Biden Blows Out Bernie Again!

Another Tuesday, another Biden blowout of Bernie Sanders as six more states held their Democratic Party primary elections. 

Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington were the six states participating in what was dubbed Super Tuesday II, with the biggest prize of the night being Michigan and its 125 delegates. 

Sanders now finds himself in a familiar position of trailing after getting his butt whipped during Super Tuesday, and was desperate to stop the slide in a state he surprisingly won four years ago. 

But just like in 2016, Sanders was ice skating uphill because once again, Black Democratic voters aren't Feeling The Bern and are making it loud and clear since the South Carolina primary they aren't.

Biden shattered and splatted that comeback trail political pipe dream by not only winning Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri by 'YUGE' margins,  Sanders failed to win a single county in all three of those states. 

Those huge wins in the 'Three M states' were once again powered by Black voters.  If you're wondering what the Black population percentages were in those three states, in Michigan, it's 13.7%.  In Missouri, it's 11%, and in Mississippi, where he was endorsed by Jackson mayor Chokwe Lumumba but still lost Hinds County and every other one in the Magnolia State, it was 37%.

Biden also captured Idaho to add to his big night and expand his overall lead in the race to 1991 pledged delegates to clinch the nomination, while Sanders is leading in Washington and won North Dakota 

Next up on the Biden Beats Down Bernie tour are the states of Arizona, Illinois, Florida and Ohio, who will all vote on St Patrick's Day.

While Arizona's Black population is only 4.1%,  in Illinois it's 14%, Florida it's 16% and Ohio it's 14.3%.   Not surprisingly, the polling is not looking good for Team Sanders in any of those March 17 primary states as Election Day rapidly approaches. 

Sanders' comments praising Fidel Castro also aren't going to help him in a state with a large Cuban population.   Florida is also the biggest prize delegate wise, with 219 pledged delegates.  Arizona has 67, Illinois 155 and Ohio 136.

Will Biden get closer to getting the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, or will Sanders spring an upset along the way?   Not likely because he's losing more diverse states while winning overwhelmingly white ones. 

Sanders is also pinning his barely got a pulse comeback hopes on this Sunday's debate which has now been moved to Washington DC because of coronavirus concerns.

But the only polls that count in any election are the voters actually casting ballots. 

We'll see what happens next Tuesday. 








 

Number 22- Rest In Power And Peace Brianna 'BB' Hill

Seems like as fast as I find out and get the details about one of my trans siblings being murdered, I'm having to sit down and write about another one.

We go back to Kansas City, MO for our latest trans murder.   

She is 30 year old Brianna 'BB' Hill.   She was shot  at 11:30 AM CDT on Monday October 14 near 43rd St and Hardesty Avenue in eastern Kansas City.    She died at the scene before police arrived and took the shooter into custody.

Hill is the third trans woman to die in Kansas City this year, the 21st African American trans woman, and the 22nd in the US in 2019.

The man who stands accused of shooting Hill waited for police to arrive, and and KCPD investigations are currently looking into the motive for this crime.

As of yet no word on whether any memorial service or vigils are being held there.   I'll pass that info along as I receive it.

Rest in power and peace, Brianna.   May justice be served in your case as well.

 

Second 2016 Presidential Debate Tonight In St. Louis

The first 2016 presidential debate between Sec. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University broke a viewing record that had stood since the 1980 Carter-Reagan debate.

Over 84 million people watched Hillary Clinton win that one after Trump self destructed, and thanks to Trump's reprehensible 2005 remarks about groping women into a hot mic that was all over the news Friday, the one in St Louis later tonight may break that record.

The second presidential debate on the Washington University campus, and will be a town hall format moderated by ABC's Martha Raddatz and CNN's Anderson Cooper.

The questions will be asked by the debate audience.   And with Trump's poll numbers sinking, his campaign teetering on the brink of collapse, and the Republicans now calling for him to step down from the top of the ticket, in the wake of his latest self inflicted campaign wound,  this one could be 90 minutes of ugliness as trump tried to salvage his campaign.

Meanwhile Clinton was prepping for the debate tonight as the political firestorm engulfed the Trump campaign that threatens to immolate it with 29 days to go to Election Day and early voting already taking place in several states.

The debate will be simulcast across cable and network TV starting at 8 PM CDT, so you can pick your fave between ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, FOX Noise, FOX Business, Univision, Telemundo, or C-SPAN.

