Iconic Actress Diahann Carroll Joins The Ancestors

I was saddened to hear the news that iconic actress Diahann Carroll has joined the ancestors at age 84 after losing her battle with breast cancer..

Carroll was a trailblazer in the acting world, and her big break came when she was just 18 years old.

She appeared on the TV show Chance of a Lifetime, and won the top prize of $1000.  She won for four consecutive weeks, and the show led to engagements at the Cafe Society and Latin Quarter nightclubs in Manhattan.    Carroll was in the movie Carmen Jones playing the best friend to Dorothy Dandridge's  Carmen.

She became the first Black actress to win a Tony Award in 1962 for her role in the play No Strings. 

In 1968 she became the first Black actress to star in a hit TV show in a non stereotypical role when Julia debuted on NBC and ran for three season on that network.   She won a Golden Globe award in 1969 for that role and was also the first Black actress nominated for a comedic-lead Emmy

In 1974 she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the movie Claudine.

In 1984 she joined the cast of Dynasty, playing Dominique Deveraux, the half sister of Blake Carrington and nemesis of Alexis Colby Carrington.  Her Music and Arts HS classmate, Billy Dee Williams, played her husband ex husband Brady on that show



A few years later she played Marion Gilbert, the mother of Whitley Gilbert in a recurring role on the NBC show A Different World in which she received a third Emmy nomination in 1989. 



She was not only a trailblazer for many people in Black Hollywood and Broadway, the native New Yorker was also revered by many as the epitome of style, grace and class.   I and many Black trans women of my generation considered her as one of our feminine role models.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and beat it after nine weeks of radiation treatments .  That led her to become a spokesperson urging early detection and treatment for cancer.

Diahann Carroll's place in history is secure, and we will miss her as she joins the ancestors.   But hers was a trailblazing life well lived, and she paved the way for our current generation of actors on the stage and silver screen to soar.

And she looked damned good doing it. 

Rest in power and peace Queen.   You've earned it.

Rest In Power and Peace Miriam Rivera

2019 is already turning into a less than stellar year for the House of Xtravaganza. 

The iconic New York ballroom community house has already lost one of their iconic founding members when Hector Xtravaganza passed away at age 60 in December.

Now they have lost another iconic member to an apparent suicide in Miriam Rivera.   If you recognize that name, you may not have been aware of the fact that our trailblazing sis was also a member of the House of Xtravaganza.

Rivera was part of the 2004 British reality TV series There's Something About Miriam and the cast of Big Brother Australia.   She also survived a horrific attack and fall from a fifth story apartment back in February 2007

Miriam was living in Hermosillo, Mexico at the time of her death, and the Xtravaganzas and all who loved her are mourning her untimely passing.

As of yet haven't heard if there is going to be a memorial service for her in New York, but will pass that info along to you TransGriot readers as I receive it. 

Rest in power and peace Miriam. 

The Queen of Soul Has Joined The Ancestors

Was saddened to hear the news that Aretha Franklin has passed away moments ago at age 76 in her hometown of Detroit.

The iconic singer was known as the Queen of Soul and her career spanned seven decades.   She won 18 Grammy awards and had a string of 20 number one R&B hits from 1967 to 1985.  She sang at the inaugurations of three presidents, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush in 2005. 



And oh yes, out of the three versions of the theme song for the iconic TV show A Different World, my fave is Aretha's version (sorry not sorry Boyz II Men)

Aretha also lent her talents to raising funds for the African American Civil Rights Movement, and sang at the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's funeral 

In 1987 she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

She had announced her intention to retire last year and only perform at selected events   Franklin had been ill in recent years from an undisclosed illness, and in the past week her health worsened to the point where she was reportedly in hospice care at her home

She is considered by music critics to undeniably be one of the greatest singers of all time, and she will be missed by her family, friends and her fans. 

Rest in power and peace, Aretha.   Our ancestors are waiting with open arms for you. 

Rest In Power Joel Silberman

I was saddened to hear that Joel Silberman lost his battle with cancer on August 2 just as we started this 13th edition of Netroots Nation.

Silberman came from the world of Broadway, but is well known and respected in liberal progressive political circles as the political media consultant and trainer extraordinaire for Democratic candidates who also was part of the Netroots Nation family

I first met Joel when I traveled to New York in 2012 for the GLAAD POC Media training which he conducted.  It was because of him I learned the basics of how to do television interviews and got to feel more comfortable in front of the unblinking eye of a camera.

Netroots Nation honored his memory by signing show tunes on Friday in the Town Square area of the convention and this memorial.

