EVERY MONTH is Black History Month. 

Black History didn't stop with the Civil Rights Movement or the Obama Administration, it is happening in our time.  Since Black trans people are Black people, even if you cis Black folks at times ignore that reality, the things we accomplish are an undeniable part of our collective history.

It's one of the major reasons why TransGriot exists, to document and ensure that history isn't forgotten, whitewashed or deliberately ignored, and the importance of that mission became clear on Election Night 2017.

When Danica Roem completed her historic victory over Bob Marshall, many news outlets reported she was 'the first transgender state legislator'.  I immediately took to Twitter to point out that Althea Garrison had already made that history in 1992, and they eventually corrected that developing media narrative and linked the Garrison post I'd written to back it up. . 

The major examples of Black trans people making Black history occurred last November when Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham because the first out Black trans people elected to public office since Althea Garrison made it happen in 1992.

Phillipe also made some history on his own.  He became the first Black trans masculine person in the United States to be elected to public office, and together Jenkins and Cunningham are the first trans people of any ethnic background to be elected to a major city council.

And as we continue to move forward into 2018, the potential for Black trans people to continue to make history and build on our progress is even more tantalizing.

Ashlee Marie Preston is now running for a California Assembly seat that is she is successful in capturing, would make her the first out Black trans person elected to a state legislative seat, the first trans person of any ethnic background in California  and the first Black trans state legislator since Althea Garrison 

And yeah, I've received my third nomination for a GLAAD Media Award.  If I'm fortunate to win th Best Blog category, TransGriot would be the first trans owned and oriented blog to capture that award ever since they started that category in 2011.    We'll see if that happens in a few months.

And sadly, when I keep track of the people that we've lost to anti-trans violence, that's also part of our collective history. There are also the people that we don't know about who may be thrust into our public consciousness before the year is over.

 So yes, Black Trans History is undeniably Black History.

Building Sustained Texas Black Trans Representation Is Needed and Necessary

In addition to some blogger y'all know making a little speech, engaging with our elected officials and their staffers under the Pink Dome yesterday, and talking to the various people in different organizations, one of the cool things about a lobby day is also having the opportunity to have those one on one conversations with attendees and the general public.

There are also those unexpected moments that happen that tug at your heart.

I have said and been cognizant of ever since I started taking these lobby day trips to Austin in 1999 that it wasn't about me, it was about the next generation of kids who were behind me and making it better for them.

It it happened that my work to pass laws and policies that expanded trans human rights benefitted me in the short term, that was all good as well

In this one snapshot taken in the rotunda of our Texas state capitol building, there are three generations of Black trans women here.  I made my first lobby day trip before all of them were born, but we're here together on this March 20, 2017 day repping our community.

Every time I look at that picture, it not only makes me cry happy tears, but also puts a smile on my face.   To them, I am a respected trans elder who not only is passing down their history to them, I'm also role modeling what it will be possibly like to be a fab Black trans women when they hit my age.

I get to see these amazing Black trans women in their teens, twenties and thirties, and it reminds me of why I have been fighting since 1998 for visible Black trans representation in our movement, in the media and other spaces.

Because it matters.

It matters to Texas Black trans kids like Zuri and their parents.  It matters to Mia and Jessica to see their fourth generation Texas trans elder confidently speaking to over 1000 people with cameras trained on her firing up a diverse crowd before they went to their various meeting with state legislators under the Pink Dome.

It matters that our Black community knows that #BlackTransPeopleExist, we are concerned Texans who are expressing ourselves to our legislators about the issues that matter to us, and we thought it was so important to do so we took a day out of our lives to make it happen

It matters for me to be hugged by Mia  and Jessica, and having a two hour intergenerational conversation on the bus ride back to Houston about the issues we deal with as Black trans women and our hopes, fears, insecurities and aspirations for the future,

It also was heartening to know that these young women also shared my concerns about the media images of Black trans women and were determined to role model being quality Black women who just happen to be transgender.

It mattered to be called Aunt Monica by Zuri.  While it brought on a momentary twinge of sadness with the thought crossing my mind that I don't have biological kids of my on and at this stage of my life, it's probably not gonna happen for me, the trans kids are basically my kids as well.

But Zuri's presence also reminded me that this Texas trans human rights fight is about ensuring that she has a Texas and a country she can grow up in that will allow her to become the amazing Black woman she is well on her way to becoming.

Would I love to see more Black trans representation when we have these lobby days in the 2019 session?   Absolutely.  

That's one of the goals we need to make happen, and it become even more important in light of the fact some of the members of the Texas House and Senate share our ethnic heritage and history as Black Texans.

There are some arguments I can make while lobbying in a Black legislator's office that frankly, a white trans person can't.  It's one of the many reasons why we need to start being hired and paid as lobbyists or to do work in equality orgs that profess to work for the entire community but are still overwhelmingly white in their employment and staffing rolls.

