Barack Obama's Eulogy of Rep John Lewis

President Barack Obama delivers the eulogy at Rep John Lewis' funeral in Atlanta;'s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

Civil Rights Icon Rep John Lewis Dies

We knew this sad day was coming, but it still doesn't lessen the devastation we feel at it happening.

Rep. John Lewis has died at age 80 from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. 

He was the sharecropper's son from Alabama who became a leading figure in the fight against Jim Crow segregation.  He was a major leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement at just age 23, and one of the last surviving (and youngest) speakers from the 1963 March on Washington. 



He later was elected to Congress in 1986, and served for 17 terms as the congressman repping Georgia's Atlanta centered 5th District.   He not only voted against Desert Storm and the Iraq War, but led protests on the House floor against apartheid and gun violence., and testified against the nomination of Jeff Sessions to become Attorney General.

He was also a passionate and determined fighter and eloquent voice for voting rights..

John Lewis was demonstrating through his words and actions that all Black lives matter even before it was cool or trendy to do so.      He was aloud and eloquent voice for marriage equality.   More recently we spoke against the trans military ban.

I have fought too long and hard to end discrimination based on race and color to allow discrimination based on gender identity to be considered acceptable. 

“This mean, misguided policy takes us back to another place, a darker time.  How is it acceptable to target those who love our country so much that they put their bodies and livelihood on the lines for its defense?  This is a sad and dark day. 

“As a nation and as a people, all Americans should expect and deserve better.  There is no place in our society for hate or bigotry.  To punish any person based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is a shame and a disgrace, but to penalize those who pledge to serve and protect our country is unconscionable. 

“I stand with our transgender service members, and I pray that they will not lose heart.  They must know that we love them.  We respect them.  We are grateful for their service and sacrifice, and most importantly, we will stand for their rights, just as they have stood for ours.”

During the May 2007 NTAC Lobby Day, I was tasked with hitting as many CBC offices as possible.
Of course one of the first offices I decided to visit was Rep John Lewis.   I wan't to find out where he stood when it came to trans rights, since he had been a loud consistent voice for marriage equality. 

Unfortunately, because the House was doing a lot of procedural voter at the time I was in his office, I spent an hour there talking to his then staffers until I had to leave for an appointment in another CBC office. 

But had I had the blessing of talking to him, I would have thanked him for his work in the Civil Rights Movement, and continuing to be a role model for those of us fighting for a better America.

Then I would have asked him my question.

Rest in power, sir   All of us who call ourselves activists have you as an amazing possibility model to follow. It's also our task now to get into 'good trouble'  to get us closer to the Beloved Community that you and Dr King dreamed about.

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.

Rep John Lewis Calls For Trump Impeachment

You longtime TransGriot readers know I have much love and the utmost respect for civil rights movement icon Rep.John Lewis (D-GA).

Earlier today he took to the US House floor to give a five minute speech calling for Dolt 45 to b impeached.

Here's that speech if you didn't get a chance to see it .

 

Aretha Franklin Homegoing Service

"Aretha's singing challenged the dangling discords of hate and lies and racism and injustice. Her singing was revelation and was revolution." -Rev Dr. William J. Barber II 

There has been a lot of online chatter about how problematic the nine hour homegoing service of the Queen of Soul was.

Soe peeps justifiable are dragging the Rev Jasper Williams for filth for his jacked up single mother bashing eulogy.    He forgot that the woman he was eulogizing was a single mother.

Fox Noise also stuck their vanillacentric privileged noses in this mess by cosigning Williams' sermon as 'a message the Black community needed to hear" while disingenuously whining that the funeral was 'too political' when Dolt 45 got called out. . 

Others are complaining about Bishop Charles Ellis III, the pastor who was inappropriately laying a hand on Ariana Grande's boobie while telling a cringe worthy joke.

Black church folk, it is NOT appropriate for your pastor (or the deacons) to fondle any woman while she is standing in the pulpit or anywhere on church property.

And how she is dressed is no justification for excusing the pastor's reprehensible behavior

Speaking of how people were dressed, you have people who are castigating and defending on the Net the black dress that Ariana Grande wore for her performance during the funeral.

No matter what your opinion, she did look good in it.

Some peeps are arguing that the twentysomething singer should have 'dressed appropriately' for the occasion.  Others are pissed that slut shaming comments are being made about her by folks trying to defend Bishop Ellis. 

Don't you just love Black funerals?

Anyway, for those of you like myself who didn't get to see it in its entirety, here's the video of it.

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. 

