1965 Baldwin vs. Buckley Debate

"It is a terrible thing for an entire people to surrender to the notion that one-ninth of its population is beneath them.  Until the moment comes when we, the Americans, are able to accept the fact that my ancestors are both black and white, that on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity, that we need each other, that I am not a ward of America, I am not an object of missionary charity, I am one of the people who built this country-- until this moment comes there is scarcely any hope for the American dream.  If the people are denied participation in it, by their very presence they will wreck it.  And if that happens it is a very grave moment for the West."
-James Baldwin, 1965 Cambridge University debate    

50 years ago writer James Baldwin  accepted an invitation from Cambridge University's Cambridge Union Society to debate William F. Buckley, Jr., the father of modern conservatism and the young founder of the conservative leaning National Review magazine.

The debate topic was 'Has the American Dream Been Achieved At The Expense Of The American Negro?' 

Baldwin in addition to being a prominent writer, was one of the intellectual voices of the Civil Rights Movement.  Buckley was had voiced his opposition to desegregation in the pages of the National Review in 1961 but was a few years from his status as 'The Father of Modern Conservatism'.

Both got their opportunity to argue their points, and when it was over the Cambridge Union Society members voted on the proposition.   Baldwin trounced Buckley 540-160.  

Enjoy this debate, because sadly, many of the points Baldwin makes are still valid in 2015 and explain much of the racial animus we are currently dealing with.

Houston LGBT Radio Icon Jimmy Carper Passes Away

I posted last year about March 10 being declared by Mayor Annise Parker as Jimmy Carper Day. 

Jimmy is a radio legend and one of the beloved iconic figures in our Houston GLBT community. 
I enjoyed the time I spent sitting next to this legendary broadcaster from November 1999 to September 2001 and being able to fulfill a dream of actually being on the Houston radio airwaves.

Having a 100,000 watt FM radio platform to say what was on my mind within FCC regulations at the time was pretty cool and heady stuff, especially in the late 90's-early 2k's when not a whole lot of Black trans people here in Houston or anywhere else in the country for that matter had that history making opportunity.

Jimmy Carper on his 'After Hours' show was practicing intersectionality and inclusion during a time when it wasn't cool in some quarters of this community to do and practice that value, and for that we in Houston owe you many thanks..

When I moved from Houston , Jimmy and the gang at KPFT-FM were some of the many people I missed.  I also discovered when I was in Oakland for Creating Change 1999 just how loved and respected he was in the LGBT  radio world when I attended a Pacifica Radio panel discussion during that event.  When the panelists discovered at the conclusion of it I was from Houston and co-hosting a show with him at KPFT-FM, I wasn't allowed to leave until I assured them I would pass on their greetings and love to him when I returned home.

So it's highly ironic and sad to me that as we are gearing up to have Creating Change here in Houston, that I heard the sad news that Jimmy Carper passed away peacefully about 12:26 AM CST this morning after a long illness.  

He'd crossed my mind Thursday and I was wondering how he was doing.   Well, now I know..  The details are still to be worked out concerning a memorial service, but when I find out, I'll pass them on.  

This was the comment I posted on his Facebook page. 

Jimmy, thanks for giving me and other people in the trans community a voice at a time when we had precious few outlets to do so. The co-host time I spent at your side from November 1999 to September 2001 still ranks as some of the happiest moments of my life.

You are with the angels now, and I and everyone else whose lives you touched who tuned into 'Queer Radio With Attitude' will miss you.

According to the After Hours Facebook page, this Saturday's After Hours will be a tribute one.

***

Our show this Saturday night will be in tribute to him, three hours of stories, memories, jokes and the music that Jimmy loved so much. The doors are open at the station 419 Lovett Blvd for those who wish to share with us in person. Our phone lines will be open as well to join in the show at 713-526-KPFT (5738). We will also share emails sent to afterhours@kpft.org and any postings to our Facebook page as well. The show is Saturday night/Sunday morning Midnight Central time to 3 AM. Please join us for tribute to our friend.

Plans for a public memorial are in the works and will be announced soon. Check the After Hours Facebook or listen in for details as released. The entire crew of After Hours thank everyone for the love and support sent to Jimmy in the past weeks and we look forward to continuing serving the community for him.

***

Jimmy Carper was a beacon of hope and a lifeline to many Houston area BTLG kids and adults who tuned into 'After Hours'.  His voice and the voices of his co-hosts and guests on 90.1 FM assured his listeners that they weren't alone and gave them the courage to be out and proud about who they are.  

And with every broadcast, Jimmy Carper helped us build a better Houston TBLG community..   

Rest in power and in peace Jimmy

A Ray Hill Houston TBLG History Moment

TransGriot Note: Ray Hill is one of our iconic leaders here in the Houston area who has been in the BTLG rights fight locally, statewide and nationally since the 60's. 

He recently wrote a status update on his Facebook page in which he shared his thoughts about local LGBT history events that were transpiring when the TransGriot was a teenager. 

This is one of those moments in which when one of your iconic GLBT elders are speaking or writing down their thoughts for posterity, it's shut up and listen time. 

Ray also said this in the last sentence of it.  'Share this with your friends so we can celebrate today's victories in the context of where we came from and what we can do looking forward.'

