ESSENCE Honors Black Trans Women In Hollywood

One of the big three iconic magazines in the Black community is ESSENCE.   It has been chronicling the stories of Black women since its 1970 founding. 

I'm gratified to see that after a problematic history with trans women, that ESSENCE featuring more Black trans women in their stories and coverage to the point I'm seriously considering restarting my subscription to the magazine.

In the January 2020 issue discussing Black Women in Hollywood, I was pleased and proud to see my trans sisters and trans sibling in the article celebrating  Black Women in Hollywood..

The women of POSE are not only #BlackTGirlMagic personified, they are doing groundbreaking work on this FX show.   I just hope that all their hard work starts getting reflected in them finally starting to get nominated for and actually making more history by taking home some awards

It's also my wish for them that in addition to receiving awards they deserve to be nominated for, that other movie, Broadway and television roles start flowing from their time on this show as they already have started to happen for Angelica Ross and MJ Rodriguez .

And can't forget the groundbreaking work that Janet Mock is doing behind the POSE camera lenses as a writer, director and producer.  I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens in Season 3 of POSE later this summer. 

You may wish to head to your local newsstand and grab this latest issue of ESSENCE before it's gone. 

Moni's March For Black Women Speech

TransGriot Note: The text of my speech I'm delivering for the March For Black Women here in Houston.  


To my beautiful Black sisters cis and trans, Kandice Webber, Nisha Randle our allies and accomplices, supporters and friends,   I am pleased, proud and honored that my unapologetic Black trans feminine self was invited to be here and say a few words to you on this historic day.

I find it so apropos to be standing here today in solidarity with my sisters on the hallowed soil of Emancipation Park because this place has enormous historical significance for Black Houstonians.  The ten acres of land you are standing on was bought in 1872 by a group of our ancestors organized by the Rev. Jack Yates in the wake of our emancipation from bondage and to hold our Juneteenth celebrations. .For decades it was the only park Black Houstonians could go to because of Jim Crow segregation.    As a child I watched along with my late grandmother Tama Juneteenth parades come down Emancipation Avenue and terminate at this spot before it became a state holiday.

And in this 21st Century moment, I can't think of a better place for this inaugural March For Black Women to be taking place than on these grounds.   I also can't think of a more appropriate place to announce that on March 6 and in a few short months, we will begin the process of emancipating ourselves from the bondage of Republican tyranny in Texas and beyond.

That emancipation from Republican bondage is going to happen if those of you assembled here and within the sound of my voice do two simple things.  One of them is to vote on March 6 and November 6 as if your life and your democracy depends on it, because frankly, that's where we are right now as a country. 

The second, and most important thing to do is TRUST BLACK WOMEN to lead you to that electoral promised land and in all the fights to come.

Trusting Black women to lead also includes without exception trusting Black trans women.

As Lucy Hick Anderson said several decades ago, "I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman.  I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.” And yes, Black trans women , despite all the anti-trans rhetoric being spouted by various faux faith based haters and the Republican Party, ARE Black women. 

Black trans women are ready, willing and able to do our parts to uplift ourselves and the Black community.   But were frustrated as hell because the community at large is ignoring our suffering.  We have Black legacy organizations that haven't uttered one syllable about the ongoing slaughter of Black trans women occuring at a near genocidal rate, and we are distress about our legacy organizations and Black church folk being silent in the face of white fundamentalists, the Trump misadministration and the Republican Party attacking our very humanity and human rights. 

You trans siblings are also angry over the fact that some of our skinfolk are gleefully colluding with white fundamentalists , trans exclusionary radical feminists  sellout pastors and the GOP to demonize us, and that reprehensible behavior needs to end today.

Let me say this loud and clear, and I want you to commit this to memory.   Black trans women are women.  Black trans men are men, and Black trans people are Black people.

Saying that is the first step for the Black cisgender community recognizing beyond as shadow of a doubt that Black transgender people are Black people who are part of the kente cloth fabric of the Black community.

Diana Ross once said in a 1989 ESSENCE magazine interview, "I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman.  I never wanted to be anything else.  We have brains. We are beautiful.  We can do anything we set our minds to"

And what we Black women as a group need to set our minds to do is come to the realization that Black trans women are not your enemy, my Black cis sisters. 

