And Still Serena Rises

One of the things I'm absolutely sick of along with other African-Americans is the racist hatred and trans misogyny that flows from the mouths of vanillacentric privileged white peeps mad that their European tennis glamazons weren't up to the task (again) of beating the world's number one ranked tennis player in Serena Jameka Williams.

It's not a new problem.  I've written about it previously, but it still pisses me off to see it.

Serena earned that sixth title, going through a three set match with Victoria Azarenka in the quarters, beating down Maria Sharapova for the (ho hum) 17th straight time since 2004 in the semis and taking out a tough Garbine Muguruza to claim that 'Williams'-don crown and the Serena Slam

But y'all still hate on her.

I'm tired of this ongoing pattern of successful Black female athletes like Serena Williams having their femininity attacked because they excel at what they do.  It is part of the same four century old racist pattern of whiteness and white supremacy demonizing Black women and Black womanhood in general.

If Serena Williams had the same number 34 ranking as Sloane Stephens and the same number of Grand Slam titles won (zero) instead of being the World Number 1 ranked player with 21 Career Grand Slams (and counting), white folks wouldn't be saying jack about Serena.


Neither would they be saying anything if she were mixed race like 18th ranked Madison Keys trying to downplay the fact she has a Black father. Then again Keys, like Stephens hasn't won a Grand Slam either.   Keys was vanquished by Serena in straight sets in the 2015 Australia Open semis.

Serena clearly being the best women's tennis player on the planet, repeatedly kicking European tennis glamazon azz, staking her increasingly unassailable claim to being the greatest tennis player of all time while being unapologetically Black and a curvy dark skinned Black woman who got back in a sport with predominately white players is clearly setting some people free and has since 1999.

And I'm enjoying every nanosecond of Serena's tennis superiority as the vanillacentric privileged haters try to find a reason to not give her credit for her decade of dominance. . 

I didn't appreciate the problematic July 10 New York Times tennis body image article by Ben Rothenberg that insinuated in thinly racist tones that Serena's was the body the glamazons didn't want to have. 

Well, Serena's happy with it, Black women are happy with it, her fans and supporters are happy with her fine brown frame, and so am I

As one person who slammed the article on Twitter remarked about the description of Serena as 'animal-like said and I concur with that,“This black people as ‘beast’ thing needs to go down with the #ConfederateFlag.”

Even David Frum's tired behind tried to shadily slime her by throwing out the steroid accusation before retracting after getting called out about it.

FYI dog, since tennis is an Olympic sport, it uses the same IOC drug screening protocol.to the point that during last month's French Open, Serena was playing and beating all comers at Roland Garros while suffering from a cold.

David, ask the former East Germans or Shirley Babashoff what women on steroids look and sound like before you have several seats and some strawberries and cream flavored Haterade.

And still Serena rises.  And y'all hate it.

See y'all in New York at the US Open.

TERF's Have Zero Say In Defining My Black Trans Life

I got to see the transphobic piece of TERF trash written by Elinor Burkett for the New York Times (which I refuse to link to) and have held my tongue for a few days to process that waste of bandwith op-ed that has been seized on by transphobes who want to get the anti-trans hate on. 

People have asked me my opinion about what she wrote. so here goes.  

I have zero respect for people who hate me and my trans community and wish to oppress it by any means necessary.

I have zero respect for another Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist white woman who makes it clear in another published screed she never has and never will know what being trans is like, arrogantly thinks she has the power to define us and uses her privilege and media access to demonize and oppress trans people.

I'm also beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of media outlets repeatedly giving white TERF's space in their publications to publish these so called contrarian pieces that are barely disguised TERF anti-trans hatred.

Burkett, Burchill and everyone else in TERF World want to keep ignoring the fact that despite trans exclusionary radical feminism's unrelenting 40 plus year failed effort to morally eradicate transsexuality from existence,  and still we trans feminine women rise.

That rise is being led by trans women of color sick of their words that translate into death, pain and misery visited upon our trans ranks.   And contrary to what your vanillacentric privileged TERF egos may tell you, you don't get to define the parameters of trans womanhood and what terrain the discussion will be held on, we trans women do.

The other thing that has pissed me off about this whole ongoing Caitlyn Jenner discussion is that  unless it has happened and I've missed it while handling some personal business, I have yet to hear the voices of cis non-white women in this media conversation.

When it comes to what feminists are thinking about trans women, I will take my cues from people like Melissa Harris-Perry, Kaila Story and Brittney Cooper just to name a few along with other thoughtful Black cis women who know that we Black cis and trans women have far more issues that unite us than divide us.