I agree, which is why I'm posting it.   And now, here's Ray Hill.The GLBT movement(s) have come a long way since I began writing about the need of change in 1966: One could go to prison in all states if caught in gay/lesbian intimacy; If caught in the opposite gender's clothing; going to jail was a given; The suicide rate was the highest than among any other class of people and violence against us was rarely investigated and even more rarely prosecuted; The police themselves were frequently responsible for violence against us; Our jobs and educations could be rendered insecure after every raid on our gathering places; Our birth families more frequently rejected us than not.

I could go on because the list of oppression is endless. We had no defenses. No one except those genetically gender varied was out of the closets and they faced constant ridicule wherever they went.

In Houston a few of us began to talk about how to start an effort toward change. In 1967, The Promethean Society organized meetings. In 1968 three of us began to confront the authorities about policy changes. The authorities laughed at us even GLBT people objected to what we were doing because they had learned how to survive in the then current oppression and feared we would cause more.

In 1970 KPFT-FM went on air for the first time.  In 1973, the felony Sodomy Law was replaced by section 21.06 a misdemeanor.  In 1975 a handful us founded Houston Gay Political Caucus and Wilde N Stein began to give the community a broadcast home; In 1976 we had a Pride March on Main Street downtown (The mayor (Annise Parker) and I may be the only participants that remember that event) but in 1977 everyone remembers when Anita Bryant came to town and those of us who greeted her never returned to our closets; 1978 brought Town Meeting I, during which many of the enduring institutions that still serve our community were founded and the Transgender movement was born.

In 1980 a few of us gathered at Bering Church to found the Kaposi's Sarcoma Committee in concern for dire health indications. That organization became the K.S./A.I.D.S. Foundation in 1982 when the term AIDS was chosen at the Paris Conference, it is now AIDS Foundation Houston. What followed was at once the most devastating and the most character building part of out history, Our collective caring and organizing against the greatest pandemic in recent Centuries is remarkable and say more about who we are and what we can do than anything in anyone's memory.

I have outlived all the others who have a memory of the scope of that progress and most of the community have no grasp of where we were and how we got to where we are.

Change comes rapidly now but without the foundation laid forty years ago none of this would be possible at all.

Happy Birthday Harvey Milk!

“It takes no compromise to give people their rights...it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”

― Harvey Milk

Today would have been the 83rd birthday of Harvey Milk, the iconic civil rights leader who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California when he ran for and won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

His June 24, 1977  'You've Got To Have Hope' speech that announced his run for supervisor is still as timely, eloquent and relevant today as it was when he first delivered it.

He was only in office for eleven months until his and Mayor George Moscone's assassinations by former supervisor Dan White on November 27, 1978  but was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance in the city.

His May 22 birthday is now celebrated in the state of California as an unofficial holiday and Harvey Milk Day events have begun to spring up in various cities around the country to celebrate the life of this iconic leader.






Happy birthday Harvey!    We could use a lot more visionary people like you in the 21st century LGBT community.

Paris Dupree Discusses Ballroom History

Something for you TransGriot readers to enjoy while I'm traveling.   The late Paris Dupree discusses and breaks down ballroom history during the 2006 Icon Ball in Atlanta.

Got Milk?

Milk Day that is.

Today is Harvey Milk Day, which is the third annual international celebration of the life of iconic assassinated gay activist and San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, who was born on this date in 1930 in New York state. 1930.

He was the first openly gay person elected to public office in California when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors but his term lasted just 11 months because he along with San Francisco mayor were felled by assassins bullets in 1979 fired by former supervisor Dan White. 

His May 22 birthday is now a state holiday in California and politicians on the liberal-progressive side of the aisle contemplated Milk's groundbreaking legacy.



House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose district covers San Francisco, said in a statement Tuesday that Milk's work has endured the test of time.

"His legacy lives on in you," she said. "Harvey gave us a green light and so many of you continue his work. Today that means our continued fight to end workplace discrimination, keep families and loving couples together, ensure the freedom to marry and repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. Harvey Milk's leadership for his community was relentless.  He changed the course of history by always pushing for progress and for the American ideal of equality--our heritage and our hope. We too must be relentless in our efforts to ensure the fundamental rights of all Americans."

The California Democratic Party also released a statement saying, "34 years following Milk’s assassination, his message of hope continues to inspire a global movement committed to equality for millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people eager to participate in their nation’s political, social, legal and civic institutions."

Happy Milk Day, everyone.

Happy Birthday Mandy!

Could not let today pass without giving a TransGriot birthday shout out to one of the women I look up to in the activist community and one righteous human rights warrior in Mandy Carter.

I have much love and respect for her, have sought her advice a time or two on some issues and when I lived in Louisville even had the honor and pleasure of her company for dinner at the house.  

She was our keynote speaker for our first Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conference in 2005 and one of the joys of my recent trip to Washington DC was getting to see her at the 2011 NBJC Out On The Hill Conference.

So for all you do for our community Mandy and the advancement of human rights, thank you.

Happy birthday Mandy, and may you have many more!.
  

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Today is the birthday of one of my fave political pundits and the bane of conservafools everywhere, Rachel Maddow. She was born in Castro Valley, CA on this date in 1973.

Happy birthday Rachel. May you continue to speak truth to power, and here's hoping that you do one day run for public office. The country could definitely use your PhD level intellect in passing common sense legislation that benefits all of us.

But it's also a lot of fun watching you take apart right wingers. too