Selena's Madame Tussaud's Wax Figure Unveiled

It's still hard to believe that my fellow Texan Selena Quintanilla-Perez has been gone now 21 years.  I still remember the shock and horror I felt the March 31, 1995 day I head she'd been murdered by her assistant and head of her fan club Yolanda Saldivar in Corpus Christi, just two weeks shy of her 24th birthday.

It was even more tragic because at the time the undisputed Queen of Tejano music had just recently broken the Houston Rodeo attendance record she set two years previously, was about to release a crossover album Dreaming of You that debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 after her death, and was already talking to Hollywood about doing movies.



Despite being on the planet for only 23 years, her influence on pop culture is massive.   The 1997 Selena biopic was Jennifer Lopez's breakout movie role.  Selena brought Tejano music into mainstream attention.   She was nominated for three Grammy's, won one and probably would have won more based on her dominance in other awards she was nominated for and won.

Latina pop star and Disney alum Selena Gomez is named for the Queen of Tejano.  Here parents were huge fans of Selena.

She will be posthumously getting her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year as part of the Class of 2017 that includes Eva Longoria.

Next month MAC Cosmetic will release a makeup line

I've even argued the point with friends that if Selena was still around, been able to do more crossover English language albums and movies in addition to maintaining her fan base in the Latinx community, she would be as huge a pop culture icon as another favorite Texan of mine in Beyonce

Two decades level she is still a beloved figure in the Latinx community.   The reason the new Madame Tussaud's wax figure of her exists is because Selena fans put together a petition that 10,000 people signed to request it happen.

Madame Tussaud's traveled to The Selena Museum in Corpus Christi to ensure that everything about the wax figure of her that recreates her look from a 1993 Corpus Christi concert was on point

Many of those devoted Selena fans have flown to her hometown of Corpus Christi to visit the museum, the statue of her overlooking Corpus Christi Bay, her resting place, the home she lived in with her husband Chris Perez, and her fashion boutiques.

They also started lining up at sundown Tuesday to get the $30 wristbands to see the reveal of the long awaited wax figure at Madame Tussaud's yesterday.

They weren't disappointed.  It's another fitting tribute to a music legend that was taken away from all of us far too soon.

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.

RIP Natalie Cole

Another iconic singer from my childhood has gone.   Was shocked to hear that iconic singer Natalie Cole joined the ancestors last night at age 65 die to persistent health complications.

I remember when I first heard her breakout hit from her debut gold album Inseparable.  The Top Ten hit 'This Will Be' from that album was dominating my radio in May 1975 and I recall being surprised to hear that it was Nat King Cole's daughter singing it.  

She was born on February 6, 1950 in Los Angeles to musical royalty.  In addition to her father being one of the iconic singers of the post World War II era, her mother Maria sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.  She was singing on her father's Christmas album at age 6 and began performing at age 11.  But after her father's untimely death in 1965, she turned away from music and graduated with a degree in child psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1972.
 
Cole was soon after graduation singing in small clubs with her band Black Magic, but refused to do her father's material.  She was discovered by Chicago based music producers Marvin Yancy and Chuck Jackson who wrote many of her early songs.

Cole would become an instant star, winning the first two of her nine career Grammys in 1976, when she won the Best New Artist Grammy and another one for Best R&B Vocal Performance Female for 'This Will Be'.    Her subsequent albums Natalie (1976) and Unpredictable (1977) hit gold and platinum status respectively and she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1979.




Serious drug addition problems derailed that early success to the point Cole entered rehab in 1983, but she reemerged in 1987 with the comeback album Everlasting.  The success of that album, with three number one singles, set her up for the monster 1991 success of Unforgettable..With Love. 

That album featured the technology assisted duet with her late father singing 'Unforgettable' that helped her sweep the three major Grammy categories in 1992 and sold seven million copies in the US.




She's had persistent health problems due to a kidney transplant and battling hepatitis C, and had canceled several December 2015 events due to illness.

But like her father, Natalie Cole will be an unforgettable music icon to me and all the people who loved her music, and may she rest in power and peace.

     

Another Day, Another Amazing Laverne Cox Cover

Hey, have I told y;all how much i love my sis Laverne Cox and proud of her ongoing success?  Well, y'all need to read this blog more often

It's another day and  another amazing cover for Laverne, this time on Entertainment Weekly magazine along with an article which talks about her early career struggles, Caitlyn Jenner, and acceptance.

Need to get a copy of this magazine so I can read the article along with the one in which she recently appeared on ESSENCE for the second time.