It's either do so or don't get mad and whine 'Why are you separating from us?" when we form our own organizations to do the work you refuse to do or hire us for.   That's why BTWI, BTMI and Black Trans Advocacy exist in the Lone Star State right now.

And our right wing opposition has no problem hiring Black sellouts to deploy and use against you

And speaking of that sustained Texas Black trans representation, much of the heavy lifting and elbow grease required to make it happen also is on us Black trans Texans.   If you want orgs that rep you, you have to support them not only with your sweat equity but with your dollars so they can do the work you say you want and need to have happen.  

Do I hope to see in my lifetime Black trans women standing in the Texas House or Senate as elected representatives, judges or accomplishing whatever their heart desires and their skills take them?.

Do I hope to one day see an end to cadres of Black ministers selling out our community and preaching anti-trans hate from their pulpits as white fundamentalists and conservative Republicans smile?

Do I hope to have my Black community say in one loud voice that Black Trans Lives matter and I see an end to the obscene levels of anti-trans violence aimed at us?

I sure do.

It's why building Texas Black trans representation is needed, necessary and needs to expeditiously happen.\

She's Your Sister, Not Your Competition

I was watching the interview on Sunday that Cheryl Courtney Evans gave with Raquel Willis in January.   During the third part of it she talked about an aspect of Black Transfeminine World that has bothered me and a few other woke trans women for a while in terms of the reluctance of elements of our transfeminine community to collectively work together in order to advance rights for all of us.

Cheryl's thoughts on it, and I agree with her, is that the problem stems in the different paths we used to evolve to be the people we are.  

While some of us had the gender epiphany and transitioned while out and about in the world at different times like I did, some of us came from the drag and pageantry world, some came from the ballroom community, and some of us came from the escort world.

I'm aware of those other paths that people took to become the people they are today and I ain't mad at them for doing what they felt they had to do at that moment to become the people they are today, but those paths have caused problems in our efforts to build sisterhood in our ranks.

The reason why I'm saying the drag, pageant, ballroom and escort worlds have caused a problem with building sisterhood is because the common thread in all of those worlds is competiton.

In the escort world you are trying to compete with other girls to make your money to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly.  In the drag world you're competing against other girls trying to make those tips to help pay your bills. In the pageant world you are competing to try to win that title and the cash prize that comes with it.

And in the ballroom community you are competing against each other to win categories for cash prizes and trophies.  The other common thread in all those competition scenarios is that every year, as girls transition at earlier ages, they are indistinguishable from cis females, which ratchets up the 'It's all about me' mindset another level as younger girls enter those worlds.

I'm not saying that sisterhood and friendships aren't formed in these worlds.  They are.  What I'm focused on, and I'm repeating this so there is no misunderstanding about where I'm going with this, is that the competition mindset elements of us have marinated in in those worlds has pitted us against each other far too often.  It can and has reared its ugly head at times to the point where outside observers of our Black transfeminine ranks have this impression that Black trans women can't work together.

That competition mindset we marinate in doesn't lend itself to a situation like building community and fighting for your human rights, in which cooperation is the name of the game and not competition.   It's something that we need to be conscious of and work diligently at to build trust among the various groups

And we need to do it quickly.  This community is in an situation in which we are taking on a coalition of transphobic haters comprised of the Republican Party, white fundamentalists, sellout kneegrow pastors, conservative media pundits, the TERFs, elements of the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptists.

Their mission is to eviscerate trans people from public life and must be resisted with every fiber of our beings and collective power we can muster.

So I and other woke trans women need to know that when we take these fools on, you're not looking side eyed at us out of jealousy or whatever issue you have with us and petulantly sitting out this round because you have an issue with a certain person.  We need you at that moment to have your sisters backs, not be stabbing us in the back.

We have bigger enemies to our existence in transphobic legislators, lying conservative pundits, faux faith based preachers or the kneegrow sellouts trying to throw us under the bus for their own selfish gain.   So you can hate on me and the woke trans women doing the human rights work all you want.

But when we are in Defcon 1 Fight The Power mode, we need 100% effort from you and your head in the game to defeat the existential threat to all of us.  When the crisis is passed, then you can go back to throwing shade if you wish.

As Janet Mock has said, there is room for all of us to shine.  There's also plenty of work that needs to be done across the country in different activism lanes for the collective advancement of our Black trans feminine community.   Your time will come to be in the spotlight, and when it does, I and your sisters will be cheering for you from the sidelines.  I will also be the first one to hug you and sing your praises in this blog when the time comes for you to get that deserved recognition.

It's past time we transitioned from a Darwinian survival mindset and into the cooperative sisterhood building mindset that we will need in order to successfully do our part in this trans human rights fight.

We are Black trans women.   When we put out minds to it and handle our business, we can accomplish anything we desire.  It's just we are more powerful when we do so together in a coordinated fashion.

