Happy Birthday To The FLOTUS!

I could not let today pass without giving a shoutout to First Lady Michelle Obama on her 48th birthday.

You know I think she's all that and four bags of Jay's potato chips and hope she's being spoiled rotten by the POTUS and the First Daughters today.

Happy birthday Madame First Lady!   Hope you had a great one today and will continue to be celebrating them at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue through 2017.   

Happy 83rd Birthday Dr. King!

Today would have been the 83rd birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

This January 15 day finds us at a time in which a towering monument stands with his likeness on the western side of the Tidal Basin in Washington DC has been completed and dedicated. 

We will also celebrate another King Day federal holiday tomorrow.

But we also find ourselves on his birthday once again combating the forces of faith- based intolerance Dr. King battled during his time on Earth who wish to roll back painstakingly made human rights progress.

We have a America that is seemingly more divided than ever politically and the first African-American president facing what is certain to be an ugly reelection campaign. We also have a country in which some people arrogantly think it's okay to be bigots, Gordon Gekko 'Greed Is Good' acolytes and hate on the poor.

This is a moment in time in which as Dr. King called them, dedicated minorities need to stop being timid about the status quo, stand up and proudly step up to be drum majors for justice.

"The hope of the world is still in dedicated minorities.  The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and religious freedom have always been in the minority. That creative minority of whites absolutely committed to civil rights can make it clear to the larger society that vacillation and procrastination on the question of racial justice can no longer be tolerated.  It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority.  Such a group may well transform America's greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity."

That creative minority now more than ever needs to step up and show leadership in their communities, because the people who are being attacked by the Forces of  Intolerance and your country desperately need you to do so.


It's the least we can do to celebrate the birthday of a great American who gave his life to not only liberate my people from the shackles of ignorance, prejudice and crushing despair, but is the inspiration for millions around the world.

Happy birthday, Dr. King.

Happy Birthday Tona!

Had to give a TransGriot shoutout to my little sis Tona Brown who is having a birthday today.

As I posted to her Facebook page earlier today:

Happy birthday Little Sis!  Continue to empower and inspire yours, mire and the next generation of transwomen to greatness.  May you have a birthday filled with abundant blessings as well.

Tona has a video up on her V-log in response to the hundreds of messages she's getting.

Happy Birthday Flo Jo-Still The World's Fastest Woman

Today would have been the 52nd birthday of Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner, Olympian and the all time world's fastest woman.  She was not only known for her glamorous style, with her signature six inch nails and designer track suits but usually being the one crossing the finish line first in many of the races she competed in

The records that she set in the 100m and 200m in 1988 have yet to be broken, much less challenged







She died tragically from a seizure at age 38 and is most definitely missed by many of us athletics fans because there hasn't been another woman who has come onto the scene with her blend of beauty, style and blazing speed since.

Happy Birthday Kat!

Couldn't let today pass without giving my fave trans historian Katrina Rose a TransGriot shout out on her birthday.  I've known her since the late 90's and have much love and respect for her intellect and many talents.  

As I talked about in one of my blogposts about her our old gender group banned us from being on the same side in Trivial Pursuit because when we played together in one game we didn't miss a question for over two hours.

She was also one of the people who inspired me to tap into my own writing gift.  In addition to our love of baseball, she also has a low tolerance for bull feces and breathtaking ignorance like I do.

Anyway Kat, happy birthday!  May it be a blessed, low stress one for you and may you have many more to come.

Happy Birthday Mandy!

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Birthday Kye!

Had to give a collegiate brother some love and a TransGriot shout out on his birthday since he's had a very interesting year.   The collegiate brother I'm talking about is Kye Allums, who is moving into his senior year at George Washington University.  

Happy birthday Kye!   May it be a blessed and low stress day for you, may you have many more and an outstanding kick butt senior season on the hardwood.

Happy Birthday Rev Al!

Since I've been giving birthday and wedding anniversary shoutouts on the blog over the last few days, couldn't let today pass without noting today is also the 57th birthday of the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of our community's longtime civil rights warriors. .  

I love this man who is an outspoken truth teller.  He's hated by conservafools because he unapologetically stands up for the African American community and calls them out on their BS.

And he's one of the role models for the TransGriot in terms of being unapologetically Black and speaking my truth as well when it comes to the issues in the rainbow community that affect my fellow trans people, bi and SGL people here locally, in the state of Texas, nationally and across the Diaspora and the world.
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The beautiful part is in addition to his radio show that I get to listen to on Sundays, I now get to see him on Monday-Friday on his MSNBC show PoliticsNation at 5 PM CT.  I have the pleasure of watching Rev. Al break it down about the issues of the day from an African-American perspective.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Happy birthday Rev. Al!  Keep speaking truth to power, tellin' it like it T-I-S is and may you be blessed with many more birthdays to come.