Waking Up With Aisha And Janet's Punditry

Woke up this morning on a weekend that I've been feeling less than 100% to two Sunday morning talk shows that made me feel much better when I saw them.

On the PBS To The Contrary show hosted by Bonnie Erbe, a diverse panel of four women pundits with diverse perspectives discuss the issues of the day.    I  was flipping channels when I stumbled across Aisha Moodie-Mills intelligently breaking down the issues as usual.

And when I discovered the next segment was discussing the Jamal case. I left my TV on that channel to watch her explain the issues at play in this case to her fellow panelists.

The Jamal case segment starts at the 10:40 mark




Speaking of watching, before I switched over to the PBS show, I was watching Melissa Harris-Perry and was pleased the discover when my TV powered up that Janet Mock was part of the conversation on this morning's show.  

There was also something else added to the graphic under her name:   MSNBC contributor!

Congrats Janet! 

Lordy, Lordy Tyra Banks Is 40!

Well peeps, y'all know I have much love for multimedia personality Tyra Lynne Banks, who is having a milestone birthday today.   She was born on this date in Inglewood, CA in 1973.  

She first became know for her history making and lucrative modeling career that started in 1991.  Banks not only ripped the runways for Chanel, Valentino and Fendi among others, but was featured in advertising campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Yves St. Laurent, Nike and Ralph Lauren.

She became the first African-American model to appear on the covers of GQ, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue twice (1996-1997 solo), and in 1997 the Victoria's Secret catalog.   She was also one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels from 1997-2005.

She has acted in television shows, done several movies, music videos, and currently produces and hosts America's Next Top Model.  From 2005 to 2010 she produced The Tyra Banks Show, a talk show geared toward an audience of 18-35 year old women that won a Daytime Emmy in 2008.

Tyra is also a published author, releasing the novel Modelland in September 2011 that hit the New York Times Best Seller List in October 2011.  She co-authored another book that's on my shelf today called Tyra's Beauty, Inside and Out. 

One of the reasons I love Ms. Banks so much is that at the time I started my transition, I was still having issues about my height.  Tyra's blossoming modeling career taking off at the same time I was starting to go through my metamorphosis was a factor in helping me getting over my height issues and deal with the reality there are sistahs who are not only my height but taller.

And it was nice to know that one of the people I observed and liked as a feminine role model was not only as down to earth as she appeared to be, but also was a supporter and ally of the trans community.

She put her money behind her support when she helped a trans sister out who I have had the pleasure of getting to know in Isis.

So now that Tyra's hit another milestone birthday, is still looking fabulous and handling her business, what's next for our birthday girl?

Going to be interesting to see how this next decade of her life shapes up and if she can top what she has spectacularly accomplished in her 20's and 30's.  

Happy milestone birthday Tyra!   May you have many more. 

The Lady Chablis On 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta'

I had the pleasure of meeting The Lady Chablis in 2003, during the GLBT themed Derby party the Louisville community holds on the day of the Kentucky Derby.

She autographed my copy of her book Hiding My Candy for me that I'd brought to the event and told me at the time I'd made her day just as much as she made the day before my birthday a happy one as well.

So I'm happy to hear that The Doll is going to be lighting up your television screens by appearing on an episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta reality TV show.

The petite legendary illusionist who gained fame in the book Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil and played herself in the movie version of it is also appearing in an episode of Bravo's new reality television series Southern Charm and will be seen in the upcoming movie Saugatuck Cures.

|So yes, the The Lady Chablis is coming to a television and movie screen near you.

Renee's Medical Update

For those of you who are wondering how our fave north of the 49th parallel frequent guest blogger is doing in combating her recent health challenge, there's some positive news to report on that front.

Renee is on the mend, in good spirits, is determined to get better and the medical team is just as determined to help her get to that point. 

She is now in the rehabilitation hospital for the next three weeks and look out world, is still armed with her tablet.  

She wants to thank all of you who continue to send her get well soon messages on her blog and who lifted her and her family up in prayer during this challenging time.  

With continued progress she'll be unleashing her wit, wisdom and commentary on the world in no time..

