As many of you political junkies are aware of, yesterday was the last day for the remaining 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates to qualify for the September 12 debate in Houston
The standards were doubled to require that candidates seeking to be on that stage reach 2% in four DNC approved polls and draw 130,000 unique donors. 400 of those donors need to be from at least 20 different states.
Ten people qualified to be in the H&PE Arena on the Texas Southern University campus in two weeks.
They are former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep Beto O"Rourke, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Andrew Yang and Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
The rest failed to make the cut, meaning there will be only one night of debates in Houston.
The scramble is on for tickets to the event, with current TSU students, faculty and staff getting first shots at the tickets for the event in the 8100 seat venue starting at 12 noon CDT on Friday August 30.
TSU is also planning to have a campus debate watch party in Sawyer Auditorium for students, faculty, staff and the general public
Looking forward to all the debate related candidate events that will be taking place in the 713 during that week
When I was a student at UH, the 1980 presidential election was happening during my freshman year. While I eventually cast my ballot in my home precinct at Crestmont Park, I was still happy to know that we had a polling location set up in the UC for students to vote at.
The same was the case at Texas Southern, which is one of the largest HBCU campuses in the nation and just a few blocks west of the UH campus.
When the Republicans got control of ethnically diverse Harris County, knowing that it provides at this point 25% of the vote total in a statewide election, the polling places on the UH and TSU campuses were removed.
At the same time, Texas Republicans when they passed their voter suppression laws in 2011, made sure that student ID's from a Texas college or university were no longer valid identification in order to make it harder for college students to vote.
Elections have consequences, and one of the happy consequences of the 2018 Blue tsunami that flipped Harris County back to dark blue Democratic Party control was the election of Dr. Diane Trautman to replace the odious GOP hack Stan Stanart as our Harris County Clerk.
The county clerk, for you non-Texans, is the Chief Elections Administrator. She's the person that establishes the procedures and policies that determine how elections are run in the largest county in Texas by population, where we vote and even the times we're able to do so subject to state and federal election law and approval of Harris County Commissioner's Court.
In addition to the welcome policy of being able to vote at any polling location in Harris County, polling locations were reestablished on the University of Houston and Texas Southern University campuses.
"It's important for young people to be involved in the elections process", said Dr Trautman. "These additional voting locations will make it easier for students, faculty and staff, as well as the surrounding communities to vote "
That's significant, because UH has over 40,000 students and 7000 faculty and staff, while TSU has over 9000 enrolled students. They deserve a say in who will govern them while they are matriculating on the UH and TSU campuses at the local, state and national level.
This will be effective for the upcoming November 5 municipal elections.
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
Our local HBCU Texas Southern University has produced a long list of distinguished graduates since its 1947 founding One of them is trailblazing Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.
The School of Public Affairs Building on the north side of the TSU campus is named for her and another distinguished TSU alumnus in Congressman Mickey Leland.
February 21 is her birthday, and in honor of it, a panel discussion organized by TSU professors Dr. Carla Brailey and Dr Kimberly Brown-Pellum on the topic of social justice is being held in the Walter McCoy Auditorium (room 114) in the Jordan-Leland School of Public Affairs Building.
The special guest is Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who currently represents as we sometimes call the 18th Congressional District in H-town 'Barbara's Seat'.
The other panelists will be District 146 Texas state Rep Shawn Thierry, Dr. Rockell Brown Burton of TSU's School of Communications, Algenita Scott Davis, longtime business leader and a visiting professor in TSU's School of Business , attorney Antoinette 'Toni' Jackson who is a partner in the Jones Walker LLP firm, the Honorable Fredericka Phillips, Vice Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, and Rhonda Skillern-Jones, the HISD school board president.
The event is running from 7-9 PM, and with this lineup of amazing Houston women leaders, should be an interesting conversation and discussion.
Hope people will check this discussion out since it is open to the public.
Hillary Clinton has been in Texas for the last three days to do some fundraising and other events in the Lone Star State to shore up the Democratic base here.
Yesterday afternoon she was on the Texas Southern University campus to receive a public service award named for the late Rep..Barbara Jordan, who was an alumnus of the university.