Black trans women, it is also past time for you to stop giving your Black cis sisters the side eye and treating them as if they are our enemy.  They aren't..  It isn't Black women who have been gleefully colluding with the GOP to mess with your human rights. it was a far too long list of folks who didn't look like us in the persons of Janice Raymond, Germaine Greer and other TERF's. 

It wasn't a Black woman who wrote SB 6 or other anti-trans Texas legislation.  What I saw in my multiple trips to Austin last year were Black women legislators like Senfronia Thompson calling it out and helping to kill the unjust SB 6.

It was the Lone Star dynamic oppressor duo of Lois Kolkhorst and Joan Huffman,  Kolkhorst authored it, and Huffman shoved it through her senate committee.  Both of them need to be punished at the polls for it along with the man who egged them on in Potty Dan Patrick.

However, a note to Chimamanda Adichie, Stacey Patton and anyone else in the Black feminine ranks cosigning their transphobia, we will not tolerate and will swiftly call out anti-trans rhetoric coming from you or any Black cis woman.  We don't need that TERF crap in our ranks because we have more important societal fish to fry.

Black trans people, Black trans kids and Black trans women exist.   Being trans isn't 'just a white thang', and we aren't going away or going back in the closet as evidenced by those of us showing us and standing here in solidarity with you here today in Emancipation Park.

From this day forward, we want and need our cis sisters standing in solidarity with us, and we want to be standing in solidarity with you our cis sisters.
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We know who our enemy is, and it isn't our cis Black sisters.  We are fighting the same demonization and denigration of Black womanhood you are.   We are dealing with the same anti-Blackness you fight against.  We are fighting the same issues of living in an America hostile to Black people and Black feminine bodies you are fighting in addition to having to deal with transphobic ignorance inside and outside our shared community/   We want to work with you in sisterhood to eradicate it. 

But the non negotiable price of us offering that help is unconditional acceptance of who we are as Black trans people.   It's past time for cis and trans Black women to have those tough ongoing conversations that will lead to us building sisterhood so we can focus on the larger, more important  tasks ahead.

And by doing that you may get an amazing friend in the process.

It's nation time people.  Houston, Texas, America and our people are depending on us to as usual, save this country and this state from itself, provide the visionary leadership necessary to liberate our people and to paraphrase Barbara Jordan bring about a Texas and America better than its promise. .

Let's get to work making it happen.

Power Rising Summit Happening In The ATL February 22-25

During a Congressional Black Caucus female members retreat held after the 2016 election, DC pastor Leah Daughtry, who had chaired the 2016 DNC convention, was speaking at that retreat. 

She was asked by Rep, Maxine Waters (D-CA)  what should Black women do next after they had undeniably proven to the country and the world they were the base of the Democratic Party, having voted 94% for Hillary Clinton nd almost getting her into the White House.

Daughtry recalled saying at the time in a Washington Post interview, "If I could wave my magic wand, I'd have a conference of Black women to come together across the spectrum and say 'How do we leverage the political power we just demonstrated that often gets ignored?"

The CBC women's retreat concluded without any action on Daughtry's idea. 

But as 2017 unfolded Daughtry began to get angry as she witnessed the Trump misadministration and its conservative media allies repeatedly attack Black women such as ESPN anchor Jemele Hill, White House correspondent April Ryan, Rep Waters, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) and the widow of slain soldier La David Johnson.

Watching those attacks, combined with Black women's own simmering anger at the Democratic Party's white leaders and white activists claiming that the party spent too much time in the 2016 cycle with voters of color and not enough with the white rural Trump voters who made it clear they don't love Democrats also didn't sit well with her.

Meanwhile as that problematic conversation was happening in the party, Black women once again demonstrated that they were undeniably the base of the Democratic Party by flexing their political muscle by powering Democratic wins in Virginia and the senate upset win for Doug Jones in Alabama.

But the media coverage that night dismissed the major role Alabama's Black women played in making Doug Jones the first Democratic senator elected from the state in 25 years, calling it a 'victory for women'.   The media trying to ignore the fact that Alabama's Black women voted at a 98% clip for Jones while Alabama's white women voted 63% for Republican Roy Moore also exasperated Daughtry.   