We'll see how this one turns out.  It'll also be interesting to see what questions get asked over the 90 minutes this debate is being televised.

#NN16 Opening Day

Today is the opening day for the 2016 edition of Netroots Nation, and because of the pre conference event I took part in yesterday, I already have my conference badge, Thursday panel discussion matrix and conference booklet..


Some of the interesting things on the agenda for today is a screening of `Free CeCe`starting at 10:30 AM.   There`s a 1 PM panel  discussing Religious Exemptions and the Bathroom Panic and how to defeat them, and the inagural keynote by the This Week In Blackness (TWIB)  radio team

And as always, if you peeps see me in the halls or different panel discusssions, don't be shy, say hi

#NN16 Pre-Conference Events

Already in bed getting my beauty sleep so that I can get my behind up and head across the street for the pre-conference event that will be starting at 9 AM   I'm part of a Netroots Connect leadership Meeting, and there are other preconference events happening before the conference kicks off tomorrow.

Please check out the #NN16 hashtag for the tweets of various conference attendees like myself.

The schedule of panels and seminars is jam packed with topics that are sure to interest everyone from budding activists trying to figure out what their activism platform is to the seasoned veteran honing their skills and updating their information base and networking contacts

Then there are people who will take advantage of this day before the conference starts to either connect with old friends, make new ones or see the tourist sights in the host city/  We're a few blocks for the Gateway Arch and the National Blues Museum just for starters.

But then again, nothing wrong with hanging out with your friends, either..

The Air Marshal Has Arrived In St Louis!

After a flight from Hobby to.St Louis via Dallas that found me delayed at Love Field because of the arrival of the POTUS and FLOTUS for a major speech and having a bumpier than I liked trip from Dallas to St Louis, I'm now settled into my downtown Show Me State hotel room, have my computer set up and I`m calling Mom to let her know her eldest child/ made it,.

I'm now getting ready after unwinding from that interesting to say the least travel day to attend my second Netroots Nation conference and my first since 2012.

Well, I wasn't too disappointed in the Love Field delay.  I got to see Air Force One make a wide sweeping turn into the Love Field landing pattern and majestically land, trailed by two Secret Service security vehicles while taxiing over to the private aviation area at that airport,

And because of the ground stop, I had time to head over to the airport Whataburger location and destroy one for lunch.  

I also discovered to my delight that St. Louis has a 46 mile two line (Red and Blue) Metrolink light rail line running from the airport to downtown and across the Mississippi River to the East St. Louis Illinois side of the St Louis metro area.

Hey hometown, how about we make the same thing happen that St Louis has done since 1993 and extend our MetroRail to IAH and Hobby?

I have been wanting to come back to Netroots since the 2012 NN event I attended in Providence, and the panel I participated in.  My schedule since 2012 hasn't allowed that to be possible until now.  It's also cool and ironic I'm  a mere 260 miles west of Louisville as I do so.

(Turning eastward and waving towards Da Ville)

I'm here in St Louis on Tuesday because at the St Louis America's Convention Center tomorrow there's a #NN16 pre-conference event happening in which the organizers of it wanted me in the room as part of it.  ,

Looking forward to seeing what transpires, and I'll find out if the stuff we discuss tomorrow starting at 9 AM CDT is on or off the record.

At any rate, will do my best to tweet, comment on my FB page and write about what's happening while I'm there at Netroots Nation repping my community, my hometown and the organizations whose boards I sit on.  

In the meantime, as you watch for my commentary, you can also check out the Netroots Nation website for webcasts, stories and blog posts, and follow the #NN16 hashtag on Twitter just for starters.

I also have a Saturday panel discussion I'll be participating in at 1:30 PM entitled #TalkingWhileBlack: Recognizing and Confronting Racism In The LGBTQ Community.  Should be a fun conversation with me Faith Cheltenham and Ashton Woods being just some of the peeps on that panel.

I'm also planning to pop my head into non-LGBTQ spaces and making my unapologetic Black trans voice heard, and may swing by the radio podcast area before I'm done and heading back to Texas

Perusing the schedule overview now and trying to figure out what seminars and panels I'm going to attend when the conference starts Thursday, and hope #NN16 is as positive an experience for me as the 2012 edition was.

We'll see how that plays out in a few hours.

Leaving On A Jet Plane To St Louis!