Remember, she's your sister, not your competition.

Bryanna's Started Law School!

In case you peeps were wondering what's happening with Bryanna Jenkins, my amazing sis who is starting her 1L year at DePaul University Law School, she's moved from Baltimore to Chicago, is getting acclimated to the Windy City, and is immersing herself in her law school studies.

Bryanna also hit her fundraising goal before she left Baltimore, and she thanks all of you who contributed to it for your support.

Major props to you Bryanna as your unapologetic Black trans self  embarks upon furthering your education and making your dream of becoming an attorney come true.

 At a time when it seems as though anti-trans lawsuits are being filed by transphobic Republican red state attorney generals at a breakneck pace, your entrance into law school is coming at a critical juncture in our community's history.

And it doesn't hurt that you are entering law school well versed in the issues that impact Black trans World.

As you're probably aware from our people's distinguished history, it was our legal warriors like Charles Houston and a fellow Baltimorean who later served on the Supreme Court in Justice Thurgood Marshall that helped dismantle Jim Crow segregation and advance the human rights of our African-American community in the federal court system.

I not only applaud you for doing so, I'm bursting at the seams proud of you for doing so.

We have needed more trans women of color attorneys to join the outstanding cadre of trans attorneys we a;ready have doing amazing things, and so glad you have started the journey to join their distinguished ranks.

Good luck in this 1L semester!

Black Transwomen, Inc AYOMBI Online Trans Feminine Support Group MeetingTonight

One of the things that was discussed during the recently concluded BTAC 2016 conference was ramped up programming for the Black Transmen, Inc (BTMI) sister organization Black Transwomen, Inc (BTWI).

We had a Grand AYOMBI during the conference moderated by Dee Dee Watters, and tonight, BTWI will begin holding on the second Thursday of every month online AYOMBI Sister Circle meetings.

They start at 7 PM CDT and if you wish to participate in AYOMBI, you need to register at this link to receive your invitation.

The May AYOMBI meeting will be facilitated by Jade Lenore, and the topic is "Self Love..What Do I Feel I Deserve In Love And Life?'   The meeting will open at 6:45 PM with the meeting beginning at 7 PM for all guests who have registered to attend.

So what's AYOMBI?  It's a BTWI sponsored monthly gathering of  sisters withing a safe, respectful and confidential environment opened to all trans women at all stages of their transitions.  BTWI understands that at times, there's a need to ask questions, express feelings, and express transitioning concerns.

In this AYOMBI space the goal is to on a monthly basis explore relevant topics of the transition journey.  

AYOMBI is a free service that is offered and presented by the women of Black Transwomen, Inc.  If you require further information or have questions about it, you can call BTWI at 1-855-255-8636

A Trans Soldier's Story

I've had the honor and pleasure of knowing Karen Kendra Holmes online for several years, and finally got to meet her in person during the 2015 Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas..

Here's is an amazing story.  She's a federal government safety officer and a staff sergeant with the Maryland Defense Force who was named Soldier of the Year in 2013.  She's also a Red Cross Volunteer.

Karen is just one example of the amazing and talented people I get the meet and hang around with in the trans community that I consider myself blessed to be a part of.

Karen was the subject of a recent WMAR-TV news feature story about her that needs to be seen by you TransGriot readers.  Enjoy

Do You Wish To Be A Trans Leader Or A Trans Pariah?

As many of you have heard by now, there was a protest jumped off by a cadre of millennial trans women and their supporters during the NBJC Black Institute at Creating Change in Chicago on Thursday

The reason, as the group of protesters claimed, was not to 'hold people accountable' or 'support their trans sister', the purpose of it from the beginning was aimed at shutting down the Trans Attracted Men panel discussion that was set to happen organized by Tona Brown and Bryanna Jenkins.

That action turned ugly when NBJC's executive director and CEO Sharon Lettman Hicks was dismissively told to 'sit down and shut up' by protester Aaryn Lang, and other people in the room were disrespected as well like TPOCC Founding ED Kylar Broadus by the protesters.

While I was also one of the peeps they disrespected, and I thank everyone for their calls, hugs during CC16 and expressions of concern that are still coming in, this post is not about me.   It is about this disturbing pattern I have witnessed over the last two years of Northeastern and Midwest based young Black trans women who seem to think (and know who they are) that it's okay to exhibit Jerry Springeresque nekulturny behavior in conference spaces where we come and invest time and money in those spaces to learn and facilitate the introductions necessary to help build and sustain a national human rights movement.

I'm tired of the off the chains bad behavior along with other Black trans elders who have sacrificed much to ensure your generation of trans women could be you at ages earlier than we could ever dream of, and have less obstacles to face as you did so.

And what irritates us is that you are squandering that blessing paid for with the blood of your fallen trans sisters while embarrassing yourselves and the Black trans feminine community as a whole

The facts as I was able to determine before posting this were that the protest group never attempted to talk to Tona, Bryanna, or anyone in NBJC about their concerns, and it is increasingly apparent that the charge they have leveled at one of the panelists, has increasingly become highly questionable.