The dormant idea she'd had resurfaced, and Daughtry began calling Black women to ask if they would be willing to help organize the conference that she'd talked about during that retreat.

She got resounding YES answers to that question, and meetings began to be held in Washington DC at the National Council of Negro Women HQ on Pennsylvania Avenue.  The conference that was just an idea a few months earlier began to take shape. 

The Power Rising Summit is organized around 'five pillars' or policy areas.  Business and Economic Empowerment, Culture, Community and Society,  Education Technology and Innovation,  Health and Wellness and of course Political Empowerment.

The Power Rising Summit is nonpartisan, and hopes to attract at least 1000 attendees to the event ranging from big name celebrities, grassroots activists, seasoned leaders and students from all 50 states to the ATL from February 23-25.

One of the questions I have as I peruse this Power Rising Summit website is will Black trans women be welcome to attend?

Registration fees range from $25-$100 with scholarships available for participants.   They are also working on getting corporate sponsorship to help defray some of the costs of the gathering. 

The last time Black women gathered to create an agenda that reflected our unique intersectional concerns was back in the 1970's courtesy of the Boston chapter of the National Black Feminist Organization.

The Combahee River Collective of Black lesbians and feminists disillusioned with second wave feminism and and the civil rights, Black Power and Black panther movements gathered from 1974-1980.   That gathering of Black feminists resulted in the 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement  that is considered the bedrock principles document for Black feminism.

The Power Rising Smmit is building on that legacy.  It'll be interesting to see at this 21st Century gathering of Black women what action plan and statement comes out of this eagerly anticipated conference.

Still Evolving To Be That Quality Black Woman

When I say 'quality Black woman', I wanted to be the type of woman that even if you knew or discovered after meeting me I was a transwoman, you wouldn't care, you'd see me as an asset and not a liability on the balance sheet of femininity and you'd want me in your life as a friend. 

TransGriot, January 8, 2009   'Becoming A Quality Black Woman'

During that December 18 Christmas party I attended with my high school classmates, I had several of my cis feminine classmates pull me aside and tell me they were proud of me.   It made me tear up for a moment because one of the persons I talked to that night has known me since junior high school.

It's not just my classmates.  I've had messages during the Christmas holidays from cis and trans women wishing me Happy Holidays with heartfelt variations of the same theme..

It got me thinking about that 2009 post and the subsequent one in 2013 I wrote about the subject as New Year's Day draws closer and I take stock of my evolutionary growth in 2016.

Evolution is definitely the operative word here  April 4 will mark 23 years that I began to live my truth, and it has been an amazing journey at times with the occasional pothole here and there.

When I started my journey in 1994, there weren't many nationally or internationally know out Black trans women.   I knew part of what was required of me was to be a possibility model.  I knew that wherever I went, be it IAH's Terminal C, a conference or a college campus, the race and my chocolate segment of the trans community would enter with me.  

With the assortment of talents I have, I eventually became a leader in this community.  

But while recognizing I was going to become whether I wanted it or not a role model, I never lost sight of of that personal goal of being a quality Black woman.  I knew that it was mandatory that I must excel in whatever I chose to do because I had additional scrutiny on me.  

Neither did I forget the promise I made to myself, many of my cis feminine CAL co-workers, and other cis Black women I had conversations with in that period that this transition was not a game or joke to me.  

I don't think about myself that way, but it amuses me at times when I'm called a trans pioneer or trans elder.  But when you transition in 1994, and have been involved in  activism on behalf of a community since 1998, that happens.

I'm proud to note there are many different versions of beautiful Black trans women out there around the country and increasingly the world.   I'm proud to call many of them my friends.  I'm even more proud of the fact that my Black trans feminine elders tell me they are just as proud of me that I am of them who transitioned in much tougher circumstances than I did.

And I never forget the far too many Black trans women we have lost during my over two decades in this community.  They unfortunately will never have the opportunity to know what it's like to be my age because they were violently taken away from us.

Many of my Black trans sisters are as my fellow writer Denny Upkins would say are #BlackFolksBeingAwesome.  

We are New York Times best selling authors, athletes, entrepreneurs, college professors, award winning actors, teachers, students and award winning community leaders.

