Past Time For METRO To Build Rail To Hobby and IAH

When I travel to many east coast cities, the ATL, Chicago and even Dallas, one of the things all those cities have in common is a rail component of their local public transit systems that connects to the airport. 

Washington DC has alway had rail connected to Washington National Airport (I refuse to call it Reagan National), and you can catch a train from BWI to either DC or Baltimore.   You also have the option of taking a WMATA bus to DC to the terminus of the Green Line.

The state of Virginia right now is busy expanding the Silver Line subway from its current western terminus at the Wiehle-Reston East station to Dulles airport and beyond it.

When I was in Denver for #CC15, while the construction for the RTA A Line rail system expansion to DIA was completed, it hadn't been opened yet because it was still undergoing the mandatory testing necessary before it could open for passenger service.

Los Angeles has been exponentially expanding their rail system as part of their preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games with a combination of subway and light rail projects scheduled to be completed as early as 2024.  One of those rail projects is to connect to the under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line to LAX scheduled to open next year and the already in operation Green Line via an automated people mover.

I happily discovered when I attended #NN16 in St Louis that it has rail service from the airport to downtown.  That line crosses the Mississippi River to East St Louis, IL

While as a proud Houstonian I hate to admit that Dallas is better than Houston in anything, one area I must give Dallas props for is their over 100 miles of DART light rail that covers much of the city.

The DART Orange Line terminates at DFW's Terminal A, and is part of the largest light rail system in Texas.  The DART system also includes commuter rail lines to Denton and Ft Worth 

DART is now currently planning a subway through downtown Dallas to eliminate the system bottleneck that has all four lines converging and traveling through downtown on dual tracks along Pacific Avenue.   It's also planning the suburban Cotton Belt line which would connect Richardson, north Dallas and Addison to DFW Airport and the other existing light rail lines.  There's also the TexRail project under construction that will connect Fort Worth to DFW's Terminal B, the existing TRE commuter line and the DART Cotton Belt Line. 

But back to focusing on my end of I-45.  So why doesn't my hometown have rail to Hobby and Intercontinental airports despite METRO being founded in 1978 with the goal of city wide rail service in mind?

It's a combination of factors.   Rep John Culberson (R) and before him former Rep. Tom DeLay (R), along with the Harris County Republican Party, were militant rail opponents.  The bad case of NIMBY syndrome that the Afton Oaks neighborhood along Richmond Avenue has just east of the Galleria /Uptown Houston area has had the effect of messing with multiple METRO attempts to logically route rail along Richmond Avenue to the Galleria through that area.

You also have all the naysaying anti-rail peeps who think building or widening freeways is cheaper than rail, nobody will ride it, and building roads is the only option capable of solving our Houston area regional transit issues.

But back to Culberson.   At the behest of his Afton Oaks constituents and his party, he has repeatedly messed with METRO's plan to build the needed and necessary east west University (Blue) Line to connect the rest of the current system centered on downtown, the Texas Medical Center and the north east southeast sides of the city to the Galleria area and the Gold Line by messing with the federal funding. 

Federal funding that the DFW area said 'thank you very much Houston' for allowing us to get it to build our rail system. 

The Galleria area Gold Line that was approved by the 2003 rail referendum passed in large part by Black and Latinx voters is now being built as our first bus rapid transit (BRT) lane that can be easily converted to light rail in the future. 

The BRT lane currently being built along South Post Oak Blvd and the West Loop to its northern terminus at the Northwest Transit Center could be eventually extended to the future Houston terminus of the Texas Central Railway bullet train between Dallas and Houston scheduled to start construction next year. 

Their collective opposition to rail is so entrenched that Culberson is even bragging about in his campaign materials.  That Republican opposition to METRO getting its fair share of federal money to build rail here is a major reason why the Dallas Fort Worth area has quickly amassed over 100 miles of it and is building more while we spin our wheels dealing with nuisance litigation from anti-rail opponents. 