Yes boo boo kitties, I saw the police report.

Ladies, one of the tenets of a protest is that before you put your ass and reputation on the line to militantly protest something. make sure that the stuff you are allegedly protesting for actually happened before you start it.   If it turns out to be false, your credibility is shot.

As my sis Kim Watson so eloquently stated, 'You do not go in the line of fire based on lies'.

But back to the panel.   There were people in that room who spent money on conference registration fees, travel to Chicago, hotels and their valuable time to see that panel.  Your sisters Tona and Bryanna organized it, and it was being held in one of the few unapologetically Black spaces in that Creating Change Conference hotel in the NBJC Black Institute.

It was sponsored by an org that has had Black trans women's backs since Sharon Lettman-Hicks became the ED/CEO of that organization in the National Black Justice Coalition and the Kylar Broadus founded Trans Persons of Color Coalition.

The NBJC Black Institute attendees have every right to be pissed about not seeing that panel, much less a group of ungrateful children disrupting the NBJC Black Institute   You selfishly suppressed a conversation that needed to happen, and may have revealed insights into the mindset of trans attracted men that may help us reduce the numbers of our trans sisters being murdered.  

But y'all didn't give a rats anus about the people in that room gathered to see and hear that conversation or that were triggered as violence or sexual assault survivors by your actions.  You ate NBJC's deep dish pizza and then proceeded to crap on them afterwards.

You can try to justify that mess with that BS 'taking the space that is rightfully ours' mantra all you want, whatever in the hell that means, stroke your egos, but the end result is what you did was wrong and phucked up.  If you wish to continue down the trans pariah path that Ashley Love and Mariah Lopez occupy, be my guest, because that is exactly where you six peeps are heading right now.

And far from shutting that conversation down, there is even more desire and determination to see the trans attracted men chat happen.

While y'all were preening for the cameras, the right wing is introducing legislation to dehumanize us in several states and make it a criminal offense to be trans.

And the question I have for you six is simply this.  Do you wish to be a trans leader or a trans pariah? Choose wisely.

I understand y'all wish to be like the trans Latinas and have an organized, national movement.  But the trans Latinas also have discipline in their ranks, short and long range plans, don't disrespect their elders and diss each other on social media.   If they have beef with each other, they take it offline and squash it.

We have real work to do to build an intergenerational sustained Black trans movement.  I'm down to mentor people who wish to lead that movement and collectively give our people the representation they deserve.

If you wish to be part of that and want that to happen, great.  If you wish to keep mess and confusion going in Black Trans World, I'm not down for that and y'all can step aside.

As y'all step aside and descend to pariah status, the real leaders in Black Trans World can get on with the business of leading our community, fighting all who would seek to dehumanize and oppress us.

They are also tasked with educating our allies and enlightening all who wish to learn about trans issues from a Black perspective, and not embarrass our community at the same time.

Welcome To The Black Trans Renaissance!

Kortney discussed it during his interview with Katrina Goodlett, and when he mentioned the words 'Black Trans Renaissance', it made me think about the post I wrote back in 2012 about the birth of the New Black Transwoman. 

I was thinking about the 1920-30's Harlem Renaissance when I wrote that post, and apparently so was Kortney when he started talking about the unprecedented visibility that Black transpeople have at this 2k10's moment as a Black Trans Renaissance.  

When I did the hard, solid thinking after the podcast interview was concluded, I had to admit my brilliant trans brother was correct in his assessment when you connect all the disparate dots into a larger picture.

We have the simultaneous rising of New Black Transmen and New Black Transwomen who are fearlessly owning their power and if they aren't getting seats at the power tables, have begun to make their own.

We have Black trans writers, academics, artists, musicians, athletes,  thinkers and activists getting major visibility.  We have possibility models, heroes and sheroes in place.  Black trans people are well represented as Trans 100 honorees for 2013 and 2014, and I can confidently say that our people will be well represented when the 2015 Trans 100 List is revealed next March.  

As New Black Transmen and New Black Transwomen, we are outspoken advocates of dignity for our people, refuse to accept the status quo that has crippled our community and are thinking critically about our images as African descended trans people here and across the African Diaspora.    

As Kortney demonstrated with Trans* H4CK, we are coming up with creative solutions to many of our trans community's pressing problems.   We are forming our own organizations and holding national and regional conferences to discuss the problems that ail our communities and solve them.

We are reclaiming our history, pushing back against the use of Scripture to browbeat our community and pointing out to our cis allies that Black trans issues are Black community issues. 

In some cases the ideas and organizations we are coming up with in Black trans world like BTMI/BTWI, the Trans 100 and Trans* H4CK, are paradigm shifters for the entire trans community. 