We strut fashion runways around the world.  We are your wives, lovers, sisters, aunts, and mothers raising kids   And yes, increasingly some of my future quality Black women are trans kids or trans teens like Trinity Neal  who are being raised by some amazing parents .

We are simply not only being the best people we can be, but also doing our part to uplift our community despite being reviled and hated on by ignorant sectors of the Black community..

I'm glad to have done, and will continue to do to the best of my ability my part to not only point out the fact that Black trans women exist, but we have a proud legacy of leadership and solid contributions to the communities we intersect and inhabit.

At the same time, I'm still continuing that evolutionary journey to be that quality Black woman who loves seeing the person staring back at her in the mirror when she wakes up in the morning.

It that inspires some of you, be you cis or trans women to do the same, then that's all good as well.

Congrats Sheriff-Elect Zena Stephens!

One of the other positive things that happened on Election Night was that the first ever African-American female sheriff in Texas was elected in Jefferson County

That's the county 90 miles east of Houston along I-10 in which Beaumont and Port Arthur are the primary cities in.

She's Zena Stephens, and at the time she was elected on November 8 she was serving as the current chief of the Prairie View A&M University Police Department.

She served for 16 years in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, leaving as a chief deputy to take the chief's job at PVAMU in 2013 after serving in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department as a field officer, in administration and in public relations.

Stephens when she accepted the PVAMU PD job became the first female chief in that department's history.

As you probably expected for a trailblazer, it wasn't an easy road to make that history.  She had to win three elections to do so.  In two of them, she faced off against better funded candidates.

Texas Black history moment.  The first Black female deputy sheriff in Texas was Barbara Hayes Foreman.  She was appointed in 1977 and served in Travis County (Austin).

But back to talking about our latest Black history maker.

In the March Democratic primary, Stephens knocked off Rod Carroll, the top deputy of retiring Jefferson County sheriff Mitch Woods, who is retiring after 20 years of service as Jefferson County sheriff.     Carroll had the overwhelming support of Jefferson County law enforcement and the funding, but finished third in the primary.  

If Stephens name is familiar to you, it's probably because of an incident that garnered national news coverage.

During that March primary campaign, a gunshot was fired through a glass door at her campaign headquarters the night before the election by 19 year old Vidor resident (why am I not surprised?) Adam Carver who was allegedly uttering racial slurs as he did so.  

Vidor is an odious Klan infested sundown town along I-10 in neighboring Orange County which has a long racist reputation in southeast Texas and with Black Texans across the state.

Carver was using his 2nd Amendment rights to express some of those Klan family values they preach and teach in Vidor.  He was arrested, indicted and charged with deadly conduct, and is facing a court hearing on November 28.

Stephens topped the field in the March Democratic primary, but didn't get over 50% of the vote to win the nomination outright, so she was forced into a May runoff election for the Democratic nomination against former constable Joe 'QB' Stevenson.  

In addition to the Democratic nomination, history was on the ballot in that Democratic runoff election battle.  The winner would become the first ever African-American sheriff in Jefferson County, and Stephens prevailed

That win over Stevenson propelled her to the general election against the Republican nominee in former Beaumont PD Lt, Ray Beck, who raised six times more cash than Stephens for this race.

But as I've pointed out more than a few times, just because you have more money than your opponent doesn't mean you're guaranteed political victory.

Stephens won by 2,431 votes in a race that saw 86,701 total ballots cast.   It was voters in Beaumont's northern and southern precincts along with Port Arthur voters that helped her seize the lead and hold on to win with 51.4% of the vote for the win despite a strong challenge from Beck. .

Sheriff-elect Stephens commented after her win about the historic nature of it.

"I think it is important, because I never saw anybody who looked like me in this role, or as a police chief, when I was growing up," said Stephens. "And so the idea, not just for girls but for any minority, that you can obtain these jobs at this level, I think that's important. And it's important for these jobs in law enforcement and any job to reflect the community they serve."

Congrats to Sheriff-elect Stephens for this hard fought accomplishment in a male dominated field. And at a time when confidence and respect for police forces is at a low ebb in Black communities across the nation, it''s an important accomplishment as well.

Serena's 2015 SI Sportsperson Of The Year Acceptance Speech

Y'all know I'm ride or die for Serena Williams, and was pleased to hear that she was named the 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.   She became the first woman to win the prestigious award by herself and not as part of a team since 1983.