Maya Angelou Meets The Ancestors

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
-Maya Angelou

One of the things I was saddened to hear about as we settled into City Hall to deal with a long day of HERO testimony was finding out that award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou passed away at age 86 after a brief illness.

It was especially sad for us in Houston because she was scheduled to come here to accept an award Saturday.  

Her trailblazing life was an inspiration to me as well as several generations of women.   I have a Phenomenal Transwoman poem I wrote in the early days of TransGriot inspired by her Phenomenal Woman one, and I do from time to time draw upon her inspiring quotes, wisdom and words, do some hard solid thing about them to serve as inspiration for my own writing.

She made us all feel human anytime we were in her presence.  And that's why we will never forget her. 

Rest in power, Sister Maya!  

30th Anniversary Of Marvin Gaye's Death

Now that I've gotten my April Fool's prank post out of the way, back to giving you readers what y'all surf over here for. 

This one is making me feel my age.  

It was 30 years ago today on April 1, 1984 when I and the rest of America learned that the story we were hearing about iconic soul singer Marvin Gaye being shot to death by his father on the eve of his 45th birthday was not an April Fool's Day joke, but was tragically true.  .

Marvin was just 44 years old when he was shot twice by his father at 11:38 AM PST after intervening in a argument his parents were having.   His wounds were fatal ones, and he was pronounced dead at 1:01 PM PST once he arrived at the hospital

It's 30 years later, and I find myself wondering what Marvin's music would sound like if he was still around and still writing songs today.   The ones he did write are still as relevant today as when he penned them back in the 60's and 70s'.    'Sexual Healing' is probably responsible for some of my readers being here today .

And he's one of the few singers who put their own spin on the national anthem as he did at the 1983 NBA All Star game in Los Angeles and made it a memorable. 




Rest in Power, Marvin.  You're still missed.   

Jaci Adams (1957-2014)

For many of you who didn't know Jaci Adams, she was typical of many of the #girlslikeus who do the activist work in our community. 

They are not only wonderful people, but fierce advocates known and beloved locally.  They do their work not only on behalf of the trans community they represent, but to make the city, state and the region they love better.

Sadly, they don't get much national recognition for it, but thanks to the The Trans 100, that paradigm is starting to change a bit so that people like her get their recognition and deserved accolades while they are still around to hear it.   

Speaking of accolades, they are still pouring in for our sister Jaci on her Facebook page which is still up at this time.  Please take the opportunity to leave a condolence message on it.   

The Philadelphia TBLG community is still saddened concerning the loss of one of their iconic personalities, and a team of people is planning a memorial service for her.   The memorial service date, time and location is still being arranged, an as soon as I get the details, I will pass them on to you.
 
Thanks to Gloria Casarez for sending me the link to the Philly.com obituary article that ran yesterday about Jaci that I will share with you in this post..

Jaci was loved by a lot of people inside and outside the Philadelphia metro area, and she will be missed.  

Rest In Power, Madiba!

"Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."
--Nelson Mandela"

Talk about irony.   As the movie based on his autobiography Long Walk To Freedom starring Idris Elba as him is set to premiere on multiplex screens around the world, we get the sad news moments ago that Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected Black president of South Africa, (at 8:50 PM South African time) has passed away today at age 95 after a long illness at his home in Johannesburg.

He has been under round the clock care since being released from the hospital after fighting off a lung infection, but the iconic human rights warrior's own Long Walk Home happened today.

Nelson Mandela has been around in my life as long as I have been on the planet.  At the time I was born in 1962, South Africa's African population chafed under the intolerable oppression of apartheid that he, the ANC and a coalition of anti-apartheid activists there and around the world fought mightily to end.   I was a mere three months old in August 1962 when he was arrested and later sentenced to five years in prison for inciting workers strikes and leaving the country without permission.

After the Rivonia Trial, which started October 9, 1963 in which he and his ANC comrades were charged with four counts of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964.   He was subsequently sent to Robben Island to serve 18 years of the 27 total years he served in prison until due to international pressure he was released from Victor Verster Prison by South African President FW de Klerk in February 11, 1990.

As our right-wingers called him a 'terrorist' and flung the C-word at him, (Communist) he was busy along with a multiracial coalition there negotiating the agreements that would end apartheid.  He was also building the consensus that would result four years later on April 27, 1994 in him being elected president of South Africa.   

During his presidency that lasted until 1999, he put South Africa on a path of unifying the country and building a multiracial democracy until he stepped down from that position.   .

