Please Don't Tell Me, "I'm Color-Blind"!!

TransGriot Note:  I loved this creative piece Cheryl posted in a Facebook thread, and this one needed to be shared with the world.

Please Don't Tell Me, "I'm Color-Blind"!!
By Cheryl Courtney-Evans

PLEASE don't tell me, "I'm color-blind"!!
It doesn't make me believe you respect me,
To tell me you don't see color.
... I don't want to be invisible,
And black is a part of who I am.
Yes, I am a transgender woman,
But that's not all that I am.
I am a part of the African-origined diaspora
That descended from kings & queens in their blackness
Although some of my people may have been slaves there,
It was a different type of slavery experienced here.
But I don't want to ignore the richness of the lives
Born of the pain lived in a new home either.
It spawned the color we bring to our music, love & lives.
It is not to be ignored, and when someone tells me,
"I'm color-blind", they're telling me they want to ignore
The TOTALITY of my being.
So don't tell me this, let me know you SEE me,
Yet respect ALL of me, as I would respect YOU!

Wendy Williams Attacks Viola Davis' Natural Hair

After all the times I've called out Black gossip blogs for misgendering Wendy Williams, she does some foul crap like this to another Black woman.   Renee of Womanist Musings calls her azz out on it. 

And Wendy, the next time the Black gossip blogs decide to have fun disrespectfully calling you a man, the t-word or masculinizing your name, I'm staying out of it.
 


I refused to watch the Oscars because I could not stand the idea of having to watch as a Black woman received an award for playing a maid in the year 2012.  To this date, I have not seen The Help, nor do I have any attention of doing so.

As you might imagine, it has been impossible to avoid coverage on the Oscars.  I was happy to see that Viola Davis chose to put her wigs aside and wear her natural hair at such a public event. What I was less pleased about was Wendy Williams response.  According to Madame Noire, Ms. Williams remarked, that she doesn't want to see “Room 222″ look on the red carpet."  For those who are unaware, "Room 222 refers to a show from the late ’60s and early ’70s, about a history class taught by a black man". This to me implies that Williams was not only suggesting that there is something inherently wrong with natural hair, but that a woman choosing wear her natural hair looks like a man.

I am not at all pleased with the implications.  Williams has long been referred to as a trans slur by many Black entertainment blogs - yes, I'm looking at you Bossip.  She has to know first hand how terrible it is to question someone's gender identity in order to smear them.  It is extremely transphobic and it is something that is constantly thrown at cis Black women in order to support the cruel unwoman meme. For Williams to then turn around and engage in the same damn ish is disgusting. 

Wendy might be fine toting around her wigs everywhere she goes, and boiling under the weight of them under the hot summer sun, but not all women feel that way, and none of us should be shamed for refusing to conform to a racist, sexist expectation of us.  Viola looked beautiful - even if the dress was ugly as hell. There was certainly nothing wrong with her hair, and that Davis felt confidant enough to be herself on her big night (despite how I feel about The Help) sends a strong message about how comfortable she is in her own skin.  It will further serve to encourage Black woman to believe that they don't have to be a slave to the creamy crack.  Even though she was just one woman wearing her natural hair, each time something like this happens, it's a step towards depoliticizing this issue. 

Anywhere a Black woman is welcome to take up space, is an appropriate venue for natural hair.  We already have enough issues with White people thinking that they can pet us, and shaming us for our natural hair, without Black women playing colluders and joining the attack.  What Williams did was grade A sell out behavior, with transphobia thrown in for extra seasoning.  I think we should give Williams an award for managing to fit in so much fail in one sentence.

Wendy, I am going to have to ask you to have a huge mug of shut the fuck up.  Life is hard enough for trans women of colour, trans women and Black women without your insensitive, thoughtless commentary.