I ran into him again at a subsequent LGBT Media journalists convening in Baltimore, and again in 2016 at Netroots Nation in St Louis.   I considered him a media mentor, and I believe he was prouder that I was when he witnessed me become the 2016 Pundits Cup champ.

I last talked to him during the 2017 Netroots Nation in the ATL, and was stunned when I heard the news.   He is a person who is going to be deeply missed by all of us in the liberal progressive political world 

Rest in power and peace ,Joel

RIP Aleshia Brevard

Maybe the question of gender is just that simple; a need for everything to match..feeling you're complete as the person you've always known yourself to be.  Christine Jorgensen, indeed all the early sisters and brothers, paved the way.  The community has been blessed with an opportunity for making wonderful choices.
-Aleshia Brevard, November 14, 2008   

On Saturday July 1 we lost a trans pioneer and elder in actress, model, director and writer Aleshia Brevard at age 79 in Santa Cruz, CA.   She peacefully passed away in her sleep.

As of this writing, no word on when a memorial service is happening for this trans pioneer and icon.

She was one of the initial group of people to undergo SRS in the United States, having done so under the care of Harry Benjamin in 1962. .

Aleshia was born in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Tennessee on December 9, 1937 but grew up on a farm in rural middle Tennessee.  She headed west to California immediately after her high school graduation and found work at the renowned Finocchio's female impersonation club in San Francisco under the stage name Lee Shaw.

She quickly became a headliner at the club, where she worked for three years until she left to head to Los Angeles for her gender confirmation surgery.

After SRS and a year of recovery in Tennessee, she enrolled in and graduated from Middle Tennessee State with a BA in Arts in 1965, later earned a Masters of Arts degree from Marshall University in 1976, and taught theater as a university professor.

Her first acting role was in the 1969 movie The Love God, and Aleshia not only went on to act in seven additional films, but perform in Broadway shows and appear on televisions shows like The Partridge Family, Night Gallery, and the ABC soap One Life To Live.

Because of the transition protocols of the time, she basically lived her non disclosed trans life outside the trans community until her 2001 autobiography The Woman I Was NOT Born To Be -A Transsexual Journey was released and revealed to the community and the world that she was a girl like us.  She wrote a sequel to that memoir in 2010 entitled The Woman I Was Born To Be.  

She also wrote a novel entitled Bilbo's Bend in 2013 in addition to five stage plays, and directed numerous theater productions.

You can check out Monika Kowalska's five part interview with Aleshia here which discusses her amazing life in five parts

I also have to close out this post about her with a comment from her AlesiaBrevard.com Aleshia Speaks section of her site that she wrote on November 14, 2008.

'Why not choose to be proud?  By respecting ourselves we'll ensure that future generations will have no need for that 'T' before their name,they'll need no hyphen, there'll be no stigma. Please allow this crone with a green thumb one final analogy--we're all weeds growin' in a  patch.  Some are brambles, some dandelions, some may even be marijuana - but we're weeds each and every one --plain ol' garden variety men and women   

Rest in power and peace, Aleshia.  I wish I'd gotten the opportunity to meet you before you departed this Earth.   I do admire you tremendously for living your life well and being a trailblazing role model to the current generation of trans actresses who are trying to follow in your pioneering Hollywood and Broadway footsteps

You've earned your rest my sister, and all who were blessed to get to know you will miss you.

Rest In Power, Kristen Capps

I awoke this morning to hear the shocking news that one of ur Houston TBLGQIA community sheroes in Kristen Capps has passed away.

My condolences to Maria Gonzalez, her family, friends and all who loved her as we absorb this devastating news.

Just heard that the Texas House adjourned until 1 PM in her honor thanks to Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) making that happen.

She was an attorney and fellow Cougar who had this amazing ability to get you to see an argument from the other side.   The last time I had an extended moment to spend some quality time basking in her awesomeness was during last year's Texas Transgender Nondiscrimination Summit in Killeen, but was always bumping into her at many of our Houston community events

Kristen was one of my leadership role models, and an inspiration to many of us in Houston.   She was always ready to use her talents to help our community as her HERO testimony was just one sterling example of.   I was proud to call her a friend, and had mad love and respect for her intellect and legal acumen.   I fondly look back at some of the good natured debates we got into at times and can do nothing but smile about it.



I'm a better person and leader because Kristen Michele Capps was in my life.

As of yet don't have the information on the cause of death or any word on when her memorial service is planned, but when I get that info, will be passing it along as soon as I receive it.