There are his critics on the left who call him out about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that they charge allowed too many of the crimes committed by people during the apartheid era and their perpetrators to get away with them without punishment.

As President Obama said in his remarks concerning the passing of Nelson Mandela:
     

Today he's gone home and we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages. Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa and moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings and countries can change for the better.

His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or in our own personal lives. And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humor and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable. As he once said, "I'm not a saint unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying."

South African president Jacob Zuma said in his remarks to his nation:

"Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world.

That it did and it's obvious from all the people around the world now commenting in the wake of his death he was loved.  As someone who fights for the human rights of transpeople, I draw upon his words for inspiration at times and try to live up to his example.      

Two of my favorite quotes from him are, "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the rights of others."

The other Mandela quote that has particular resonance for me as an African-American trans person is, "'To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity'



There is no doubt that we have lost a revered human rights champion. South Africans have lost the revered father of their nation.  Like millions around the world, we African descended Americans loved and admired him just as much as he did African-Americans, our culture and our concurrent human rights struggles here in the USA.  

Rest in power, Madiba.   You've more than earned it.

Luv Ya Bum! 1929-2013

Another one of our iconic personalities in H-town passed away yesterday at age 90 in the person of beloved iconic Houston Oilers football coach O.A. 'Bum' Phillips  

The father of  Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips took over a downtrodden Houston Oilers squad in 1975 and led them to two consecutive AFC championship game appearances against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978-79.  

Phillips loved the Oilers and once said of that NFL franchise up I-45, "They may be 'America's Team,' but we're Texas' team."   I will gleefully add the Oilers during his 55-35 tenure (4-3 in the playoffs) for six years to beat the hated Dallas Cowchips 30-24 during his tenure on Thanksgiving Day 1979 on a day in which Earl Campbell ran around, over and through the Cowboys defense for 199 yards.

He was born in Orange, TX and after a stint as a Marine during World War II and graduating from Stephen F. Austin in 1949, Phillips spent two decades coaching at the Texas high school level and as an assistant coach for Bear Bryant at Texas A&M, Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston, and Hayden Fry at SMU before making the jump to the professional ranks in 1967 as an assistant under Sid Gillman with the AFL's San Diego Chargers. Phillips came to the Oilers in 1974 as Gillman's defensive coordinator and became the coach and general manager of the team when Gillman resigned after that season.

Phillips was also one of the coaches credited with introducing the 3-4 defense to the NFL professional ranks that Wade coaches to this day.

His folksy ways, wit and coaching wardrobe of cowboy boots and cowboy hat while patrolling the NFL sidelines (except he didn't wear the hat inside domed stadiums) as the Oilers coach and engineering the trade with Tampa Bay to get Earl Campbell in a Columbia blue uniform made him a beloved figure inside Loop 610 during the Luv Ya Blue years.  

He also has another connection with the Texans in head coach Gary Kubiak being a ballboy for the Oilers.



Bud Adams firing him during the New Year's Eve Massacre in 1980 after a 27-7 wild card round playoff loss to the Raiders was a large part of the reason besides moving the team to Nashville in 1997 for the intense dislike H-town has for 'Bottom Line Bud'.

Phillips spent a few years down I-10 east coaching the New Orleans Saints from 1981-1985 before he quit.to do a little radio and television broadcast commentary before retiring to his ranch in Goliad, TX where he passed away. 

The legendary coach will be missed here, but for those back in the day Oiler fans like myself who got to meet him and also see him patrolling the Astrodome sidelines during the Love Ya Blue days, we'll never forget him. 

Luv ya always Bum and thanks for everything you did to make being an Oiler fan during  your Luv Ya Blue tenure something to be proud of and not to be embarrassed about.   

I also don't think Bum will have to beat on or kick down the Pearly Gates to get in

Why This Janet Mock Photo Is More Important Than You Think

My sis Janet Mock has been piling up the frequent flyer miles lately with recent trips from New York to the University of Louisville and The Ohio State University to talk about our issues.  But it's the Ohio State trip that raised my eyebrows, especially after I saw her photo with the legendary bell hooks.

I called Janet Saturday to catch up with her and get her impressions about meeting the iconic Ms. hooks.   She was on the Ohio State University campus as part of a discussion entitled,  "Gender Policing and the Politics of Defining Womanhood." organized by OSU's Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Multicultural Center

They met in their Columbus hotel before the actual event and Janet gave bell an advance copy of her soon to be released book Redefining Realness. 

Janet was elated to discover the next day that Ms. hooks not only stayed up all night to read it, she was quoting passages from it during their discussion. 