The speech was broadcast live on C-SPAN, and for those of you missed the speech, here's the video of it.
Last night I was honored to participate on a panel discussion that discussed mental health and the trans community
The panel was entitled 50 Shades Of Me: Mental Health And The Transgender Community and took place in the Jordan-Leland Public Affairs Building on the Texas Southern University campus.
In addition to some blogger y'all know about, the panel included Atlantis Capri, Marie Angel Hernandez, Jude Feng, and Dr. Natalie Walker, and moderated by Dr. Dominique Broussard, one of the organizers of it along with Dr Andrea Shelton.
It was also the first panel I've done on a HBCU campus, and it was gratifying to me it happened on a campus in which I have deep familial ties.
The 50 Shades Of Me panel was a two hour event in which after a greeting by Dr Broussard and an opening statement by Jarvis Calhoun, there was a video played about a young trans kid named Ryland before we dove into the moderated topic of mental health and the trans community.
We discussed the impact of society, the microaggressions and macroaggressions, our personal recollections about it, and other issues that transpeople face that affect them mental health wise.
It was also enlightening to have J Feng there to not only represent the transmasculine end of it, but talk about trans issues from an Asian-American perspective.
It was also nice to have Dr Walker there to talk about it as a cis feminine therapist who has trans clients perspective.
A pleasant surprise was Dee Dee Watters showing up in the auditorium with roses to present to the panelists.
The panel's last 30 minutes was opened to audience Q&A before it wrapped up at 8 PM.
This was the first in a series of conversations involving the trans community that will take place on the TSU campus, and Dr Shelton and Dr.Broussard are committed to keeping this dialogue going because it needs to happen.
This was just the beginning of an ongoing conversation, and looking forward to the next one that happens.
This Thursday April 23, I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on the Texas Southern University campus entitled 50 Shades of Me: Mental Health And The Transgender Community.
The scheduled panelists are J. Feng, Marie Angel Hernandez and Atlantis Capri in addition to myself, and will take place starting at 6 PM.
I thank Dr. Dominique Broussard and Dr. Andrea Shelton for the invitation to participate in this panel discussion.
I'm looking forward to this panel because it has some personal significance to me. It will be the first time ever I've done a panel on an HBCU campus, and it's apropos it happens to be on an HBCU campus in my hometown that I have deep family ties to.
My mother, brother and sister all earned their degrees from TSU, and my late father was a play by play announcer for TSU football and basketball games in the 70's and 80's in addition to running KTSU-FM for five years as its general manager.
The panel will take place in the Leland-Jordan Public Affairs Building on the Tierwester and Cleburne St. side of the campus. There is parking across the street from the PAC, and hope you'll join us for this upcoming discussion,
Another Misfits panel will take place on the TSU campus on Wednesday, and it will feature as a special guest National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) Executive Director/CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks.
This Misfits Series town hall
discussion will tackle addressing the frequently asked question, "Are Black LGBTQ
People Being Left Behind by Our Black Leaders?"
The panel will be moderated by Fran Watson, and the panelists in addition to Lettman-Hicks, Dr Carla Brailey, Jon Humphries, Councilmember Larry Green and Ruby Glass.
The panel will take place in the Tiger Room on the 3rd floor of the Sterling Student Life Center on the TSU campus at 3100 Cleburne St, and will start at 6:00 PM CDT.
The University of Houston, University of Houston Downtown, and Texas Southern University all held their commencement ceremonies this weekend on their various campuses.
Since I've come back home I have gotten to interact with in various human rights and other projects and events members of the Class of 2014 at these schools.
I've had the pleasure of speaking on their campuses (still waiting for the invites from TSU and PV). It has been a joy watching LaKeia, Yesenia, James, and Atlantis grow as leaders and quality people on and off their various campuses.
I've gotten to meet others like Guillermo in conjunction with the battle to pass the Tittsworth Act at UH, and will be rooting for him and everyone else in the Class of 2014 as they take their first steps into that different off campus world.
These younglings will definitely be alright.
Congratulations to all my H-town Cougar, Gator and Tiger collegiate grads. Know that I have much love for all of you. Megaprops to every one of you for accomplishing a major life goal, and hope this is just the first of many outstanding achievements in your lives.