And yes, when the Katy Freeway was widened to a mind numbing 23 lanes at a cost of $2.8 billion, the MKT railroad corridor that ran parallel to it all the way to the western suburb of Katy was paved over.

That corridor could have been used for commuter or light rail.  Same with the corridor along Westpark Road in which freight rail tracks were ripped up for a toll road.

And as you probably guessed, travel times on the Katy Freeway have gotten worse, not better since it was expanded.   Since METRO paid for some of that project, one silver lining of it is the overpasses were built to handle the weight of rail cars if we finally go in that direction we should have and stick rail tracks in the middle of the freeway.

One of the major reasons that Houston was eliminated from the competition to get Amazon's second headquarters was lack of public rail transit to both major airports.   Chicago, which we will pass soon to become the third largest city in the US, has had rail connections to both major airports for decades.

Looks like METRO is finally getting ready to address that issue, and it's about time.

METRO is seeking to at least get Hobby connected to the METROrail system.   The current terminus of the Purple Line at the Palm Center Transit Center station is only three miles from Hobby airport.  The Green Line's eastern terminus at the Magnolia Park Transit Center station in the East End is roughly the same distance from Hobby.

The distance from IAH to the current northern terminus of the Red Line at the Northline/HCC station is 11.5 miles, about the length of track that was built to expand the Red Line from the UH Downtown station to that point.

How they route the Purple and Green Lines to get to Hobby and the Red Line to IAH from their current termination points, and how much is it going to cost is the question right now. 

While I'd like both projects to happen ASAFP, how fast that does occur depends on the upcoming 2018 midterm election in which Lizzie Fletcher is taking on Culberson.

In the wake of the failure to get Amazon's second HQ to locate here, and if Houston ever wants to see its Olympic hosting dreams come true, the incentive is there for Houston to handle its rail public transportation business.

And it needs to happen as quickly as possible.

Astros Are The AL West Champs Again!

While I was sleeping last night, my hometown defending MLB world champion baseball team clinched the American League West Division title for the second straight season thanks to the Oakland A's losing to the Seattle Mariners in extra innings at Safeco Field.

The Astros had already handled their business by beating the Toronto Blue Jays (sorry not sorry Renee) 4-1 last night in Rogers Centre to not only win their 100th game of the season, but reduce their magic number to clinch the AL West Division title to one.

The A's were up on Seattle 8-5 in the eighth inning before the Mariners rallied to tie the game and force extra innings. 

Seattle scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, then one more run in the ninth to tie the game.  The Mariners then won the game in the 11th inning thanks to a walk off home run by Chris Hermann that sends to A's to the AL Wild Card Game to face the New York Skankees Yankees.

It is the first time since 1997-1999 when they ruling the NL Central Division and playing games in the Astrodome that the Astros have claimed multiple division titles in a row.   It is also the first time in Astros history they have had back to back 100 win seasons and only the third time in team history the 'Stros have won 100 games

With the AL West title secured, the Astros now know who they will play in the postseason as they try to repeat as world series champions.   They start an ALDS best of five series on October 5 against the AL Central champion Cleveland Indians.

The winner of the AL Wild Card Game will move on to play the AL East Champion Boston Red Sox, who have the best record in baseball this year at 106-51 with 5 home games left. 

Home field for the AL Wild Card Game is more likely to be Yankee Stadium since they hold the tiebreaker over the A's after going 3-3 in their head to head matchups and having a better division record than the A's. 

However, the Yankees have a brutal finishing schedule in which they play six AL East division games.   Three road games against the Tampa Bay Rays and three versus their hated rivals the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

But back to talking about my defending American League champion Astros.

Should they advance they would face in the ALCS the winner of the A's/Yankees-Boston Red Sox ALDS series in a best of seven for the American League title.   If the A's or Yankees prevail, they would have home field advantage.  If it's Boston, they would get it.

FYI to you Red Sox fans:  The Astros won the season series over you 4-3, and took 2 out of three games at Fenway Park.