Unlike the Harlem Renaissance,  the Black Trans Renaissance is not centered in New York, but stretches from coast to coast.   We have a blend of youth and seasoned elders who are leaders in this community.

We also benefit from the fact that our Black trans youth are the best educated transpeople we have ever had, and those who are matriculating in college now will exceed even what has been accomplished so far.  

For those who are foolishly fearful of the Black Trans Renaissance, may I remind you that a strong, powerful and confident Black trans community that owns its power and uses it to uplift themselves and the groups it chooses to ally itself with also benefits you in the short and long run.   

So welcome to the Black Trans Renaissance.   It is a chapter in the modern day history of the American trans community that bears watching.
 

Why Y'all So 'Scurred' Of Black Trans People Owning Their Power?

So white transpeeps, the attack on Janet Mock and other Black trans leaders 'isn't about race'?   Bull feces.  

Peep this comment from transman Mark Angelo Cummings:

I am seeing a very strange twist in our community, and why are we all of a sudden admiring individuals who have recently come out as advocates with little to no experience in that role. One is an actress, the other stealth for many years working at Peoples magazine behind a cubicle and now decides to write a book and is identifying as a fierce advocate? Both trans woman of color, which seems to be a very prominent twist these days as if they are the only ones in the trans community who have suffered and constantly harp on how bad they have it, leaving behind the rest of us. Separating themselves, creating their own groups and associations and hijacking the community at large.

Now all of sudden we see this rage, this uproar, this hatred towards "Cis" Gender individuals, there years of hurt is coming out in their attempt to advocate and it is creating one ugly picture. in addition, they are leading a war path, a path that will lead us into an abyss. I believe we need to stop this movement before it back fires and redirect our efforts to showing love and compassion and stop seeing color.... Mark Angelo Cummings.

Strange Mark?  The question I have to ask is why are you (and white transpeople in general) feeling threatened by the ascendance of an intelligent masters degree wielding Black transwoman who OWNS HER POWER?   

I note the only people in Trans World who have been trashing Janet ever since your 'ally' Piers Morgan led the attack to 'deal with her'  have predominately been white.

By coming out, Janet and Laverne's ascendancy not only gave our community possibility models they can be proud of and point to, they have opened the doors to a sorely needed dialogue (like the one I had in Houston at the Montrose Center last night) in the Black cis and SGL community about trans issues.  

How is that 'a problem' or 'a threat'?   

I and other Black trans leaders don't see it that way.   We have been asking for years to be included in trans leadership ranks that look like a Republican Party convention and you keep ignoring or dismissing our concerns and requests to do so.  We are suffering with a 26% unemployment rate in Black Transworld and near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence being aimed at us that needs to be dealt with now, not 5, 10 or 50 years from now.    

For the last 61 years the trans narrative has centered on whiteness.  The transfeminine one has like in the parent society, white transwomen being the penultimate in beauty and femininity while Black transwomen are belittled, denigrated and murdered along with our trans Latina sisters.

Don't even get me started about how the transmasculine conversation has been centered on whiteness as well when media time does get allocated to talk about it

Now that you see Black transpeople confidently owning their power, have our own heroes and sheroes we can point to with pride, having their own conventions and TDOR events, have people like Kortney and my GLAAD Media Award nominated self and other video bloggers discussing our issues from an Afrocentric perspective, beginning to be supported by Black mainstream advocacy orgs like the NAACP and our SGL allies in the National Black Justice Coalition, you delusionally see this as 'cis' hatred and something that 'needs to be stopped'?

Seriously?   Have a seat Mark (and 'errbody' else in White Transworld who shares that jacked up opinion) and drink a nice tall Southern sweet tea flavored glass of STFU.

Laverne and Janet are in the media eye.   They are sheroes to a Black trans community that for the first time ever has out trans spokespeople who share their ethnic heritage.  We are reclaiming and talking about our trans history.   Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler is not only writing critical essays on his GLAAD nominated blac(k)ademic blog but has created the Trans* H4CK that seamlessly combines a hackathon with trans social justice.   Dee Dee Watters in Houston successfully organized the first ever Black trans organized TDOR.   Trans 100 honoree Carter Brown's Black Transmen, Inc is holding another BTAC Conference in April with a multicultural list of presenters and speakers while his org is helping Black transmen organize and own their collective power.   

And how is Black trans people showing pride in being Black and trans, doing for self and building institutions and community infrastructure similar to the ones that white transpeeps have enjoyed for decades 'hijacking the movement'?  You are clueless or have been standing in the Florida sun for too damned long if you think that way. 

I don't see that as a threat or something that 'needs to be stopped', I see it as something that is long overdue. It is also a breath of fresh air in a trans movement that for six decades has been far too focused on whiteness. and the desire of elements of the white trans community to regain their lost white privilege at POC transpeople's expense.

Not like Moni didn't warn y'all on the pages of this blog for years the Black Trans Revolution was coming. 