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Even in Death, There is No Peace for Whitney Houston

TransGriot Note: Renee wrote this post for Clutch magazine

When I was young girl, I thought that Whitney Houston was a princess.  Everything about her seemed perfect and I am sure that I cracked a few mirrors attempting to sing like her.  As I grew older and Whitney attempted to take control of her own image, I began to understand that the Whitney Houston who I had loved — with what can only be described as a teenager’s glee — was a creation of Clive Davis.

In crafting Whitney’s public persona, Davis’s brilliance was giving Black people a woman who could be elevated at a time when we were all desperate for positive images of Black femininity.   This vision of Black womanhood was framed in a manner that was not threatening to Whiteness because it didn’t involve a political message which questioned inequality or any of the issues Black women have to negotiate in this world. Whitney was a Black woman with a powerful voice, singing cute and ultimately harmless pop songs rather than gospel or R&B music.  As a professional voice for hire, they told her what to sing and she sang it.

In the later years of her career, Whitney would take control over own image and move away from the “princess” Davis created in an attempt to be more authentically herself.  Whitney strove to bring in the traditions of her own culture as an African-American woman and to more closely tie herself to the Black community, but despite her efforts, she was booed at the 1989 Soul Train Awards.  Like many celebrities, the creation still obscured the person, but in her case it was specifically because many viewed her as “too white.”  Her acceptance in the Black community was often tenuous as a result.

 Finish reading article here.

Black History Meets Women's History In 'TransGriot' Event

TransGriot Note: Thanks to Miranda Butler of the Daily Wildcat for this article on my impending visit to the UA campus tomorrow night 

West African historians called “griots” can recite hundreds of years of their history from memory. Monica Roberts, an African-American transwoman writer and activist, has modernized this responsibility by adopting the role of “TransGriot” — telling the history of transpeople of color in her award-winning blog. Roberts will present her experiences with “Blogging at the Intersection of Race and Gender,” on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Gallagher Theater.

Roberts co-founded the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition and has also led the Transsistahs-Transbrothas conference for black transpeople. But her “TransGriot” blog is one of her most influential projects. Since Roberts started the blog in 2006, the page has hit more than 3 million views.

Stephan Przybylowicz, co-director of the ASUA Pride Alliance, said Roberts is a significant figure in the trans community because she has reached a level of publicity that is not seen very often. Roberts says what she thinks and isn’t afraid of having her opinions heard, Przybylowicz added.

In her blog at transgriot.blogspot.com, Roberts explains that since 1998, the goal of her activism has been to “push for trans human rights coverage in Houston, Texas, and the nation, ensure that POC (people of color) transpeople’s voices are included in the policy mix, tell our stories, unearth our history, and be the stereotype-busting role model for African-American transwomen that I didn’t have growing up.”

The event, hosted by ASUA Pride Alliance, the Women’s Resource Center and African American Student Affairs, fits well with this goal. The “TransGriot” discussion will celebrate both Black History Month and “women’s herstory” by combining personal identities that are often separated.

“A lot of times when there are events for different heritage months, they don’t really think about people of color who are also LGBT … So, we wanted to bring together that intersection by having (Roberts) come to speak about both issues,” Przybylowicz said.

During the event, students and the general public will have an opportunity to hear Roberts’ thoughts on race and gender in everyday culture, the media, politics and legislation. There will be a question and answer session with Roberts afterward.

“When the opportunity presents itself, I get invitations to discuss trans issues from an Afrocentric perspective,” Roberts writes. “I enjoy speaking to college students and various audiences about our issues.”
Przybylowicz noted that the event is sure to be an inspirational way to get perspective on what’s happening in the world.

“It’s really an event that everybody can benefit from,” Przybylowicz said, “because even if none of those are your identities at all, you’re learning about somebody else’s experience. That has value as well.”

A Disturbing Indication of Continued Racism in the United States

Guest post from Cheryl Courtney-Evans of the abitchforjustice blog

I realize that this topic isn't what one would call a "transgender issue", but as a transgender community we don't live 'in a bubble', so issues that affect the overall societal condition affect us as well. Often times we find ourselves at the intersections of multiple obstacles (gender, orientation, AND race) to a prosperous existence...