Should the Astros make it to the World Series again, they would have home field advantage this time against whoever walks off with the 2018 National League crown between the NL East champion Atlanta Braves, the NL Central leaders the Chicago Cubs, the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers and top NL Wild card team the Milwaukee Brewers. 

The St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies still have an outside shot at playing October baseball at Miller Park as contenders for the other NL wild card slot.

The NL title contender with the best league record is the Chicago Cubs with 91 wins, and everyone else including the defending NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers is below that.

The quest for an Astros title repeat starts October 5.  Looking forward to it since I need a distraction from how badly the Texans are sucking right now.

BLM HOU Panel At Rice University

Header to the Rice University campus starting at 11 AM for a panel sponsored by BLM HOU.

Even though as a proud Cougar there's a rivalry between the two schools, even we have to admit that Rice has a beautiful campus that like ours, has hosted some historic events like the G7 Summit in 1990.

Today we'll be at Cohen House from 11-1 PM to discuss social justice issues of importance to the Houston area community.

Looking forward to seeing all the Rice students who read TransGriot there and those of you who can attend it be there.   

What’s Houston Justice Doing?

The Houston Justice Coalition has been around since 2014.  It was founded in the wake of the egregious failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the murder of MIke Brown in Ferguson, MO that triggered protests across the nation, including here in Houston.

It also jump started conversations about what law enforcement looks like in the Houston area.     

The organization’s founders decided to focus on things they could demonstrably measure such as local Grand Jury Reform, Body Camera Policy for local law enforcement and Community Policing and started those efforts with an event at the El Dorado Ballroom.     

The launch event drew a overflow crowd of over 300 people.  From that crowd, Houston Justice signed people up to apply for grand jury service and registered them to vote.

After a brief hiatus taken after the 2015 Texas Legislative session in which grand jury legislation favored by Houston Justice was passed,  Houston Justice is now focusing its efforts on three initiatives just in time for the critical 2018 midterm election.

One of the initiatives is #Project Orange, which started in 2017.  It is a nonpartisan effort to register eligible incarcerated persons in the Harris County Jail to vote in addition to staffing voter registration tables in the jail visitation areas.

Those 2017 efforts conducted on four consecutive September Sundays led to over 600 new registered voters who participated in the 2018 Democratic and Republican primary elections.    

Another one of the initiatives being tackled by Houston Justice is the Black Census being organized by the Alicia Garza founded Black Futures Lab.

The Black Census is an online questionnaire with the goal of giving us an opportunity to speak for ourselves and get a detailed informational portrait of Black America.   

The goal is to survey 200,000 people nationally, and Houston Justice wants to get 1000 people in our area to participate in it so that we can have solid data about the Houston Black community to show to legislators, discuss with the media, and other interested parties    

We also wish to get responses from the Black Census from all segments of the Black community, including the LGBTQ segment of it, and our formerly incarcerated people

The third initiative is #HOUVotes.   Texas had an abysmal 28.5% voter turnout in the 2014 midterms.  For the 2016 presidential election it was 51.6%, which ranked it 49th out of 50 states. We must do better than that in November 2018.

The #HOUVotes campaign seeks to reach out to former felons, the formerly incarcerated and their families to get them registered to vote in this critical election cycle, and empower them to go to the polls and do so.

The #HouVotes campaign seeks to achieve the following goals:

*Register 5,000 new voters,
*Communicate with the newly registered voters at least three times
*Increase voter turnout in our target audience     

The push started August 24, as several organizers went through training in preparation for an initial August 26 voter registration at St John’s Church Downtown.  While that was happening, Houston Justice’s Durrel Douglas was interviewed during Majic 102’s Sunday Morning Live show to talk about the initiatives.

Over the next few weeks Houston Justice organizers will also be busy getting the word out about the Black Census, registering voters, and doing their part to ensure that those newly registered voters participate in the November election.

Why I'm In Favor Of Houston Hosting The 2020 DNC Convention

There is some chatter occuring in sections of Houston LGBTQ World coming from predominately white peeps inexplicably opposing the city's bid to capture the hosting duties for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. 