One of our Houston community sheroes has been taken away from us way too soon, and I know myself and a lot of folks in the Houston area are going to miss her.

Rest in power and peace,  Kristen

Rest In Power and Peace Mesha!

We haven't even finished the first week of 2017 and I already have the sad duty of reporting that we have lost our first trans person of 2017 to anti-trans violence.

41 year old Mesha Caldwell was found shot  to death on Heindl Road near Old Yazoo Road in Madison County, just outside the Canton, Mississippi city limits yesterday. .

And as you probably guessed, the initial news reports misgendered Caldwell.  who worked as a beautician and hairstylist.

"I had a bad dream all week. I knew something was going to happen. I just didn't know it was going to be Mesha," said the victim's mother, Shirley Caldwell
The Madison County Sheriff's Department is investigating the case, which has been ruled as a homicide.  As of yet there are no persons of interest or suspects in this murder..

If I hear of any dates, times or location for a memorial service, I'll post it as soon as I receive that information.   I'll also be keeping track of any developments in this case until justice is served.

Rest in power and peace Mesha!   We won't rest until the person who took your life is brought to justice.

TransGriot Note: A candlelight vigil for Mesha is being held Friday night at 6:30 PM at Smith Park in Jackson 

May The Force Be With You Always, Carrie!

Like many of you TransGriot readers, I was shocked to hear that Carrie Fisher had suffered a heart attack while in the final phases of a flight to LAX.a few days ago and died today at age 60.

I am a huge Star Wars fan, and loved her as Princess and now General Leia Organa, but also enjoyed the other roles she was in during her career.

She was not just an actor.  Fisher was multitalented as an author, screenwriter, and producer who was also brutally honest and candida about her own life and other issues of importance.

One of my faves is from the Blues Brothers movie, when she played the M16 toting left at the altar fiancee of Jake Blues and ambushes him and Elwood as they are trying to stealthily escape through a utility tunnel at the Palace Hotel Ballroom packed with blues fans, police, and the Good Ol Boys Band.



Episode VIII is coming out sometime in 2017,  and it's going to be sad to see her in it knowing she is no longer in the same plane of existence with us.

May The Force Be With You Always, Carrie!   You'll definitely be missed by you family and your legions of fans around the world.

TransGriot Update:   Sadly, to make this story even more tragic, a little over 24 hours later, Carrie's mother Debbie Reynolds passed away due to a stroke at age 84..

Groundbreaking PBS Journalist Gwen Ifill Dies

As if this week couldn't get any worse, now comes the sad news that groundbreaking journalist, longtime host of PBS' Washington Week' and cohost of the PBS News Hour has died after a months long battle with cancer

Ifill was one of my journalist possibility models, and I admired her for being a White House correspondent, a two time vice presidential debate moderator and just simply being the type of authoritative journalist I want to emulate every day.

We will need journalists like her over the next four years.

Rest in power and peace, Sister Ifill.   You blazed an award winning trail for other journalists to follow and set high standards that those of us who wish to enter journalism would do well to become.

,

Rest In Power Trans Pioneer Alina Maria 'Cachita' Hernandez

Another one of our trans trailblazers has joined the ancestors in television actress Alina Maria Hernandez at age 46.   She was found by a friend on October 8 at her home in North Carolina.
The cause of death for Hernandez has not been determined because according to reports her relatives are traveling enroute there from Cuba.

Hernandez was one of the first trans icons on Spanish language television, and was on the popular show El Gordo y El Flaca as 'Cachita' for 10 years.

She got her start as the winner of a singing contest on Don Francisco's longtime hit Univision show Sabado Gigante.  

Despite winning that $500 first prize on that show, Hernandez was a still struggling actress when she got her big break in 1999 replacing host Lili Estefan, who had gone on maternity leave to have her first child.



Hernandez's appearance was so popular that she ended up being part of the El Gordo y El Flaca show cast for another decade.  In addition to dishing gossip on that show, she also worked various Latinx awards shows and wrote a column for TVnotas

After being on the show, she decided to step away from the camera until last year, when she gave an exclusive Univision interview explaining that she was transgender.




Rest in power and peace Cachita.  You will be missed by all who loved you.

Rest In Power Jay Kallio

Was advised by Joshua Holiday that our community lost New York based trans man and longtime TBLGQ community activist Jay Kallio to cancer today at age 61.