With that said, I was disturbed and angered to come across (via a "share" on facebook) an article in a "Little Green Footballs" posting about the "deluge" of hate and racism expressed by viewers/readers of a FOX article on the death of Whitney Houston. There was repeated use of the "n" word in reference to her and all African Americans, as well as "monkey" and expressions of ill will for Obama. It was a sickening display of complete hate and disgusting racism without apparent end, from various people (as opposed to one long rant from one person). The author of the Little Green Footballs piece reported that there were many more than the ones he shared, he just couldn't stomach sharing any more than he had.

It made me think about how so many folks, most notably Republican public figures, continue to claim there is no "race problem" in the United States (even as they practice race-bating in their campaigns [Newt Gingrich & Rick Santorum]), and accuse those who point it out as "pulling the race card", and fight to suppress voting rights that we know will greatly affect the ability of African Americans that would vote in the 2012 elections, to vote.

It's also telling that such a large number of respondents to FOX's piece would post such comments, and FOX is the staunchest supporter of the Republican agenda; it would indicate that FOX's audience is basically a hating, racist bunch, which says something about FOX, that it would attract such a crew.

As we watch the 2012 election approach, I hope my readers will think about this "connection of the dots"....how the most popular of these FOX-supported Republican candidates are the ones that "out-conservative" ('conservative' is their word for it, lol) their opponents in order to attract the 'far right' [Tea Party] voters, who all the while deny their racism (but don't call out their candidates who race-bait)...oh, REALLY??? It would be laughable if the situation wasn't so serious...just sayin'.

It seems to me that even though the United States now has an African American  (boldened that word for the 'birthers', LOL) president, racism is still alive and well in these United States. I believe there's a public resurgence because they feel they "fell asleep at the wheel" in 2008, which allowed Obama's election to the White House; they're determined it's not to happen again.

Do Marginalized People Need to Turn the Other Cheek?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings who is all that and four bags of ketchup flavored potato chips.  

Last year, I wrote a piece about Destruction's thoughts on Disney's Peter Pan. He was incredibly disturbed by the movie, because of the racism in it.  Yesterday, it received a new comment and since the piece is now buried in the archives, I have decided to elevate the comment for the purposes of discussion.

Your kid has the capacity for common sense that has eluded the world for centuries. However, is it not just as bad to return racism like that with hate as it is to be racist in the first place? He recognizes the need to stop the racism, but it's your job now to teach him how to deal with it. Taking a militant standpoint only makes things worse. Nonviolence. Kill ignorance with kindness.

Hir comments were restricted to race, because the post itself was about race; however, I think that this conversation can and should be made broader.  The suggestion that Destruction not become militant is an exhortation that is constantly aimed at historically marginalized people. Think about how the GLBT community has routinely been charged with pushing a militant gay agenda by homophobes. The gay agenda has been constructed as actually threatening to heterosexual people. Consider for a moment how the fight for gay marriage has been responded to with the suggestion that it will somehow harm heterosexual marriage. The women's movement continues to be subject to the exact same sort of discourse, even as they tell us they we are over reacting to things like rape culture.  Rush Limbaugh has made quite a living for himself attacking women's activists and suggesting that they are militant. When Disabled people protested the ableist, Jerry Lewis, they were called a militant angry fringe.  Whenever historically marginalized people respond with anger, they are accused of working an agenda or of being overly militant.