Bottom line is that we're beyond tired of the invisibility and it's time for the chocolate trans community to do what our Black sisters did in the late 80's and early 90's when they separated themselves from a similar jacked up situation in the feminist ranks.    TransGriot March 29, 2011

As Kwame Ture said, "In order to participate in the greater society, you must first close ranks." 

I also see this as the long overdue awakening of Black trans people finally doing what our parents, grandparents and great grandparents did decades ago when faced with the same intransigent racism in our parent society.  Because of your lack of vanillacented privileged wisdom, it was made necessary for African-American transpeople to tell our stories, do community building and close ranks.to build our own community so that we as free human beings have options.

And you have no one to blame but yourselves for this development.  We warned you that if something wasn't done about trans leadership ranks that resembled a GOP convention and you kept ignoring our pleas to change that and share the responsibility of leading this diverse community, the day was going to happen that we made our own damned tables and we wouldn't care if you liked it or not. 

As I've said on multiple posts here on this blog and on countless discussion Internet threads inside and outside the trans community for over a decade in various ways, race matters, even in the trans community.

We Black transpeople do not have the luxury of separating our race and ethnicity from our trans status because they are inextricably part of us.   We also get reminded of the kente cloth woven ties we have to the Black community every time we get whacked by the same microaggressive and macroaggressive bull feces whiteness and white supremacy aims at the entire community.

I am Black first, trans second.  If I had any doubts about where I stand in that regard as a member of the trans community, I get a reminder of it every time I call out the bigoted and racist bull feces that occasionally pops up in our trans community ranks and you angrily hiss back I'm 'angry' or 'playing the race card' for simply for being willing to call your unacknowledged white privileged behinds out.

Your White Privilege Rewards Card isn't the platinum one mind you, it just got downgraded to one with a transgender flag sticker on it. 

It was past time for Black transpeople to close ranks, lift each other up as white transpeople have done for the last six decades, have those trans conversations in our Black SGL and cis communities, and do the education because we are the people best suited to discuss trans issues in our community. 

Having a strong, confident, politically aware and vibrant Black trans community telling our stories strengthens the entire pink, white and blue flag waving trans community as a whole.  It also strengthens our Black cis and SGL communities and any other one we choose to ally with. 

We in Black Transworld will choose who our heroes and sheroes are and the people that we consider leaders in it.   You don't like who we choose, tough.   But you are on notice White Transworld that we will not stand by and sit on our hands when you unjustly attack our leaders, and you do so at your peril.  . 

If you fear the rise of the New Black Transwoman and the New Black Transman because of your unacknowledged privilege, have several seats.  You can #bemad and #staymad about it.

We would rather work together to build community with our white trans brothers and sisters and our cis, bi  and SGL allies to advance our common goal of human rights for all.  

But we Black transpeople will no longer do so as a disrespected junior partner that you throw under the bus every time our opponents wave an opportunity in front of your noses to get your lost platinum white privilege levels back.   
 

BTAC 2014 Registration And Call For Proposals

The 2014 Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas from April 29-May 4 at the Hilton DoubleTree Campbell Center is rapidly approaching.   It's time for you trans and gender non-conforming individuals, family, friends and community allies to accept the BTAC conference invitation to gather, educate, learn, build and grow together in unity.  

The clock is ticking, so it's time to get busy and get registered for this third annual conference that is free for all registered guests to attend as long as you do so before April 1, 2014.   After that date all registrations will be processed onsite at the conference hotel and carry a $10 processing fee.

The BTAC 2014 theme is "One Earth. One People. One Love."  BTAC is inviting trans and gender non-conforming individuals and our family, friends and community allies to gather, educate, learn, build and grow together in unity.

BTAC 2014 has also issued a Call for Proposals with proposals due on January 5, 2014.   So if you have an idea for a conference proposal, need to get it in by clicking this link before this deadline.   

If you're looking for more information or an opportunity to sponsor this conference, you can inquire about how to do so by emailing btac@blacktrans.org 

Black Trans Advocacy
3530 Forest Lane Suite 312C
Dallas, TX 75234
(855) 255-8636

And yes, if you have some spare change like $5's, $10's, $20's (or more if you're feeling generous)  burning a hole in your pocket, you can make a tax deductible donation since it is a 501c3 organization.
   

TDOR 2013 Message To My Houston Black Transpeeps

Since the 2013 Transgender Day of Remembrance events are rapidly coming to an end, basically had to say a few things to my African-American transpeeps in Houston as I pondered the historic happening Wednesday night of the first ever Houston TDOR event organized and executed by an African-American transgender Houstonian. 

It was a rousing success with over 40 people in attendance at this historic first time ever event.  And nope, that distinction does not belong to me.  The well deserved props for this historic feat belong to Dee Dee Watters.  