And then Serena's racist haters unleashed their vitriol, with some of those racist haters being on the LA Times payroll.  I had my say about it along with other social commentators.

But here's Serena in a dropping the mic moment as she accepted the award and dropped some truth nukes while doing so.

Just an FYI haters, the Australian Open starts January 18   Hope that's the start of a Golden Slam for one of my fave tennis players and the Greatest Of All Time, if not her generation.


 

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.

Misgendering Attacks On A Black Woman's Femininity Aren't Funny

Someone in a spasm of creativity decided to do a parody of the Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair cover in which they stuck Wendy Williams on a fictional EBONY magazine cover with the caption 'Call Me Walter'.

While I have major issues with Wendy Williams problematically using transphobia in her rise to shock-jock radio and television fame, insultingly misgendering Viola Davis in 2012 for daring to wear natural hair on the Oscar red carpet, and another incident in which she repeated debunked stereotypes about trans athletes on her talk show,  at the same time I've also had a major problem with people, and especially the Black gossip blogosphere misgendering her.

The reason I have such a problem with it is because of the 'Black Unwoman Meme, the femininity of Black women has been under attack for four centuries by whiteness and white supremacy.   It infuriates me when Black people participate in the demonization of our own women.

Transmisogyny is not just aimed at Black trans women, it is also aimed at any cis Black woman deemed to not measure up to subjective beauty standards not designed with us in mind.

Misgendering is one of the methods that critics have used to attack any Black woman they don't like, with the most recent examples of that type of misgendering being Venus and Serena Williams, Brittney Griner, Fantasia, Ciara and First Lady Michelle Obama.

If you didn't find the attacks on the FLOTUS' femininity by Joan Rivers and right wingers humorous, then for the sake of consistency neither are those attacks warranted or humorous when they are aimed at Wendy Williams or any other Black woman.

Tired Of The Williams Sisters Getting Disrespected

One of the things that will set me off in a hurry is when misgendering is aimed at Black women from the girls in the 'hood to Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States

And far too often, some of the peeps gleefully doing so are Black men.

It's part of the four century old attack on Black femininity, and one of the frequent targets of these sexist and racist misgendering attacks are my fave tennis playing siblings, Venus and Serena Williams.

And frankly, I'm beyond sick and tired of it.  

They were thrust into the news when Shamil Tarpischev, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation and one of the Russian reps on the International Olympic Committee, opened his mouth and misgendered Venus and Serena.

Tarpischev made the comments during an appearance on a Russian TV talk show this month alongside former Olympic singles champion Elena Dementieva. When Dementieva was asked what it was like playing against the Williams sisters, Tarpischev interjected and called them the "Williams brothers." He also said that "it's scary when you really look at them."

Tarpischev is probably mad because the Williams sisters routinely beat the Russian women on the WTA tour and elsewhere in the world.   .

Tarpischev tried to claim the usual 'it was a joke' and my 'comments were taken out of context' defenses, but the WTA isn't laughing.   They suspended him for one year,  fined him $25,000, and are seeking to have him removed as the head of the Kremlin Cup tournament, Russia's only WTA event.

 Maria Sharapova also had a problem with Tarpischev's comments. 

"I think they were very disrespectful and uncalled for, and I'm glad that many people have stood up, including the WTA. It was very inappropriate, especially in his position and all the responsibilities that he has not just in sport, but being part of the Olympic committee," Sharapova said.

Serena fired back at a press conference in Singapore, "I think the WTA did a great job of taking (the) initiative and taking immediate action to his comments," Williams said Sunday ahead of her WTA Finals  defense. "I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were in a way bullying."

And I'm getting tired of successful Black women getting misgendered.  Good for the WTA in calling this crap out that was aimed at the Williams sisters, and society needs to chill ,too..

100 LGBTQ Black Women You Should Know

Thanks to Autostraddle for this post of 100 LGBTQ Black Women You Should Know just in time for the last day of Black History Month and segues nicely into the start of Women's History Month in March.

Check it out and get your learn on.    There are some trans women included in this post as well.