I'm a huge Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker fan. Any time I have an opportunity to see a movie that has either one of these guys acting in it, I'm jumping at the opportunity to head to my favorite multiplex, chow down on some popcorn and watch these gentlemen work.
I get to double my pleasure in the movie that just opened yesterday called The Great Debaters.
Denzel plays Wiley College Professor Melvin B. Tolson. He inspired students in 1935 to form the school's first debate team, which in reality went on to challenge Southern Californa, but in the movie is depicted as debating Harvard in the national championship.
The movie has already been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and is produced by Oprah's Harpo Productions.
One little known tidbit about my hometown is that Houston is a city with a great debate tradition. Texas Southern University has a outstanding debate team that was founded in 1949 under the leadership of the legendary Dr. Thomas F. Freeman. The late US Rep. Barbara Jordan was a member and a national champion along with my former Texas state senator Rodney Ellis. The TSU debaters were also technical advisors for this film as well
Another little known fact about Houston's rich debate tradition is that Lyndon B. Johnson, before he became Texas' US senator in 1948 and a future president was briefly a teacher and an award-winning debate coach at San Jacinto High School.
I'm looking forward to checking out this movie this weekend and seeing another piece of my people's history portrayed by a great actor.
I'm approaching six years of living in Kentucky. Moving here was the first time I'd lived more than 50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico or in a city not on I-10. Even though Louisville and Kentucky has its charms and things I like about it, there are a lot of things I miss about home besides my family.
Fortunately one of the things I missed, Blue Bell ice cream is now sold up here and I have happily gotten reaquainted with it.
So without further ado, the twenty-five things I miss about Houston.
1A-The drive to New Orleans Before Katrina, New Orleans was THE getaway spot for many Houstonians. It was only a five hour drive or one hour plane ride away. I lived on the West Bank in Marrero for two years as a toddler and my godsister still lives there so it was doubly special to me. I loved driving that scenic stretch of I-10 that cuts through the Atchafalaya Swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
1-Major league sports Astros baseball, Texans football, Rockets and Comets basketball. I can drive to Cincinnati, Chicago or St Louis to see the 'Stros, Indianapolis or Chicago to see the Rockets or Comets and Indy to see the Texans. (I refuse to drive to Nashville to go see them while Bud Adams still owns the Tennessee Traitors) While it's fun to cheer my home teams to victory in hostile arenas it's not the same seeing my teams in their road uniforms. While Bats games are enjoyable and the price is right, there's a huge difference between a Triple A game and a MLB one.
2-TSU and the Ocean of Soul Marching Band Grew up watching a lot of TSU games in the Astrodome. Spent a lot of time on TSU's campus for various reasons. Listening to the high stepping Ocean of Soul as they did musical battle with the other outstanding bands in the SWAC such as Grambling, Jackson State, Southern and Prairie View was the bomb as well.
3-Texas high school football Arguably the best in the country. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights there's high quality games going on at stadium complexes all over the area from Class 2A to Class 5A. Houston area teams are usually in the mix for state championships. TV stations in the area have 30 minute shows devoted just to covering it and there's a syndicated show that covers Texas high school football on a weekly basis. One of the sure signs that fall was coming for me is when the latest issue of Dave Campbell's Texas Football hits the stands.
4-Frenchy's chicken The Scott Street legend located between the TSU and UH campuses that's grown to five locations. Had many nights I rolled by Frenchy's at 3 AM to grab a three piece and those creole seasoned Frenchy fries or chow down on one of their po boys.
5-Katz's deli Katz's is an Austin institution that opened up a store in Montrose. I went to the Austin location after the 1999 lobby day and fell in love with their sandwiches and the caramel cheesecake. I did the happy dance when they opened up their Houston location in 2000.
6-The nighttime pride parade Because Houston can get rather toasty in late June, the pride parade became a nighttime event. Attendance and popularity skyrocketed as a result.