She was motivated to act after hearing me gripe during one of our conversations a few months ago about our lack of representation at TDOR events in Houston and across the country.   It was her tough minded determination and elbow grease that led to what happened Wednesday night and led to me when it was over having a wide as Texas smile.  

All I did was simply advise and offer my help and thoughts on how to proceed when she needed it. 

For those of you who missed the first ever Transgender Day of Remembrance event ever in Houston with soul that was planned by an African American trans Houstonian, all I have to say is you missed a groundbreaking historical event.

It was held in the 97 year old St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Wheeler Street in the shadows of the Texas Southern University campus.  It's where the radically inclusive Progressive Open Door Christian Center holds its services.  That only added to the sense to me of just how appropriate this place was as the venue for this first ever Houston African-American TDOR event and I was proud on my small role in it. 

It had a kick butt monologue from Dee Dee entitled 'Love Who You Are'.   Spoken word readings from Tye West, Makai Bowie, Rev J. Nicole Mathis, and Latina transwoman Alexus Nicole Whitny.  A Maya Angelou poetry selection read by Lesa Jackson.  A dance selection to Beyonce's song 'Halo' by DePaul Cydney Norwood.   An acapella version of the 'Greatest Love of All' sung by Emanhi Fuqua, a musical selection by Nicolai Kirk      

And after the candle lighting, yes the Reading of the Names by AJ Bowie, Rev. Mathis, Darcy Mitchell and a certain award winning blogger y'all all know and we closed it by having the trans people who attended the event leading a march twice around the sanctuary singing a civil rights era freedom song.You know next year's TDOR with soul will be even better because that's just how we do things.

I hope during the 2014 Black TDOR event and subsequent ones we actually see some of our African American community and business leaders, Black Greek letter organization members, politicians, thought leaders, clergy, pundits, family members, straight cis and SGL allies be in the house at future ones to pay their respects and support our Black trans community.

Frankly, they need to be there.  This year alone there were 12 African-American transpeople who died because of anti-trans violence, with the overwhelming majority of them (11) being African-American trans women.  Many of those people also died at the hands of other African-Americans.

Another group of people who need to be there to support this event now that we have a home for it is you Black trans Houstonians who couldn't make it this year.   If your azzes can show up at a pageant, the club, a party or a drag show, you damned sure need to have your Black, trans and proud faces in the place showing up, showing out, and standing up to be counted in support of a TDOR event organized by another Black trans woman. .

You've claimed and complained for years Black trans women inside and around Loop 610 you wanted a Houston event 'for the gurls'.  Now one exists, so what 'cha gonna do?  It's  time for you to either put up or sit your azz down somewhere and have a nice tall sweet tea flavored glass of STFU. 

Time for y'all to support this Black TDOR event that is immersed in your cultural heritage.  Nurture it. Help it grow.  Share it with the rest of the Houston community.  And better yet, help Dee Dee plan next year's event.      

Houston Black trans men, here is your opportunity to step up, support your Houston trans sisters and emerging Houston, state and national leaders like Tye West and Dallas' Carter Brown .   

We need you Houston Black trans brothers getting busy developing and honing those leadership skills.  We Houston Black trans women need you to be in words, actions and deeds the fabulous brothers and leaders we know you are  

The Black cis community will also need you to step up to your A+ leadership game as well.  If you are serious about doing so and making that Black Trans Juneteenth happen, then I'm sure Carter and Tye would love to see your faces in the place in Dallas April 30-May 4 for BTAC 2014 and at other community events in H-town and beyond in 2014.

To borrow a phrase from my little sis Dee Dee, Real Talk time.   As people step up to lead this community, just letting y'all know upfront shade throwers and agent provocateurs need not apply.for the job of building the Houston African-American trans community.

We'll get enough of that from peeps outside of it.   As a trans elder in this community if I even sense a hint of it I WILL call your azzes out because it is Nation Time, not Throwing Shade Time.  As I said back on Juneteenth and will repeat for your edification and 'ejumaction' here, we African descended Texas transpeople can no longer afford to muddle around for another wasted decade isolated, invisible to the world at large, ignorant about what's going on around us, and feeling impotent socially, emotionally, politically and economically. 
 
We have the opportunity now to do something about that situation now that we are getting the attention of the Houston Black cis community SGL and straight.   We have a chance to build something lasting here and for the sake of our fallen brothers and sisters we need to be tough minded enough to make it happen.. 

I am determined along with Dee Dee and other visionary leaders to not waste this God given opportunity paid for with the blood of our fallen sisters to do just that.

With the upcoming effort to get gender identity and sexual orientation added to the Houston non discrimination ordinance, we Black trans folks will play a key role in helping it get passed because the opponents will us ignorance, fear and hatred of trans people to 'scurr' people into opposing it.. 

But to build that Houston Black trans community some of you have told me repeatedly you want, we have to come out of the shadows and stop hiding.  As my sis Rev. Carmarion Anderson said in her San Antonio TDOR keynote last night, we have to be naked to the world. 