Their rationale to buttress their flimsy opposition to the city's bid for the 2020 DNC is that since Houston doesn't have a non discrimination ordinance, it shouldn't be hosting the convention.

FYI for you peeps.  Guess y'all forgot we DID pass the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance on May 28, 2014.   We lost the repeal battle after HERO was forced on the ballot by the conservative leaning SCOTX and right wing fake faith based evilgelicals.

The Houston 2020 DNC convention bid also has bipartisan support from local Republican legislators and former president George HW Bush, who wrote a letter to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner supporting the bid.

I support the city of Houston going after the 2020 Democratic National Convention.  As of this writing we are one of the three finalist cities for it in addition to Miami and Milwaukee. 

First, the bid.   Ours is based on using the George R Brown Convention Center and the next door Toyota Center for the convention    The Convention Center district has two 1000 room hotels (the Hilton Americas and the Marriott Marquis) connected to the GRB and several thousand more downtown within easy walking, free shuttle bus or a METRORail train ride to the GRB-Toyota Center complex 

These downtown hotels, should we land the bid, would be filled with people attending the convention.  Houston has also proven multiple times that we can easily handle large scale conventions and events.

The 2020 DNC convention would not only provide business to these downtown hotels during the convention business summer doldrums, it would provide work for all the people in our Houston service and hospitality industry during the four days in 2020 that Houston would be hosting the Democratic Party leadership, delegates from across the country, and media covering the event. 

Must point out that the people working in the Houston hospitality industry would definitely appreciate the opportunity of making some money during the summer convention doldrum period.

Many of those people working in the Houston hospitality industry are Black and Latinx Houstonians who would benefit personally by the DNC being here.

It has been 90 years since Houston last hosted the DNC in 1928, and 1992 since the city hosted the RNC at the Astrodome.

It's way past time for the city of Houston to host the Democrats in our hometown again.

Mayflower Madam Quote Removed From HISD School Walls

School doesn't start in HISD until next week, but one thing that Gregory-Lincoln Education Center students will see brightening up the hall is a quote from Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai instead of one from the Mayflower Madam.

Gregory-Lincoln serves K-8 students in the Montrose, Fourth Ward, Midtown, and Downtown areas of the city.

It came to our local Houston activist community's attention that a quote attributable to infamous Mayflower madam Sydney Biddle Barrows was on the wall at Gregory -Lincoln now occupied by the Malala one.

The quote that previously occupied that spot read, "The more you act like a lady, the more he'll act like a gentleman'.

That is problematic on a lot of levels just beyond who it came from. You as an individual are responsible for your own behavior, and that not a message we should be sending the middle school age girls that they bear responsibility for the behavior of young boys .

Melania is a illustrative example of the futility of the quote, considering the ongoing nekulturny behavior of the overgrown orange toddler she's married to.

Local media got wind of the story after it was pushed by Pantsuit Republic Houston and other women's groups online and offline.   It wasn't long before the offensive quote got the attention of HISD senior leadership, was painted over and replaced with the more appropriate one from Yousafzai.

Coincidentally, one of the books on the HISD third grade reading list for this 2018-19 school year is one written by Yousafzai entitled Malala's Magic Pencil.

Mission accomplished in terms of folks speaking up and getting positive action to take place after they did so.

Modern LGBTQIA+ Trailblazers Panel This Thursday

Since it's Pride, I usually get a chance to do a panel discussion or two during this seminal historic month for the LGBTQIA+ community.

On Thursday I'm one of the participants in a panel discussion presented by the Sharpstown Democrats for their Evening Extra series.

This one is entitled Modern LGBTQIA+ Trailblazers, and features me along with Fran Watson, Mo Cortez, and Jim Kovach.   The panel is being moderated by Kris Banks and it is scheduled to run from 6:30 -9:30 PM CDT.

Thanks to Erik Manning and the Sharpstown Democrats for putting it together and inviting me to participate in it.