Looks Like SNL Was Paying Attention To The Criticism

One of the major reasons I stopped watching NBC's Saturday Night Live long ago (except for the recent show in which Kerry Washington was the host of course) is not only because it ceased being humorous to me, but I don't see people who represent my ethnic heritage significantly represented as members of the cast.

And yeah, I go way back to the SNL original cast in the 70's. 
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Rumors are flying there was a recent double secret audition held in Los Angeles for Black women only to address that problem   11-25 Black comediennes were auditioned for spots in either next season's SNL or one will be added in January, depending on what you hear or read, and yeah it's sorely needed.

Black women have a long, distinguished history in standup comedy starting with Jackie 'Moms' Mabley and continuing through to the present day with people like Marsha Warfield, Whoopi Goldberg, Kim Coles, Kim Wayans and one of the few who actually made it onto SNL in Maya Rudolph. 

It mystifies me when In Living Color proved that Black comedians not only are funny, but can get ratings from mainstream audiences, that SNL didn't do so a long time ago.  It's a travesty that you can count the number of Black women on one hand that SNL has had on their show in its nearly 40 year history, and hope they are on the road to expeditiously correcting that. 

By the way, may also help immensely if you diversify your team of SNL writers while you're at it.

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.

Karen Finney's New MSNBC Show Starts April 13

Y'all know how much I love MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney, and was happy to hear that she will be getting her own show on the cable network.

Finney has more than 20 years in national politics includes four presidential campaigns, the Clinton White House, a New York Senate race, and the first African American spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

Finney's show will air on the weekends for 4-5 PM and be a lead in to Ed Schultz's show that is moving to weekends from 5-7 PM   

Happy to see this smart,, talented sister get her own show and MSNBC continue to diversify their lineup of pundits on the network, unlike CNN which is going in the opposite vanillacentric direction and getting rid of Roland Martin and Soledad O'Brien.

What I would like to see MSNBC do besides broadcast 24 hours of news and ditch Lockup and Caught on Camera (and I'm surprised they haven't done so already) is give Maria Teresa Kumar or Victoria DeFrancesco Soto their own shows.   MSNBC does seriously need Latin@ commentators on this network, and these two ladies would do a wonderful job.

But anyway, congrats to Karen Finney (who is on my people I'd love to meet list) and have no doubts your new show will be successful when it airs.

TransGriot Update: The debut of Karen Finney's mew MSNBC show has been pushed back
 

Jada Pinkett-Smith Questions Whether White Women Should Grace the Covers of Magazines Aimed at WOC?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

Like many women of colour I grew up looking at magazine racks with row upon row of White faces staring at me.  I would be lying if I said that it didn't have an impact upon how I perceived my race and gender growing up.  Things have not changed much and now I find myself wondering how this exact same circumstance is going to effect my niece as she grows up.  As a woman of colour, I cannot divorce my race from my gender.  This is why the row upon row of White women staring back at me from magazine racks continues to impact me. Even when I look past it and validate my own self worth, it does not mean that those I interact with see me as an equal, let alone human.  There can be no doubt that Whiteness continues to represent the idealized form of womanhood.  Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman speech, is still highly applicable today.

On her facebook page, Jada Pinkett-Smith wondered if the best path forward to deal with the ongoing equality in magazine covers, is for magazines created for POC to be more open about having White women grace their covers.

There is a question I want to ask today. I'm asking this question in the spirit of thinking outside of the box in order to open doors to new possibilities. These possibilities may be realistic or unrealistic. I also want to make it clear that there is no finger pointing here. I pose this question with the hope that it opens a discussion about how we can build a community for women based upon us all taking a deeper interest in one another. An interest where skin color, culture, and social class does not create barriers in sharing the commonality of being... women. With love and respect to all parties involved, my question is this...if we ask our white sisters, who tend to be the guardians of the covers of mainstream magazines, to consider women of color to grace these covers, should we not offer the same consideration to white women to grace our covers? Should women extend their power to other women simply because they are women? To my women of color, I am clear we must have something of our own, but is it possible to share in the spirit in which we ask our white sisters to share with us? I don't know the answer and would love to hear your thoughts.