With any marginalization there comes a point when one comes to awareness of where exactly one stands.  For POC, we begin in an environment of love with our parents and over time, as we venture into the world, we become aware of what it is to be a person of colour in a White supremacist world.  For gays and lesbians, they begin to notice that something is different about them, and once they realize what their sexuality is, the awareness of what it means to be gay or lesbian in a homophobic culture quickly takes hold, as they deal with the issue of coming out or not, or negotiating the various oppressions aimed at them.  For trans people, there is the dawning awareness of realizing one's internal gender, does not match the outward gender, and what it means to be trans in a world in which cis bodies are privileged.  With this comes of course the consideration of coming out as trans, whether or not to transition, and of course all of the oppression that comes with being trans. With disabled people, there is the realization that the disability itself exists, and then negotiating a world that is not built with us in mind. No matter the ism, there is a point of coming to awareness with it, and a decision of what to do next.  The next step will be different each group, but what they all have in common is that any fight for inclusion, equal rights, or freedom from oppression will inevitably be viewed as militant, and quickly dismissed by the ruling classes.


Destruction is almost 11 years old, and in his short time on earth, he has been subjected to a ton of racism, though he is bi-racial. He understands that within his home that he is loved and valued, but the innocence has long since been cast from childhood, due to the racist attacks he has had to negotiate. Whatever feelings he develops about Whiteness, are a direct consequence of living in a White supremacist world. The idea that I should again thwart his agency by telling him how he is too feel, or react is problematic, and denies him one of the few areas of agency in regard to the oppression that he faces.

Much has been made of kumbaya approach to reacting to oppression. Turn the other cheek has become the expected response, even as marginalized people are on the receiving end of violence on a daily basis through either a physical action or hate speech. The arrogance it takes to believe that gays and lebsians should not hate a group like The Westboro Baptist Church, or Focus on the Family, or that POC should not hate groups like Stormfront, or the KKK is ridiculous.  Hating the people who wish us death and actively work to oppress us is not only human, but natural.  The very idea that hating our oppressors is the same thing as the oppression itself, speaks to a complete denial of the humanity of marginalized people, and an attempt to once again control us. 

Hate, while it isn't pleasant, isn't always as counter productive as it is made to seem.  Sometimes, hate can be the inspiration to demand change, and sometimes it helps to embolden self worth - thus a negative emotion can become a creative force. Hate should not always be the preserve of the most privileged people.  Hate, like it or not is part of the human experience;  it is an emotion like any other.  Telling marginalized people not to hate, is to deny them a common experience.  It is particularly problematic when the hate is aimed at someone intent on causing them harm.  If ze had said not to become consumed by hate then, and only then -- would ze have had a point.


Militant does not have to mean violence.  I have often described myself is militantly Black with pride.  For me, it means embracing my Blackness and loving myself in spite of all of the negative connotations inscribed to my Black, female, disabled body.  Militant can and should be an expression of self. The only reason militant has historically been seen as problematic, is because privileged people far prefer marginalized people to be passive and silent.

I am not going to tell anyone how to negotiate their oppression, because to do so would embolden my various privileges, while removing their agency. Though Destruction and I share the same racial oppression, telling him how to feel, would send the message that he should sensor himself, or that he is not entitled to his feelings, which is exactly what Whiteness has invested so heavily in teaching him.  It is one thing to abjure violence, and another thing entirely to suggest that marginalized people have to avoid feelings of anger and hatred to those who do them harm.  In the end, whatever emotions he develops towards Whiteness, will be because of his lived experience, and it is not for me or anyone else to tell him how to feel. 

Blake Lively and Transphobia at Elle

TransGriot Note: I had my say about Blake Lively's latest use of the t-slur, now it's Renee of Womanist Musings turn

I am starting to believe that Elle simply courts controversy in the hopes of selling magazines.  It engages in actions that are so clearly problematic, that I don't believe for one moment that they are not aware of what they are doing.

This month, Blake Lively appears on the cover of the magazine. Included with her cover, is of course a the obligatory cover article.  I would like to focus on a snippet of what Lively had to say regarding motherhood.