It's ironic than in the nearly nine years I lived in Louisville, I was only a mere 3.5 hour drive away from St. Louis, but the closest I ever got to hitting I-64 west toward it was Evansville, IN for the wedding of a friend.

The next closest opportunity was in 2012 when I was headed to New York for my GLAAD POC media training, and my through flight to LGA stopped in St. Louis on the way there.  It was the same aircraft, so I happily moved myself and my bags closer to the front of the plane before we boarded the passengers waiting to get on in St Louis.

Well, I'm finally going to get the opportunity to not only see the St Louis airport terminal from the inside, but also see the city.  I'll also get the opportunity to meet some people in St Louis as I attend Netroots Nation for the first time since I was on that historic all-trans panel at #NN12 in Providence.

Yep, people, I'll be at the 2016 Netroots Nation through Sunday, and my jet plane takes me through Dallas Love Field on the way to St. Louis.   Hopefully I have a chance and time to hit the Whataburger at Love Field while I'm laying over there for my connecting flight at 12:30 PM and both are on time.

That depends on how badly the arrival of President Obama and Air Force One in Dallas impacts the flight schedule

You TransGriot readers know the convention drill.  Sometimes I may be deep in thought as I'm wandering the convention halls and may not recognize you right away, or I may be engaged in conversation with a lot of people.  In either scenario, don't be shy, just say hi when you see me.

I'm also taking part in a leadership meeting on Wednesday and a panel discussion on Saturday

On that note, time for me to get some beauty sleep for this travel day   My alarm is set for 6 AM, and it will be here before you know it.
.    

Moni's Headed To Netroots Nation 2016!

Wasn't expecting to be able to go this year, but it worked out for me and I will now be part of the #NN16 crowd wandering the America's Center Convention Complex in downtown St Louis for this year's edition of Netroots Nation.

This will be my second one after a four year absence from my inaugural one in Providence in which I was part of the historic all-trans Blogging For Transgender Equality panel.  

It was an overall positive experience for me.  I ended up during my time at #NN12 doing two radio interviews on This Week In Blackness (TWIB) and Michaelangelo Signorile's show and meeting a lot of people in the national liberal-progressive movement that i still converse with to this day.

And just as I did during #NN12, I'm not just going to hang out in my LGBT community comfort zone.  I'm planning on hitting some panels geared toward the Black community and letting my unapologetic Black trans voice be heard in those spaces as well.

We'll see what happen next week, but I'm looking forward to going.

Tamara Dominguez Murder Update

As you TransGriot readers know, we had a record number of trans women killed in 2015, with far too many of them being Black and Latina. Information about the state of their cases at times has either been slow in coming or I have been busy keeping up with other community news stories that have unfortunately resulted in me putting these cases on the back burner until new info pops up.

I now have some updated info for the Tamara Dominguez case.   You'll recall 36 year old Tamara was run over multiple times and left for dead in a Kansas City, MO church parking lot on August 15, 2015, and later succumbed to her injuries.

Dominguez's death was declared a homicide due to blunt force trauma.

And unfortunately, the pattern of disrespect in death continued.  Local KC media deadnamed her before correcting the story.  Her body was eventually shipped back to Mexico, where her brother refused to recognize her transition, deadnamed her, had a closed casket ceremony and refused to follow the Mexican feminine burial tradition of decorating the ceremony with red and white flowers.

The person accused of murdering her is 29 year old Luis M. Sanchez.  Surveillance video showed her getting into a black Chevy Avalanche SUV owned by Sanchez.  A witness saw her get out of it and slam the passenger side door before walking away.

The witness then observed Sanchez gun the SUV's engine as he ran over Dominguez with it several times before departing the scene and as we now know fleeing to Colorado after his vehicle was seized by authorities on August 21, 2015.

Sanchez was arrested in Lakewood, Colorado on May 3, and charged on Monday with first degree murder and armed criminal action according to Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker.

Prosecutors have requested a $250,000 bond for Sanchez as he awaits extradition back to Missouri to face the legal music for the murder of Tamara Dominguez.. That extradition hearing will take place in Jefferson County, CO on July 11.

Missouri also has a hate crimes law that covers gender identity, but so far the case is not being prosecuted by authorities as a hate crime.   Really?  A trans feminine person is run over with an SUV multiple times and it's NOT a hate crime?

Stay tuned as we see if Tamara receives justice and if Luis M. Sanchez pays for his crime.