Location of this discussion is the Bayland Park Community Center at 6400 Bissonnet St in Southwest Houston just past Hillcroft Ave.

Hope to see you there, because it is probably going to be an interesting and informative discussion.
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Houston Puts In Bid For 2020 DNC Convention

Houston City Council voted 15-1 to formally put in a bid to land the 2020 Democratic National Convention after being asked to do so by the Democratic Party.

The last time we hosted a DNC was 1928.  That led to the construction of the Sam Houston Coliseum, which was eventually demolished to make room for the Hobby Center.

Houston was also host city for the 1992 Republican Convention at the Astrodome in which Pat Buchanan made his infamous 'culture war' speech.

Houston joins seven other cities, Atlanta, Birmingham, Denver, Miami Beach, Milwaukee, New York and San Francisco in competing for the coveted convention.

The DNC had previously sent out letters to a longer list of cities to gauge their interest in hosting the event.  Birmingham and New York were considered as host cities in 2016, but were passed over for the eventual winner Charlotte.

The winning city will be announced in January 2019

Feliz Compleanos Ana Andrea!

Couldn't let today pass without giving a TransGriot birthday shoutout to another amazing Houston area trans leader in Ana Andrea Molina, the founding executive director of Organizacion Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT)

It's also interesting to note that many of the kick butt activists here in the Houston area who get stuff done and have no problem bluntly speaking truth to power are predominately Tauruses.

While the Houston based OLTT is focused primarily on the issues affecting our trans Latinx immigrant population in Texas, OLTT also has Casa Anaandrea, which is a shelter for trans and gender nonconforming person open to all

OLTT also does a wide range of events and programs  immigration help, name changes and the Mr and Miss OLTT Pageant designed to support the trans community

But it could also use some funding, because it does cost money to provide those services.  OLTT is also trying to raise $30,000 to renew the rental agreement for the home Casa Anaandrea is housed in with the goal of eventually owning this place.

Andrea has quickly established herself as one of our major Latina trans leaders in Texas and the United States, and we in Houston are fortunate to have her in our midst.

She also a wonderful friend and I have mad love and respect for her as a leader.

Feliz  Compleanos, Andrea!    May you celebrate many more birthdays to come!

Isiah Factor - Two Sides Of The HISD School Board Controversy

You may have seen the WTF level moment in which two people were arrested at a contentious HISD meeting.

HISF School Board President Rhonda Skillern Jones and Kandice Webber along with Ashton Woods discuss what happened from their perspectives

Skillern Jones has offered an apology to Webber and the other woman arrested in the debacle. Charges were dropped after consultation with Harris County DA Kim Ogg, but Weeber has some definite opinions concerning what should happen next.

Both appeared on FOX26's The Isiah Factor Uncensored to discuss what happened Monday and what needs to happen next.

'The State Of Black Women In America' Discussion At TSU Tonight

Looking forward to this conversation on the Texas Southern Campus tonight organized by Dr Carla Brailey and Dr Kimberly Brown Pellum.

It's a discussion entitled The State Of Black Women In America, it has on the panel attorney Cha' mira Keener, Tomiko Meeks, psychologist Dr. Alauna Curry,  Dr Michon Benson, TSU assistant professor of English, Kandice Webber, who organized the recent March of Black Women, and Tiffany Thomas, former board trustee from Alief ISD.

I am concerned that we're having a discussion about Black women in America on an HBCU campus without including the voices of Black trans feminine people, and it's a major reason why I'm attending this event tonight.

Kandice Webber is a ride or die accomplice for Black trans women, so I have no doubts at some point during the two hours scheduled for this conversation we will get to talk about the issues of Black trans women one way or the other

In case you live in the Houston area and wish to attend this event, it's happening from 7-9 PM in the Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leland Public Affairs Building in Room 114 on the Cleburne St. side of the TSU campus . 

Hope you'll consider attending this what is sure to be a thought provoking panel discussion 

My Thoughts On The Houston GLBT Caucus-Baptist Ministers Assn. Initiative

People are weighing in on the what WAS a quiet effort to talk to the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity and the GLBT Caucus.