Medical transphobia may have played a major role in Kallio's death

Kallio's activism began when he was fired from his job for being a lesbian in 1972 and angered about the lack of human rights protections for LGBT people   Kallio along with his late partner Eleanor Cooper provided critical compassion and care for terminally ill persons during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 80's, and the former EMT transitioned to male when he turned 50

He added action against medical transphobia and discrimination aimed at trans people in a medical setting to his activist platform when Kallio was not told during a checkup about a malignant tumor discovered during a 2008 mammogram.  

Dealing with the medical transphobia in the so called liberal blue oasis of New York unfortunately delayed the critical early treatment he needed to increase his odds of beating the cancer.  

Jay's story about fighting terminal cancer and medical transphobia was published in the New York Times in their Faces of Cancer series.

When I receive information from my New York area trans folks and allies concerning any memorial service for Kallio, I'll pass it along for you TransGriot readers in the area wishing to pay your respects to a longtime human rights warrior in out TBLGQ community ranks.

Rest in power and peace, Jay.   You will be missed by all who loved you.

Linda Phillips Celebration Of Life Service Set For October 15

I posted here about the recent death of one of our trans community pioneers in Linda Phillips, who along with her amazing spouse Cynthia ran the San Antonio area based group the Boulton and Park Society and the Texas T Party Convention.

The San Antonio based Texas T Party was the largest trans themed convention in the world from 1988 until the mid 90's.

This is the article written about her in the San Antonio Express-News.

Cynthia Phillips contacted me this morning, and wanted me to let you TransGriot readers know that the date, time and location for Linda's Celebration of Life Service has been set.

It will be held starting at 1 PM on October 15, 2016 at the Metropolitan Community Church San Antonio.  The address of the church is 611 E. Myrtle St. in San Antonio, TX.

If you are in the San Antonio area or just wish to come and pay your respects on that day to one of our trans community pioneers here in Texas and nationally, I urge you to do so.

This is the obituary for Linda Phillips.  

In lieu of flowers, donations are asked for the Bulverde Area Humane Society, P. O. Box 50, Bulverde, TX 78163 (which she helped build); or Transgender Education Network of Texas, 102 Wonder World Dr. #304-174, San Marcos, TX 78666; or The Center-Pride Center San Antonio, 1002 N. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78212

Texas Trans Pioneer Linda Phillips Passes Away

Was sad to hear the news via Gordene MacKenzie's Facebook page that pioneering Texas trans woman Linda Phillips has passed away suddenly at age 81 on Monday

Linda Phillips had been crossdressing since age 3,  and had the epiphany that she was trans,and transitioned later in her life.   She married Cynthia on January 10, 1958 in Dallas.

 Linda and Cynthia  were well known figures in many of the Central and South Texas transgender organizations in the late 80's and 1990's , and joined the Boulton and Park Society shortly after its 1986 founding

Linda was the past editor of the Heart of Texas Gender Association newsletter Cross Currents, and Gender Euphoria, the Boulton and Park Society newsletter. in addition to serving as the organization's Secretary and Treasurer.  As one of the principal organizers for the Texas T Party, Linda also served as the Secretary and President of the Texas T Party conference.

The Texas 'T' Party that started in the late 80's was the Texas based trans themed convention held in San Antonio that grew to become the largest trans themed conference on the planet at the time before it ended in 1996.  

That Texas T Party conference was also important in not only connecting the national trans community of that time to each other, but also led to the start of the series of Houston based ICTLEP trans policy conferences from 1992-1996 that became the foundation of the modern trans rights advocacy movement.

The couple also spent the 1990's discussing their longtime transgender-cisgender relationship on talk show television, at colleges and universities and serving on the board of the International Foundation For Gender Education (IFGE).  Their papers are archived at the University of Texas -San Antonio

My condolences to her wife Cynthia, and I thank them both for being pioneering possibility models for my generation of trans people to follow.   I'm even prouder to note that they were fom my home state and setting the leadership bar high for future Texas trans leaders to emulate.

We have lost another trans pioneer, and while she will be missed, Linda Phillips will not be forgotten.

TransGriot Note: Linda's in the white cowboy hat in the first  photo on the left, and on the right in the second one with her spouse Cynthia. 

As of yet haven't heard any information concerning a date or location for either the funeral or memorial service.  I will pass that info along as soon as I receive it.

Iconic Entertainer The Lady Chablis Dies

“I want people to remember, parents to remember, that when a child is born, it may possibly be someone like myself, so be prepared for things like that. If you don’t like it, just remember that great things can happen.”--Lady Chablis

Sad news to report out of Savannah, GA.  Several local TV stations and Club One are reporting that our trans sister Brenda Dale Knox, AKA The Lady Chablis, who gained fame during the 90's thanks to the 1994 book and 1997 movie Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil and her subsequent 1996 autobiography Hiding My Candy has died at age 59.