Translation, we have to be our authentic selves and be that in every space we proudly enter.  And one of the spaces we long ago needed to enter was the room in which the African-American family table is placed with the kente cloth covering the table and the kinara at the center of it. 

It's past time we claimed our seat at that table as visibly proud Black trans men and women. 

The only way we can do that is to be visible and say it loud, we are Black, trans and proud and don't care what you think about us living our truth and being the people God created us to be.

As Pastor Lawrence T. Richardson reminds us, "God is love and you were made in the image of perfect Love. There is space for you in this world. There is space at your church, in your desired career, in your family, on sports teams…and it is time to take your space."

It's past time Houston Black trans community for us to take our space. 

Because visibility will lead to victories in our professional, political and personal lives, and be good for not only us as Black trans people, but for all the communities we intersect and interact with.

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.

Yes, Kevin You Do Need To Know Something About Trans Issues To INTELLIGENTLY Discuss Them

I received an interesting link from Bryanna Aeon Jenkins last night concerning YouTube's The 'Skorpion Show' host Kevin Simmons and his broadcast partner Makael McLendon problematic take on trans issues.

I saw the two videos in which these openly gay men clumsily tried to discuss the Mister Cee controversy and the trans feminine dimension of it.  They said some problematically ignorant things about trans women that video bloggers Kat Blacque and Bryanna Aeon Jenkins tried to correct Kevin on.

First point of this post Kevin, is that if you're going to talk about trans issues on your show, you do need to educate yourself on trans issues if you're going to attempt to talk INTELLIGENTLY about them.  Our trans feminine lives are not a joke or a punchline to boost your hit counts, especially when Black trans women are getting killed for daring to openly live their lives.  .

Google and Bing are your friends.  Utilizing them can help you acquire a Trans 101 level of knowledge that will be sufficient enough for us trans women to not to have to school your ass when you frack up like you did in those two videos in the wake of the Mr. Cee mess.  

Janet Mock and Laverne Cox are just two of the many people in the trans feminine community who have either written about or discussed trans relationships.  Both recently made an appearance on HuffPo lLive.  I've been talking about a wide range of transgender issues on this award winning Afrocentric trans blog and elsewhere since 2006.  Diamond Stylz is another major transfeminine blogger who has commented on the Mr Cee issue.  

And when we trans women, be we from the blogosphere, academia or video blog world inevitably call you on your loud and wrong opinions about our lives, don't get huffy and dismissive like you did with Bryanna when we do.   We have had for far too long cisgender gay and straight people mischaracterizing our lives and we're tired of it.  We cannot and will not let it go when a video blog with a large viewership like The Skorpion Show is putting misinformation out there about us and the creator of the show claims 'he doesn't need to know anything about our lives'.

Yeah, you do need to know something about our lives since we are an intertwined part of the Black TBLG community . When it comes to our lives, we trans women are the experts when it comes to talking about them because we are the ones dealing with the challenges and issues inherent with negotiating life in our trans feminine bodies.

Trans women are not as you erroneously put it, 'just like a gay person.'    Sexual orientation and gender identity are two entirely different discussions.  The only way that trans people and gay people are alike is that the world hates on both groups for violating the gender binary.  

And speaking of sexual orientation, a cis man who sleeps with a trans woman is straight, not gay.   Gay men as you and Makael know are attracted to other gay men.  Trans attracted men are attracted to our femininity first, then we sort out the issues on what particular combination of genitalia and sexual activity a trans attracted man likes in the bedroom who desires a long term relationship with us. 

Video bloggers like Troy have also had much to say about this Mr Cee controversy.  He has done yeoman's work at his YouTube video channel in giving people thought-provoking 411 commentary about trans attracted men as well.

But let's get back to discussing gender identity vs sexual orientation.

Gender identity is who you are, your perception of who you are and how you perform your gender roles to correspond with that perception.  Sexual orientation is who you like to sleep with when your bedroom door is closed.  Trans people can be straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or poly just like the rest of you cisgender people.

Another point you and your broadcast partner need to burn into your brains is that a trans woman is a woman period regardless of what genitalia is between her legs.  You focus on the person she is and projecting to the world in 2013 and beyond, not the body she came into the world with out of her mother's womb on her birthday. 

And if you wish to have that conversation you claim on you want to have with trans women, there are basic rules of respect for us you need to remember.  One is to STFU and listen when we are schooling you about aspects of our trans lives you are ignorant about.   

You do not EVER call us 'trannies'.  That is now considered a slur word by a majority of the American trans feminine community, so expunge it from your vocabulary.  

Disrespecting our femininity by calling us 'men' or using the wrong pronouns when we have spent time, money, psychological-emotional work, hormone therapy and sweat equity into becoming the persons on the outside that we are on the inside is also not acceptable.   

And that's real talk for you.