What Jada fails to acknowledge is that these magazines were created specifically because of the erasure of our experiences in the mainstream media. While her approach is well intentioned by allowing White women to grace the covers of magazines that have been created for women of colour, it reinforces the idea that there isn't a single place where Whiteness does not belong.  Historically, people of colour have always been asked to turn the other cheek and hold out an olive branch to Whiteness, even as it works daily to ensure that we remain second class citizens.  This olive branch which Jada suggests, will not force Whiteness to be more inclusive; it will simply reduce already limited opportunities for women of colour.

The truth of the matter is that we cannot pretend that we are simply a community of women.  This is the same argument that feminists have used for years, even as they try to erase the effect that racism has on the lives of women of colour.  It is naive to expect the White owned and run media to suddenly capitulate and work towards more inclusive coverage.  No powerful force in history has ever just handed over power, or even consented to share power and why Jada thinks that this would suddenly be the case, if only people of colour would consent to share our spaces is beyond me.

We cannot treat Whiteness as though it is some benign force, when it wages war against people of colour across the globe daily. The sales of the all Black Italian Vogue show that there is a market for inclusion and still yet these magazines refuse to capitulate.  Clearly, maintaining White hegemony is far more important than the bottom line.  Since this is a fact, I must ask, what reasonable sense does it make to open up the few spaces reserved for WOC to White women? If they cannot be motivated by their own financial best interest, why would our sacrifice cause a moral quandary?

What we need to do is act from a position of strength.  It's already bad enough that in many ways businesses that target Black people, have either been bought out by White run companies, or controlled by White management.  How much of our power can we afford to give away?  We have already seen that as a result of these actions nothing has changed. It's a foolish person who keeps repeating the same action, while hoping for a different result.

When integration occurred, the Black community lost institutions that have been our backbone for a very long period of time. We have seen as a result, less cohesion and less forward movement. This is not to say that integration didn't have positive results, but that it came with a cost. It was a compromise that never should have been made because Whiteness has no interest in the dissolution of its social, or institutional power. While I agree that we need new ideas moving forward, making room for White women is a backward step and nothing good can come of it.

It's Rosa's 100th Birthday

Today would have been the 100th birthday of iconic civil rights leader Rosa Parks, who was born on this date in Tuskegee, AL in 1913.

She is known for being the catalyst of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but she'd been active in the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP since December 1943 and was a member of the Voter's League among her other civil rights work.






The 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement' when she passed away in October 2005 becaue the first woman and only the second non-politican to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda

She also has a statue in the Capitol building's National Statuary Hall in addition to being a recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn medal in 1979,  the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.  
And because she was tired of enduring injustice, she sat down and allowed herself and our people to stand up and fight for our human rights.

Happy birthday, Rosa.  

Apparently, Black Women Are Making a Mistake Not Wearing Makeup

From my Timmy's Ice Capp drinking homegirl at Womanist Musings who is all that and four bags of ketchup flavored chips.

I don't know about you, but I am not particularly happy about men deciding what I should look like.  Sam Fine is a makeup artist and Fashion Fair Creative Makeup Director. He recently did an interview with Fashion Bomb Daily.  Fashion Fair's makeup is specifically targeted to WOC, which means that it is one of the few lines where you don't have to struggle to find a product that matches your skin tone. Considering that many makeup companies are hard pressed to cater to our needs, Fashion Fair is important. I do however reject the idea that I must wear makeup to be beautiful.

“I think the biggest beauty mistake is really not wearing makeup.”

I know that it is his job to sell this product, but seriously, who does this man think he is? With his explanation, he only manages to put his foot, even deeper down his throat.

“I think the biggest beauty mistake is not understanding how to enhance your beauty,” Sam added. “And I think a lot of [women of color] are scared that makeup is going to make [them] look fake, ‘It’s not gonna look like me, they’re not going to have my color.’ I think that they just tend to step away from the category when a brand like Fashion Fair, is releasing a liquid foundation in July to add to the range of colors. Nineteen shades! There will be 17 shades in liquid! And if you look at that, that’s not a range that’s broken up for general market vs. African Americans. So you really are getting a wealth of coverage options and colors. I think the biggest mistake is not participating in the game at all.”

 Silly women, with all of these choices, how dare you walk around with no makeup on your face.  Just look at what Fashion Fair has done for you.  How dare you be so ungrateful.  It's not really about your comfort level.  Don't you know that as a woman, it's your job to be beautifully made up everyday.  That's right ladies, fake it until you believe it.  Look how generous he is,  he's not even asking that you wear a lot of makeup.