Last night, upon our first meeting, I gave bell my book Redefining Realness, and she surprised me at breakfast this AM by having read the entire book. She actually read passages to the audience! It was a transformative experience for both of us, as black women from different generations and experiences to share stories, insights and thoughts.

One of the things we African-American trans women have needed African American cis women to understand is that trans women are women.  We are just as down for the cause of uplifting Black womanhood if just given the opportunity to do so.  We have also needed cis Black women to understand that some of the issues we Black trans women face walking around in a Black female body are the same cultural and societal issues Black cis women face with the additional challenges of anti-trans discrimination and off the charts violence we have to deal with on top of it.

So yeah, that picture of Janet and bell hooks is a Big Fracking Deal.  So are the Black Trans Revolution Will Not Be Televised (or blogged about) conversations Janet had with her once the just as important one during the OSU event was completed.   

Gloria Steinem-Trans Ally?

Last September I wrote a post calling out feminist icon Gloria Steinem for her transphobic attitudes that were expressed in her writings of the seventies and early 80's.  

It was a period when I was a teenager and college student wrestling with my own gender issues and as a Houstonian, I had a ringside seat for the 1977 National Women's Conference that took place at the old Sam Houston Coliseum downtown. 

I was also a student in junior high school when Renee Richards' gender transition was blowing up as a major news story.

Translation, I grew up in the same time period that Steinem wrote those transphobic words along with the other trans-exclusionary radical feminist transphobes like Janice Raymond, Germaine Greer, Sheila Jeffreys, Robin Morgan and the late Mary Daly.

Declaring in 1977 that transsexuals "surgically mutilate their own bodies" in order to conform to a gender role that is inexorably tied to physical body parts and concludes that "feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism.", then just six years later giving a shout out to Trans Public Enemy Number One Janice Raymond in a subsequent book in which Steinem repeated the mutilation line on page 227 of Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions led me to call it as I saw it in the first place.

The power of the pen and written word can and historically has been a catalyst for change.  It also cuts both ways.  The written word can either inspire people to fight for their human rights or enable negativity and hate as it did when the pen was wielded by the Raymond, Greer, Jeffreys and Daly transphobic cabal. 

And I was disappointed that you could include Gloria Steinem in those ranks.

In other words, transsexuals are paying an extreme tribute to the power of sex roles. In order to set their real human personalities free, they surgically mutilate their own bodies...
Gloria Steinem- Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, 1983

But I was surprised to see the words Steinem penned in an October 2 Advocate op-ed 

So now I want to be unequivocal in my words: I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned. Their health care decisions should be theirs and theirs alone to make. And what I wrote decades ago does not reflect what we know today as we move away from only the binary boxes of “masculine” or “feminine” and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.

I’m grateful for this opportunity to say that I’m sorry and sad if any words floating out there from the past seem to suggest anything other than support, past and present. As feminists know, power over our own minds and bodies comes first.

Steinem saying 'I'm sorry' is more than the other surviving feminist transphobes have done (or will ever do) and it's a start.  In fact Sheila Jeffreys is doubling down on her transphobic hate right now by releasing another waste of trees book attacking us.   

But the trans persons who really deserve the apology are Renee Richards and all my trans elders who in the 70's and 80's were viciously forced out of lesbian and feminist spaces by people gleefully citing the poisoned words of Raymond and company and the ones you wrote co-signing them.  

Your words during that time period had far more power and credibility because of your media coverage and status as a major feminist leader. 

Because you referred to SRS surgeries multiple times as 'mutilation', it gave credibility to the 1980 paper that Raymond wrote to Congress that led to SRS being eliminated from Medicare and Medicaid coverage and the insurance company medical exclusions on trans related health care. 

It co-signed the anti-trans attitudes in feminist circles that have led to the suffering and deaths of far too many trans people.  It led to trans people being cut out of desperately needed LGBT human rights legislation in the 80s, 90's and early 2k's.in many cases by lesbian identified feminists embedded in or leading Gay, Inc organizations 

If you are a trans ally, and we're only learning this because you broke your silence about your previous anti-trans remarks on October 2, 2013, prove it.  Convince me and other trans skeptics to take the question mark off of trans ally as it pertains to you and replace it with an exclamation point. 

Lobby with the trans community in Washington DC for a trans inclusive ENDA.  Call out the trans exclusionary radical feminists and help us get the Southern Poverty Law Center to declare them as a hate group.  Declare there is no room in feminism for anti-trans hatred and bigotry.  As a Smith alum you can help us ensure that your alma mater puts admissions policies in place that allow qualified trans feminine students to enroll there. 