Tamron Hall Brings The Pain

Damn I love Tamron Hall!  

Her weekday MSNBC show at 1 PM CDT is Must See TV for moi and the fact she's a sista Texan and no nonsense journalist adds to her appeal for me.

She just has poor taste in NFL football teams being she's an Arlington Cowchips fan.

But back to the post.  Tamron called out Romney spokesbot Art Carney on a recent show for disrespecting her and accusing her of 'ambushing' him for this interview he agreed to do.

Dude, don't ever piss off a journalist from Texas.   Another note for you, not all Texans are conservafools. 

Thank you Tamron for bring the pain. More media people should follow her example and call out the disrespect when it happens.   The politicians need y'all, not the other way around and it's past time journalists started acting like journalists and not stenographers to power

Our demoracy depends on unflinching journalism asking tough questions of the people running for office so we peeps heading to the polls have solid information to base our decisions on, and that's supposed to be the reason why the Fourth Estate folks get paid the bucks they do.

Watch her bring the pain to a Romney spinmeister who made the mistake of disrespecting her on her show.

Happy 60th Birthday Sea Monica!

Had to take a moment to give one of my fave people in the trans rights movement a TransGriot shout out on her milestone birthday.

Monica Helms is not only the creator of the trans flag, a 2003 IFGE Trinity Award winner and blogs at Trans Universe, she along with Angela Brightfeather  founded the Transgender American Veterans Association in 2003.   In addition to fighting for trans vets issues, she's also been busy in the ATL fighting for trans and 'errbody' else's civil rights as well.

I met her when I was just beginning to get my feet wet on the national level as an activist.   Because we had close to similar writing styles and similar views on a few issues it became tough for other people to differentiate between us in online discourse in the late 90's.  People started referring to us as Monica of the Air, because I was working for CAL at the time, and Monica of the Sea because she's a Navy vet.  That later got shortened to Air Monica and Sea Monica.

Well, couldn't let today slide without wishing Sea Monica a happy 60th birthday!       

Keep speaking truth to power, fighting for the community, and may you have many more birthdays.

WTF? Keith Olbermann Leaves MSBNC

While watching Countdown like I always do, I was shocked and stunned to hear that last night was Keith's final MSNBC broadcast.  

Media Matters David Brock has echoed what many of us on the left are saying about this travesty.

For nearly eight years, Countdown with Keith Olbermann led the charge against conservative misinformation in prime time. He was one of the few voices in the media willing to hold the Bush administration accountable and fight the right-wing smears against progressives and their policies.
Keith is an innovator and an extremely talented broadcaster who showed there was a market for progressive views on cable news. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him soon, and I eagerly await hearing of his next move. And on this evening, I wish him "good night and good luck."

 Anybody who tells it like it is the way Keith did about the right wing idiots in our midst and incurs their wrath is okay in my book.   

Goodnight and good luck yourself, Keith   MSNBC will definitely be less fun without you.

Happy Birthday To The FLOTUS!

In addition to today being the Dr MLK Jr, day holiday, it's also the day that Michelle Lavaughn Robinson Obama arrived on the planet .   The Princeton and Harvard Law grad, mother of two beautiful girls, happily married wife to President Barack and the statuesque and glamorous First Lady of the United States was born in Chicago in 1964.

Happy birthday Madame First Lady!    May you have many more.

Renee's Okay, Eh

Over the last few days, those of us who love checking out Renee's writing over at Womanist Musings and her regular tweets on Twitter have noted the absence of new insightful posts from her or her Twitter feed.

When you post and tweet as regularly as Renee does, it gets noticed when that creative flow suddenly stops with no warning.  It's understandable that people like me, her fellow bloggers, and her fans across the blogosphere start getting concerned.

Well, after several days of being waylaid by a nasty flu bug, she only just started feeling good enough to call me Thursday night after I left a few concerned phone messages..

She also popped open her laptop and noted the numerous concerned e-mails from people across the blogosphere wondering what was going on with our fave north of the border blogger.

She wanted me to convey to y'all that she's okay, rumors of her demise are just that, and she''ll hopefully be recovered and writing new posts around Monday.

So in a nutshell, she's okay, eh.