“Pressed powder, mascara, and lip gloss, because I think those things aren’t intimidating,” he said. “Once you get past the shade of powder, I think that becomes easy to apply. But if I had to go two steps further, I always start out with some kind of a coverage product. A concealer, or a foundation that you can use as a concealer. Underneath the eyes is the thinnest area of skin, so you really want to make sure that any redness or discoloration can be covered.  Also powder. Powder’s going to set the foundation or the concealer so it can stay on longer. I always say powder is to foundation what topcoat is to nail polish. It really holds it in place and keeps it from rubbing off and settling in fine lines.”

With the application of these products, you can be fit to leave the house.   No one wants to see your make up free face. As a woman, beauty is your job and you are shirking your responsibilities by avoiding it and not supporting Black business.   

Yeah, I am simply not impressed by this shit at all.  Fashion Fair is great, but it's also damn expensive compared to drug store brands.  Make up as a requirement means women who already earn less than men have yet another unnecessary expense.  Please keep in mind that on average, Black women earn less than White women.  We are in the lucky position of negotiating both a gender and race based income gap. As women, we already pay more to get our hair done and more for clothing.  How far does this man think a dollar stretches? When phrased as Sam Fine did, makeup becomes a female tax.  Black women already spend a ton of money on hair due to a Eurocentric beauty ideal, and the idea of then being pressured by a man to conform more is beyond distasteful.  A WOC could spend her entire paycheck on makeup, but as long as we live in a White supremacist world, we are always going to be seen as unwomen.

Makeup should be a choice for all women, not something we need to wear to be acceptable to appear in public.  It is worth noting that men have no such requirements on their appearance. I am thankful that Fashion Fair exists, but I refuse to feel duty bound to purchase or utilize their products based in my race and gender.  As far as I am concerned, Sam Fine can have a big cup of shut the fuck up.

Why Do People Have A Problem With Trailblazing Black Female Athletes?

I recently had to troll nuke a random fool who wandered over to my blog throwing 'That's A Man' shade at Brittney Griner.   But in the process of compiling that post, it got me pondering the question of why people are so threatened by trailblazing African-American female athletes?

In Brittney's case, I suspect that some of it is pure jealousy.  Some of the men throwing this shade can't hit a free throw much less dunk a basketball.   I also believe the 'unwoman' meme is also playing a role in this along with femininity policing.  

She is 6'8", but is also redefining how the women's game is played and even coached.   Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey noted during a recent interview that she had to ask several male coaches how to work with an athlete her size since people with Brittney's skill set and physical gifts are rare in the women's game.   

But yeah, I'm tired of the misgendering insults thrown at her. 

When Florence Griffith-Joyner was dominating the track world in the late 80's with her combination of blazing speed and off the charts glamour, not long after she began lowering the women's 100m and 200m world records in times that still haven't been touched, much less threatened by current female sprinters, critics were accusing her of either taking steroids or claiming she 'ran like a man' .

It didn't occur to them that she also busted her butt in practice
honing her skills in order to run those times that garnered her Olympic  medals.

Despite the fact she never failed a post race drug test, the accusations dogged her to the point that when she unexpectedly passed away in 1999 due to an epileptic seizure her family asked for an autopsy probably to shut up the critics.

That autopsy revealed no evidence of steroid usage.

My favorite tennis playing siblings, Venus and Serena Williams have their share of detractors as well but keep piling up the major tournament wins and Number one rankings despite the transphobic shade and racist epithets being hurled at them as well.

Oh yeah, Serena won the Family Circle title yesterday in Charleston, SC against another one of those Eastern European tennis Amazons in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.    .

And Williams haters, she not only looked good in dominating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, just a reminder the French Open is next month followed by Wimbledon and the Olympics.

And BTW, the Olympic tennis venue is Willaims-don AKA the All England Lawn Tennis And Croquet Club.

So I ask the question once again.   Why do people have a problem with trailblazing Black female athletes?

It doesn't matter if your white sheets are showing .  Despite your jealousy and Hateraid you're sipping from 55 gallon drums, they will confidently continue to excel and in many cases look good doing it.