Ms. Steinem. we've seen your apologetic words you wrote in the Advocate op-ed.  It's your verifiable deeds from this point forward which will help the trans community determine whether they are sincere or you were selling us woof tickets and engaging in revisionist history.  

Octavia St. Laurent- Salon Talk

Octavia St. Laurent passed away in May 2009, but she still lives on not only in the hearts of those who loved her, but also the memories of the people who had the pleasure of meeting her or seeing her in the ballrooms.

Here's YouTube video of Octavia getting her hair done before the 2005 Legend's Ball and talking candidly about some of the changes in her life. 


Part 1




Part 2.

NBJC Statetment On Bayard Rustin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2013 Contact: Michael Brewer Email: mbrewer@nbjc.org Cell: 202-520-0586 STATEMENT FROM: Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks Executive Director & CEO National Black Justice Coalition In response to yesterday's announcement from the White House that President Obama will be awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to civil rights icon Bayard Rustin (posthumously), NBJC Executive Director and CEO Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks released the following statement: On behalf of the National Black Justice Coalition and the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, I applaud our President for giving the late Bayard Rustin the national esteem and recognition he deserves by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As one of the chief architects of the Civil Rights Movement and the brilliance behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rustin's indispensable contributions to the ethos of our country continue to reverberate and push us toward a more just and fair society. America is indebted to Rustin, and our nation is right to finally honor him for his stalwart courage and leadership. Rustin was a radical visionary--a Black gay activist for freedom and peace during a time when the conditions of both of these identities were perilous. The fact that he lived at the intersection of these identities while fighting for the freedoms of all oppressed people is even more revolutionary. Rustin owned his power as a Black, openly gay man to fiercely challenge the status quo and fight on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized, while at the same time refusing to be defined by any single aspect of his identity. Rusting was as unapologetically Black as he was gay, and by his very presence challenged the evils of homophobia and racism throughout his life. His legacy leaves a salient lesson for us on the power of living authentically. Our Fearless Leader - Mandy Carter However, in spite of all that Rustin was able to achieve on behalf of justice and equality, racism and homophobia has long clouded the narrative of Rustin's work, erasing him from our history books and stymying the proper celebration of his contributions to our country. Thanks to the tenacity and unabashed passion of Black lesbian activist Mandy Carter, who ushered us toward this moment and has selflessly given of herself to serve as NBJC's National Coordinator of the Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project for the last two years, I am proud that the National Black Justice Coalition has remained dedicated to giving voice to Mr. Rustin's history of social justice organizing and strategy. Our work at NBJC is a testament to the spirit of Bayard Rustin's life, inspiring Black LGBT people to own their power and teaching others how Black LGBT people navigate space at the intersection of their identities.      Rustin dedicated his life to the pursuit of human rights and justice for all in a dynamic and selfless way, and has verily earned his space in the history books. Words cannot express how elated I am to see Bayard Rustin given his just due. I thank President Obama for lifting up this important piece of our nation's history, and look forward to working with the White House and other allies, like the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to continue sharing the significance of Rustin's life and work through this prestigious national honor. Our dream is that more will come to know of the late, great Bayard Rustin, and will use the lessons of his life to make the world a more just and welcoming place for all people. The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation's leading Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, has launched the Bayard Rustin 2013 Commemoration Projectto honor the life and legacy of the late Bayard Rustin. To this end, the AFT, APRI and SEIU have joined forces with NBJC to host "A Tribute to Bayard Rustin and the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington" with a focus on the role Bayard Rustin played in the organization and execution of the 1963 March on Washington. For more information on this event and the Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project, visit NBJC.org.

Whitney's 50th Birthday-You're Still Missed

Still hard to believe it's been over a year since we lost her, and we got another sad reminded of the person and iconic musician we lost because today would have been Whitney Elizabeth Houston's 50th birthday.

She died way too soon and is missed by her family, friends and legions of fans.

I play and look at my Whitney Houston CD's from time to time, see my copy of The Bodyguard and think about the fact that I will never be able to buy new music from her ever again or enjoy seeing her in concert.

I'm also thinking of her mother Cissy on this day, who had to endure what no parent ever wants to go through in having to witness the burial of their child. 

While the heavenly choir gained another singer, we're still pondering her loss.  We still have her music, the love, and all the memories of her she left behind to hold on to.

rest in peace Whitney, you're still missed.