Secretary Clinton Breaks Out the Victory Broom

The voters in five states spread out from the South to the Midwest went to the polls yesterday for Democratic presidential primary elections.  There were 793 delegates at stake with the big symbolic prizes being Florida (246 delegates at stake), Sec. Clinton's home state of Illinois (182 delegates) and Ohio with 160 delegates.   North Carolina  had 121 delegates at stake and Missouri with 84.

Within minutes of polls closing in Florida and North Carolina came the first indication it would be a YUGE night for Secretary Clinton.   The network calls of Clinton wins in Florida and North Carolina came swiftly, with the call for Ohio coming an hour later.

The Ohio win for Clinton was a disappointment for Sanders, who had predicted he would win the state after the shocking upset win in Michigan last week.

Illinois and Missouri took longer to decide, with Clinton taking her home state of Illinois and eked out a narrow win in the Show Me State late thanks to the voters in Kansas City and St Louis.

#BlackVotersMatter  

Told you Bernie supporters that losing the Black vote would cost him the nomination. Clinton's massive 84-16% support with African-American voters was critical to fueling her sweep of all five primary states.

Thanks to the sweep, Sec. Clinton has opened up a 300+ delegate lead on Sanders and effectively ended the talking point among Sanders supporters that Clinton could only win in Southern states.

Next up are caucuses in Utah and Idaho and the primary election in Arizona on March 22.  Arizona is the big prize with 85 total delegates..

While Sec. Clinton is not the 2016 presumptive Democratic nominee yet, she took another huge step toward making history as the first woman to win a major party presidential nomination.

The obese opera singer may not be singing yet in this Democratic contest, but is definitely beginning to warm up to sing the aria.

Congratulations Landon!

I and your trans elders are proud of you members of the Trans Class of 2016, and know that over time, you will do amazing things that will continue to justify our faith in investing in your success.   
-TransGriot, August 22, 2015

Well, it didn't take long for a member of the Trans Class of 2016 to make some trans history.

Meet Landon Patterson.  The Oak Park High School senior found out during halftime of her school's September 12 homecoming game with William Chrisman High School that her classmates had chosen her as their school's homecoming queen.

"Just knowing that I did this and broke some barriers, I can't put it into words how I feel right now," Patterson Said in am interview. "I'm just excited and hope it's going to help others put there." .

Landon has dreamed about this moment of riding in the homecoming parade as the homecoming queen since her freshman year, but she doubted that her classmates would see her as female.

She transitioned during her junior year, was an active member of her school's show choir and Oak Park's cheerleading squad, and her classmates made it clear how they viewed Landon by voting her as their homecoming queen.

Her mom Debbie Hall;proudly rode next to her in the homecoming parade as she stated to local media she saw no other option but to support her child.

That's my child. You have to back your children. The haters out there, I just want to say, 'What would you say if it was your child?'" Hall said.

Congrats Landon!    Hope the rest of your senior year goes as wonderfully as your day being named your school's homecoming queen did. 

Trans Woman Number 16 Has Been Murdered- RIP Tamara

Once again I'm waking up to hear about another trans woman of color being killed.  This time it was in Kansas City, MO and the trans woman in question is a Latina.

36 year old Tamara Dominguez is the latest name we will be lighting a candle for at this November`s TDOR memorial services.   She was mugged,. then run over multiple times in a church parking lot by what is described as a man driving a black Chevy Avalanche SUV at 3:00 AM on Saturday.  

Dominguez was rushed to a hospital, but died on Monday.

Kansas City PD suspects it is a hate crime, but are reluctant to call it that because this is still an active investigation and  are looking for that SUV and its driver.

Dominguez is now the 16th trans person and the third Latina killed in what is shaping up to be a bloody year of trans feminine murders.

And the same question I asked of the Black cis community is also applicable to the Latino cis community as well.  When will the lives of your trans Latina sisters matter enough for you to speak up and condemn the murders being aimed at them?

#TransLatinaLivesMatter

How about demonstrating your support of your Latina trans sisters by signing this We The People White House petition calling for a federal investigation into the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence aimed at trans women of color?   It needs 100K signatures by September 10 to trigger a formal WH response to it and we have at the time I am writing this 2,448 signatures.

The family is also trying to raise $3.500 for the funeral and to send Tamara's body back to Mexico for burial, so if you have some cash burning a hole in your purse or wallet, please consider donating to help her

As usual, stay tuned to this TransGriot channel for any updated news I get concerning this latest hate crime aimed at our community..