She passed away surrounded by family and friends at St Joseph's/Candler Hospital

I have an autographed copy of that book thanks to meeting her during our LGBT Derby party in Louisville in 2003.   She was one of the celebrity guests that was invited to attend along with the late Tammy Faye Bakker and Anna Nicole Smith, and when I spoke to her diminutive self she was impressed by my average for a supermodel height.

When I whipped my copy of Hiding My Candy out of my purse and asked her to autograph it, she cheerfully did so while exclaiming "You made my day".

I replied, "You've made mine, too".   She really had, since the next day was my birthday.

She was born and raised in Quincy, Florida on March 11, 1957, and she's been making people's day as an entertainer since her debut at Savanaah's Club One in 1988.   In addition to briefly doing pageants and winning a few titles, she has raised thousands in campaigns for the American Diabetes Association and various LGBTQ charities,

She played herself in the Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil movie.   Her most recent TV appearance was on the Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2013, but has been in declining health lately.

The Grand Empress of Savannah has transitioned and she will be missed.  Rest in power and peace, sis.

Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

So saddened to hear that another one of our community icons has gone on to join the ancestors.

Muhammad Ali, 1960 light heavyweight Olympic champion, three time world boxing champion, humanitarian, father and beloved civil rights advocate passed away in a Phoenix area hospital on June 3..

Much of my childhood and teen years spanned his remarkable boxing career.  Him becoming the heavyweight champion three times.  The three fights with Joe Frazier including the 'Thrilla In Manila'. .The 'Rumble in the Jungle' in Zaire in which he rope a doped George Foreman into defeat.

While his long battle with Parkinson's .Disease robbed him of his verbal loquaciousness, he still remained one of the world's most beloved figures and humanitarian .  He helped negotiate the release of 14 American hostages before Desert Storm kicked off in 1991.    

He received the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron to start the Atlanta Games in 1996.

I also lived in his hometown of Louisville, and visited the Muhammad Ali Center several times in the period I lived there after its 2006 opening for different events..

 His hometown is also feeling the loss.

Said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer in a statement.: “The values of hard work, conviction and compassion that Muhammad Ali developed while growing up in Louisville helped him become a global icon. As a boxer, he became The Greatest, though his most lasting victories happened outside the ring. Muhammad leveraged his fame as a platform to promote peace, justice and humanitarian efforts around the world, while always keeping strong ties to his hometown. Today, Muhammad Ali’s fellow Louisvillians join the billions whose lives he touched worldwide in mourning his passing, celebrating his legacy, and committing to continue his fight to spread love and hope."
Congressman John Yarmuth (D) said in a statement, "The word champion has never fit a man better. Muhammad Ali was a champion for peace, a champion for justice, and a champion for equality. He was a man who gained fame in a violent game, but immortality as a gentle and caring soul. In the ring, there was no one better, but his contributions to humanity managed to eclipse his boxing prowess."

But to many of us, and especially those of us who grew up during the 60's and 70's, he was simply The Greatest.

Rest in power and peace Champ/  You've earned it.

Prince, His Royal Badness Is Dead

Just heard the sad and shocking news that Prince has died at his Paisley Park estate at age 57.

According to local and multiple news sources, a medical response call coming from Prince's Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, MN was received at 9:43 AM CDT.  After attempts to revive him by first responders failed, he was declared dead at 10:07 AM CDT.

He has been having health issues recently, and reportedly was hospitalized in Moline, Illinois after his plane was diverted while flying back to Minneapolis from a concert in Atlanta Friday night that was blamed on flu-like symptoms

Cause of death has not been determined at the time I write this..

The enigmatic Grammy and Oscar Award winning Prince was acclaimed as one of the most gifted and inventive musicians of our era   You could see the James Brown, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard and other influences in his music and stage performances that fused R&B, soul and funk with rock, and the Minneapolis Sound as it grew to be called was heard in groups and artists like The Time, Vanity/Appolonia 6, Mint Condition, Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, Sheila E and because of super producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who were The Time members, Janet Jackson and New Edition.  .

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and much of the music soundtrack of my late teens and twenties is dominated by Prince songs. I still chuckle when I think about my late high school friend Joel Anderson who resembled the late 70's Prince complete with the big Afro he was rocking then, bristling when me and my godbrother Brent Warren teased him about it.