"I hope to have a few girls one day. If not girls, they better be trannies. Because I have some amazing shoes and bags and stories that need to be appreciated." (source)

Where to even begin with this hot mess? I suppose the obvious place to start would be her callous use of a trans slur.  Blake joins Neil Patrick Harris and Lance Bass as celebrities who have recently very publicly used this slur. There is never a reason or situation in which it is acceptable to use a slur.  The T word is not obscure, and trans* communities have been very vocal in making sure that cisgender people are aware that this term constitutes a slur and causes harm. To use this word is to purposefully attack and degrade trans* people.  In the case of Bass, he made a point of saying that his trans friends who use this term, and that he therefore felt that he had the right to.  This very much reminds me of when White people decide that it's okay for them to say nigger or nigga, because some Black people do.  The basic rule of thumb should be that if a slur does not apply to you, and it cannot specifically debase your humanity, then you have no right using it, or commenting on how the effected community chooses to negotiate it. If that were not enough, Bass went on to say that he did not get the memo, which reflects his cis privilege.  It is not an excuse to say that one did not know that the T word constitutes a slur, when trans*people have been saying so loudly for a very longtime. If he didn't know it's because he actively chosen not to listen.

I am the mother of two sons, and have made no secret of the fact that when I got pregnant that I wanted girls.  I have since dedicated myself to raising womanist sons and could not love and respect my boys more. I do not understand Lively's claim to want to have trans children, if they are not born cisgender girls for the purposes of having an accessory. This is not positive, nor does it deal with the issues of rejection that defenseless trans children face everyday.  You don't wish for a trans* child so that you can have a pet, or a captive audience.  To carry this idea one step further, I also feel the need to point out that this yet another example of Adult privilege. Lively's comments show a complete disrespect for children and their ability to teach us, even as we help to guide them on their journey to adulthood. It is also worth noting that if the only reason you want a girl is to teach or how to dress up pretty, then a lot of work needs to be done understanding the nature of patriarchy.


I truly hope that when this woman does eventually have a child, that the child is cisgender, because her comments prove that she is the last person who should be interacting with a trans* child, let alone be responsible for raising and guiding one.  There are precious few images of trans* people in the media to counteract the negative messages that she would impart. If anything, I believe that she would simply base her ideas on a reductive stereotype of what it is to be trans* and then expect the child to play out that role on a whim to suit her fancy.

Even with a cisgender child, Lively's attitude shows that she will pass on cissexist ideas, because she clearly has not even begun to process of decolonizing her mind.  As a cis mother, I can tell you that even when one has begun the journey to decolonize one's mind, it is a constant battle to challenge cis privilege, and to have your children see you do it.  There is a constant battle to mother in a manner that supports the equality of all, because all of the agents of socialization are determined to send your children the exact opposite message.  The fact that Lively's problematic assertion appeared in Elle is just one example of the medias investment in the diminishing historically marginalized people.

When I came across this story, one of the things I feared is that it would lead to yet another round of discussion, as to whether or not the T word constituted a slur.   Unfortunately, as expected, there are a few suggesting that trans* people need to simmer down, as well as the suggestion that no harm was done.  To be clear, each and every time you use a slur, harm is done. Trans* people don't have to be nice reacting to slur, and in fact, any anger they express should be validated and expected.  If you are not in the group being targeted, you don't get to debate how someone should respond, or whether or not the word is a slur.  The determination of harm needs to be made by the community the word is directed at. 

I sometimes wonder how long we are going to continue to have these 101 conversations?  I also wonder how many marginalized people think that it's fine to diminish transphobia or their cis privilege? As a Black disabled woman, all I have to do is think about how angry I would be if a slur was aimed at me to identify with the rage felt by the trans* community when something like this happens.  Instead of spending so much time trying to embrace our various privileges, in the hope of moving to the top of the social pyramid, I think we would all be better off trying to align ourselves with historically marginalized people outside of the groups that we belong to.  The real strength is in numbers, not in the ability to oppress others at will.  I know it's cliche, but walking a mile in someone else's shoes, is sometimes the best way to understand how we are oppressed and how we at the same time oppress.