Ferguson Elections Result In Major Changes

In addition to Chicago, yesterday was election day in Ferguson, MO.  

The town that ripped the scab off the festering wound of police brutality aimed at the African-American community and laid to rest the lie that this is a post racial nation, had an all white city council and white mayor in a town that is predominately Black primarily because of low election participation rates.

After months of voter registration drives that sought as a goal to change that depressing paradigm, the test of those efforts came yesterday.   A record turnout from 10% to 30% resulted in a tripling of the African-American representation on the six member city council.

Mayor James Ferguson was fortunately for him, not up for re-election

Councilman Dwayne James is one of only two African-Americans ever elected to the Ferguson City Council, and wasn't up for re-election.  After last night's election,  he will be joined on council by Ella Jones and Wesley Bell.    Bell defeated another African-American, Lee Smith to earn his seat

It points out what I have been saying for years.  Not only do elections matter, but as the people who are trying mightily to suppress your voting power know, turnout matters as well.

And it matters who the people are sitting at the table with the power to write legislation and making the policies that affect the entire community.

The peeps in Ferguson now have a city council that tripled its representation because they took their souls to the polls.

To borrow an old saying from the 'hood, you have to be in it to win it. That saying is especially applicable to elections and voting as well.   It's also one that needs to repeated in African-American communities across the country in each and EVERY election cycle.

Michael Brown Funeral Eulogy

Michael Brown, whose cause of death in Ferguson, NO was assassination by po-po, was buried today.

The funeral at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church was attended by thousands of people including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).  It was paid for by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc and featured a fiery eulogy by MSNBC talk show host and longtime activist Rev. Al Sharpton.

Here's the video of it for those of you who missed it.

Tired Of Black People Being Attacked In Ferguson, MO And Elsewhere

'But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.'
-Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, 'The Other America'

That Dr.. King quote is what is going through my mind as I see my people being attacked by Officer Oppressor in Ferguson, MO and other places inside the borders of the United States.

This isn't a post-racial society.  It is still racist because white people refuse to see and keep trying to delude themselves into thinking that this country has evolved when it comes to race relations. 

Sadly, it hasn't.  This country is more polarized racially than it was when I was a kid growing up in the late 60's and early 70's.  I'm also well aware of the fact as Dr. King also eloquently pointed out in that same 'The Other America' essay, this is a racist country dominated by whiteness, white supremacist attitudes and actions.  

We also have the problem that because of the toxic legacy of slavery, for the last four centuries Black lives have been dehumanized to the point that our kids get shot by the police and Zimmerman wannabees with no punitive consequences to the perpetrators of those shootings.

And enough is enough.  Far too many of our kids are experiencing death by po-po. 

It's clear to our nation and the world the racist nature of American policing when police do everything possible to deescalate an armed standoff with Cliven Bundy and his white-wing thugs, but respond with over the top paramilitary force, tear gas, rubber bullets and drawn guns to peaceful African-American protestors demanding justice in the murder of an unarmed Michael Brown.

All Ferguson, MO residents and by extension, the African-American community wants are answers to why an unarmed Black college-bound kid was shot and killed Saturday by a white police officer.  

We have been met by stonewalling, refusal to name the police badge wearing perp out of 'concerns for his safety', cricket chirping silence, racist disrespect and over the top paramilitary police force.

If that were happening to your community and it was your kids being depressingly killed every year by police that don't look like them or even live in their neighborhoods, would you be sitting silently on your hands about that injustice? 

Nope, I don't think you would.   

As civil rights movement icon Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) said, "The death of Michael Brown is a grave tragedy the community of Ferguson, Missouri should not have to bear. How many more young men of color will be killed before we realize that we have a problem in America? We are permitting the incarceration and shooting of thousands of black and brown boys in their formative years who might have become great artists, leaders, scientists, or lawyers if we had offered them our support instead of our suspicion?"


The bottom line is oppressed people will not remain oppressed forever, nor will they allow themselves to be continuously disrespected.  Sooner or later there will be a reaction to the injustice, hence the protests you're seeing play out in Ferguson and now other cities around the country.
 
It's also why you're hearing that classic NWA rap song right now as the soundtrack to what's going on in that suburban St Louis city.
 
Since the Ferguson, MO police and leadership in that community failed to respectfully respond to those legitimate questions the family and others in the city had concerning the Brown murder by po-po, now you're hearing them articulated in the language of the unheard.