Both Black cis and trans women are also aware that Black womanhood has been under attack for four centuries, and it is in our mutual interests to end that demonization of Black femininity.

It's also in our mutual interests to jointly hammer home the point to the Black community that if #BlackLivesMatter, some of those Black lives that matter are also Black trans lives. 

It does not help our community when Black trans people are facing 26% unemployment.   We Black trans people need to be in a position to whee we can not only make a decent living, but be in the position in which we can contribute our talents to uplift all African-Americans.

And that needs to happen sooner rather than at some future date.

It is also in the mutual interests of Black cis women in the spirit of Black lives mattering to speak up against the attacks by white TERF's on the femininity of their trans sisters.  They need to drive home the point white women do not speak for Black women when it comes to discussing the parameters of what femininity is, and especially what Black femininity is.

One of the things that has helped me the most in my own ongoing evolutionary Black feminine journey is to have Black cis women in my corner who understand that trans women are women.   They have let me and other Black trans women know in no uncertain terms that I and other Black trans women are their sisters.

And the cool thing about that is we continue to have dialogue about what sisterhood between Black cis and Black trans women looks like in practice.

You TERF's don't get to in your loud and wrong terms slime trans women because you have never walked a nanosecond in our pumps.  Neither do you as white cis women know what it is  like to be a non-white cis or trans woman because race impacts our transitions and our trans lives.   

But non-white cis women are intimately aware of that intersection of race and femininity, and have more than a clue about what it's like to be hated for who you are for existing on Planet Earth in a Black feminine body. .

So no TERF's, you have zero say in defining my Black trans life.  I and other trans women of color thought leaders do.

Who Died And Made Y'all The Femininity Police?

While doing the research and searching through YouTube video for the Brittney Griner post, especially the one in which she's being interviewed, I noted that far too many comments from the haters ensued which questioned her femininity and made snide references to the movie Juwanna Mann in doing so.



In light of that I have to ask the question, who died and made y'all the femininity police? Are you little boys feeling jealous because some of you are Brittney's height or shorter and don't have her hoops skills?

You haters need to take some remedial science classes. The bottom line is that you get half your genetic material from mommy and half your genetic material from daddy. In addition to that, all human life at conception is female. You don't come out as boys on the other end of that nine month developmental journey inside mommy's womb until certain things happen during the eight to twelfth weeks of pregnancy that put the fetus firmly on the male development path.

That means, for the scientifically illiterate, if the hormone wash doesn't happen, you haters would have feminine names, be wearing heels and hose and wouldn't have the Almighty Phallus to grab at regular intervals.

It also means that you get a blend of physical characteristics from mommy and daddy and some interesting combinations as well. I know women who have deeper voices than Brittney does, and have you ever heard Toni Braxton sing certain notes? I also know men with feminine facial features and body builds, and women with big hands, long arms and big feet.

But this speaks to some of the larger issues I've talked about. The fact that Black women's images have been under attack for several centuries and we are considered less than beautiful and feminine. Too many times Black men, who are supposed to be our swords and shields in standing up for us and calling out the haters have aided and abetted in that image destruction. If you are a woman above 5'7" tall and have what are considered 'masculine' features, you're automatically assumed to be a transwoman or insultingly called one as Ciara and a depressingly long list of Black women have been.

Even the so called 'proof' of bearing children doesn't end that negativity hurled at them. Just ask our 5'11" First Lady, who was disrespectfully called 'Stokely Carmichael in a dress' by Faux News conservaidiot Juan Williams.

There was even a scene in one of my fave movies Love & Basketball that illustrates this. Sanaa Lathan's character Monica Wright is a high school superstar baller in this movie who could really care less about the feminine pursuits like her mother and sister until other women start chasing her love interest, her longtime next door neighbor and basketball prodigy Quincy McCall.

At her high school spring dance during her senior year she reluctantly gets glammed up for the event after losing the city championship game earlier in the day. She's enjoying herself, and while taking a dance break she's comfortably leaning forward in her chair with her legs spread instead of sitting ruler straight on the back of the chair with her knees together while wearing her dress. Two boys walk by and you hear them say loud enough for her to hear it "I'm a man" as they chuckle to themselves. Monica then instantly snaps into 'feminine' seating position.

It ain't just 'the menz' who are guilty of femininity policing. Women can be just as bad or even worse in some cases. Be a girl who is interested in sports or who isn't in their judgment 'feminine enough' for their tastes and watch the catty remarks come flying off their tongues.

The point is that it's arrogantly ignorant of men to think that they can and have the power to make that judgment call on who is and isn't feminine based on your exposure to the Jet Beauty of the Week, rap videos or Playboy and King magazine photo spreads and it needs to stop.