Some of my fondest concert memories involve going to his Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain tours at  Hofheinz Pavilion and The Summit in the early 80's.  I stood in line at the Almeda 8 with my brother and other Prince fans in my 1999 concert T-shirt to buy tickets for the opening weekend of the movie Purple Rain when it.came out.  And when a Prince album or CD came out, I was at Soundwaves and Sound Warehouse eagerly snatching them up.

I knew that with many of my fave musical artists being in their late 50's, 60's and 70's that 2016 could be one of those years where we witnessed many of them leave this plane of existence for various reasons.  But I can't help thinking after hearing today's news that another musical piece of my childhood, my life and the lives my Baby Boomer and Gen X peers is gone.

His Royal Badness may be gone, but his towering musical legacy will endure forever.

Rest in power and peace, Prince.   The concerts in Heaven just got a little more funkier.  

Denise 'Vanity' Matthews Has Died

Like most people in the 80's I was a huge Prince fan and loved Vanity 6, the girl group he started that was fronted by Canadian born model, actress and singer Denise Katrina Matthews.

I humorously had happen after I wrote a 50th birthday post to her, someone erroneously thinking that TransGriot was her blog.  I wrote two clarification posts breaking it to those peeps it was mine and not then Evangelist Denise K. Matthews' site.

I was surprised and saddened to hear as a huge fan of hers that she passed away today at age 57 in a Fremont, CA hospital after battling inflammation of her small intestines.

It was the latest in a series of health challenges including a 1994 overdose that so damaged her kidneys that she required regular dialysis.

She was born in Niagara Falls, ON on January 4, 1959, the child of a Polish-Jewish mother born in Germany and an African-American, Hawaiian and native American father and a a teen began entering local beauty pageants. She won the Miss Niagara Hospitality title in 1977 and competed in Miss Canada in 1978 before moving to Toronto and at 17 to New York to begin a modeling career.

She was also the cover model for Cameo's 1982 album Alligator Woman and posed for Playboy magazine twice in May 1985 and April 1988

She met Prince during the 1980 American Music Awards, and after discovering she could sing, he offered her the lead singer spot in Vanity 6 and christened her with her stage name Vanity.

'Nasty Girl' became the group's breakout hit, and she and Vanity 6 along with The Time toured with Prince during his 1999 tour in 1982-83

But as the breakout star of Vanity 6, while she lost the role in Purple Rain that Prince had created for her after she went solo and signed with Motown in 1984, she parlayed those looks into a stream of movie and television acting roles that included The Last Dragon, 52 Pick-up and Action Jackson.




She eventually turned away from Hollywood and became a born-again Christian evangelist after nearly dying of renal failure during that 1994 overdose. After a 1997 kidney transplant, she began touring the country and the world as a traveling evangelist and released her autobiography in 2010 entitled \Blame It on Vanity.

But once again, another oe of our music stars has joined the ancestors.   Rest in power and peace Denise Matthews.

(In)Justice Antonin Scalia Dies

Was shocked to hear while I was at the State of Black Lives  convening that 79 year old Supreme Court (In) Justice Antonio Scalia has died of natural causes while on a hunting trip at a luxury ranch in Marfa, TX.

I have been pointing out that one of the critical issues in play in this 2016 election cycle is the Supreme Court, and with Scalia's death this just got real .

While I feel for his family and the people who loved him tonight as his body is transported back to his McLean, VA home from my home state, as you long time readers of TransGriot know, he was not one of my favorite justices on the court because of his racist comments and problematic rulings.

And that's as nice as I'm going to be about the man appointed by President Reagan to the SCOTUS in 1986.  He has been on the wrong side of history and human rights as part of a conservative SCOTUS majority rolling back or in outright opposition to laws and policies I believe are essential to advancing human rights in America..

And Clarence Thomas is now going to have to think for himself instead of just voting the way Scalia does..  

While President Obama has promised to appoint his replacement in due time, the GOP controlled Senate is going to attempt to do everything possible to stall replacing Scalia until 2017 in the hope they can win the presidency this November. .

President Obama and the Senate Democrats are going to have just as much pressure on them to get the nomination done before he leaves in January 2017 by liberal progressive groups.

Well, as I have been saying for months, the composition of the Supreme Court would be a major issue in this 2016 election cycle with four justices in their mid to late 70's .   With Scalia's death, that just became a reality and something we have to consider when we choose our Democratic Party presidential nominee.

It's just I and a lot of people didn't expect that fight to begin now with the unexpected death of Antonin Scalia..