As one of the people considered a major unapologetically Black trans leader in the Houston, Texas and national TBLGQ community, I have also been asked my thoughts about this from multiple people including political candidates, members of the Caucus, and other thought leaders.

So here's what I have to say about it

You know from perusing this blog that I not only have been a vocal critic of the Baptist Ministers Assn, I was not in 2014-15 happy with them colluding with the Harris County GOP and our longtime assorted haters in Dave Welch, Dave Wilson and Steven Hotze.

And Moni STILL isn't happy with them and the rampant miseducation about the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance they helped grease the skids for that was critical in how it was framed and why it was rejected in the Houston Black community . 

But I also have been just as critical about the piss poor effort of Houston Unites and their Prop 8 2.0 campaign that spectacularly failed to educate about and defend the much needed ordinance in my community in large part because of the failure to listen to Houston Black TBLGQ leaders.

In order for us to pass and successfully defend a HERO 2.0 ordinance, you not only need to listen to Houston Black TBLGQ leaders, we are going to have to deal with the Baptist Ministers Assn and also the just as odious to me COGIC PAC. 

I also have some ideas about what else needs to happen, but it's going to cost you to hear what they are.  Y'all in the market for hiring experienced Black trans leaders, equality orgs?  It's kinda obvious we're needed and necessary to advance equity in this human rights movement, and not just equality.

We cannot allow Houston Black voters to ever again be hoodwinked and bamboozled into voting against a local human rights law that protects them in the Bayou City.   Neither can we tolerate sellout Black folks who collude with the Harris County and Texas Republican Party and white fundamentalists to make that miseducation happen.

It is past time for a 'Come to Jesus' Houston Black community meeting with those groups.  This is a family conversation that Houston Black trans, bi and SGL leaders need to facilitate because we need to and KNOW HOW to talk to our people. 

And as a member of Black Lives Matter HOU, I'm confident that we can successfully along with POC Caucus leaders and other Houston Black community leaders have that conversation.  Both groups are coming to the table with the common points of our Blackness and being sick of the narrative we are 'more homophobic and transphobic' than the white folks who draw high five figure paychecks working in anti-TBLGQ orgs , the white fundies ministers that get their jollies hating us, and support a Republican Party dedicated to oppressing us. 

Just before the January 2018 Caucus meeting, Mike Webb pulled me aside and asked if they could talk to me about an initiative that was being worked on.  I now know because of the drama this was the initiative they were talking about. 

I'm also not happy about the conclusion jumps being made in the article that the trans community is 'being thrown under the bus' and that Houston Black SGL leaders expressing their opinions about this situation informed by their Blackness and political knowledge of our Houston Black community and the players in it is 'cisplaining'.

Really?   Don't even insult my intelligence with that BS. 

This initiative is a Houston Black family conversation that once again, we need to and must have.  That means Houston white TBLGQ community, y'all are going to have to sit on the sidelines for this one until if and when we call for you.

It is an initiative that I definitely agree needs to have Houston Black trans representation at the table since we were the people attacked by the inflammatory anti-trans rhetoric.  Because of that anti-trans hate speech, Black trans people have undeniably taken the brunt of the anti-trans violence uptick that resulted from that 2015 campaign, the GOP efforts to pass anti- trans 'bathroom bills'  and the anti-trans rhetoric surrounding the failed dual attempts to pass SB 6.

So would I talk to a group that as you know I'm seriously pissed off at?  I sure would.   I definitely wouldn't mind talking to Max Miller, FN Williams and whoever else is leading the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity as long as that apology to the trans community happens

The ministers need to know from a living breathing Houston Black trans person we not only exist, that their collusion with our longtime enemies was hurtful to Houston's trans community.

The Black ministerial collusion was harmful specifically to the Houston Black trans contingent of it, and the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity need to as a starting point publicly apologize to us for their reprehensible actions to the Houston Black trans community.

And the Houston Black TBLGQ community will have a major say in how and what that looks like.