7-Hermann Park The Houston equvalent to Central Park in NYC. The Zoo, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the statue of Houston's namesake Sam Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater and Hippie Hill, the reflecting pool and a mini railroad train that circles a portion of it are all there on its 445 acres. The Museum District and Montrose are nearby, Rice University borders it on the west and the Texas Medical Center to the south.
8-Montrose Houston's eclectic gayborhood that also has St Thomas University, La Colombe d'Or hotel, the Chinese consulate, the Menil Collection and various bed and breakfast places in the area along with some of my fave restaraunts and shops.
9-The Galleria So many childhood and transition memories there. It's one of my fave malls because of the ice rink, the high end designer shops and its international fame. Did a lot of walking, shopping, eating and window shopping there. My high school prom was at one of the hotels there. I also miss the Harwin Drive discount shopping strip as well.
10-Galveston and fresh seafood It represented the beach in my youth and my transition in adulthood. My gender clinic is located there. Whether I got my seafood in Galveston, one of the restaurants like Gaido's, Pappas or at one of the local mom and pop seafood joints, it was plentiful and the bomb.
11-The amenities of large city living It aggravates me when I have to drive to Cincy or Indianapolis to see my favorite acts or have to wait for traveling plays, movies or shows to come here after they do limited engagements in larger cities elsewhere.
12-Marrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyeewitness news Rent the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Melvin P. Thorpe is modeled on Marvin Zindler, KTRK-TV's longtime pioneering crusading consumer affairs reporter who unfortunately died Sunday. Marvin's had more plastic surgery than many of the girls who dance at Rick's. The Friday Rat and Roach report of restaurants that failed city health inspections is punctuated by his 'sliiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine' line.
13-Mattress Mack's Gallery Furniture commercials Another Houston institution. Mattress Mack ends his commericals by jumping up and down, holding a dollar bill and reciting his tagline 'Gallery Furniture will save you money.'
14-The Ensemble Theater and Black culture Houston's award winning Black theater company. Houston is also the epicenter of Black history and culture in Texas. If there was a African-American trailblazer in Texas, nine times out of ten they had a Houston address.
15-The downtown Houston skyline No matter what angle I looked at it, whether it was from the stands at Minute Maid park, from IAH, my south side 'hood or the southwest side, I got to watch our world famous modernistic skyline grow as the city did.
16-Texas barbecue Whether it was chowing down at Harlon's, Drexler's, Pappas, a street vendor in the parking lot of a nightclub or a neighborhood hole in the wall, it's all good no matter what 'hood I was eating it in.
17-UH Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, rah rah rah! I miss walking around campus, checking out Cougar basketball, football and baseball games and reliving some memories from the time I was there.
18-Houston Splash The Black gay pride weekend that includes a beach party in Galveston and events in Houston that usually happens the first weekend in May.
19-Majic 102 Houston's first R&B FM station that started broadcasting in 1977. Over my teen and young adult years our radios eventually were tuned to it. It's now owned by Cathy Hughes' Radio One.
20-Astroworld Houston's amusement park that was opened by Judge Roy Hofheinz in 1968 and later bought by Six Flags. I was horrified to find out Six Flags not only closed it, but tore it down in early 2006. Another place that has fond memories for me.
21-Shipley's Donuts Krispy Kreme only opened its first Houston location in 2000 and still got their butts kicked by Shipley's. It's a local doughnut chain that also offers stuffed kolaches and fresh coffee. Some of the locations, especially in the 'hood are 24 hour ones.
22-Charlie's Restaurant When I wasn't feeling Denny's or was crossdressed, I used to roll up in this gay owned gay friendly 24 hour Montrose hangout, enjoy the food and the eclectic crowd that gathered there to boot.
23-Niko Niko's A Greek place in Montrose that also serves dynamite seafood and burgers.
24-Driving to Austin and Dallas The state capital was only a two hour drive away and I enjoyed rolling up state highway 71 and seeing the bluebonnets blooming along the highway. Most of my Texas relatives live in Dallas and we used make that four hour drive up I-45 nearly every summer to see them.
25-The Unity Banquet One of the major events of the Houston transgender community. One of my first community award nominations was for the Dee McKellar in 2001 for what else, the most outspoken person in the community. Lost that one to Kat Rose. ;)
