The Assault On The ATL Trans Community Continues

Our trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans continues to be on the case watching Peggy Denby AKA 'The Queen of Mean' and her acolytes in the MPSA (Midtown Ponce Security Alliance) continue to attack, denigrate and harass the ATL trans community and push for a draconian (and probably unconstitutional) ordinance that would banish people from Atlanta for a second prostitution arrest.

The MPSA is now enlisting conservative leaning blogs to help with their 'fear and trans smear' campaign aimed at the ATL trans community in order to drum up support for their unjust ordinance.

Here's Cheryl breaking it down for you and her previous posts about the ongoing drama.

***

With these meetings going on, all the while Peggy and her MPSA continue their campaign against the transgender community via constant media attacks in so-called "finger on the pulse of the community" blogs  and online communications through their web site. Following is one such example from a local blog called the "Midtown Patch" which professes to keep the Atlanta community informed of the 'happenings of midtown Atlanta'. Titled "MPSA Gives Update on Midtown's Trans-Prostitute Gangs", posted by Marc Richarson (Editor), it supposedly details the actions of  'trans-prostitutes'. To give an indication that the MPSA uses strongly derogatory terms in reference to our trans* community, the editor begins the publication of the article with this disclaimer:

The original article written by the MPSA that is below contained language that I believe was inappropriate for Midtown Patch.  We decided to delete the word and replaced it with something else more appropriate that we placed in parentheses to note the edit.

Notice the air of fear-mongering utilized in the piece, as well as the inclusion of the photo (most likely used from some totally un-related incident).

Notice how this author tries to give the impression that he (or she) has done an indepth 'study' of the "trans-prostitute situation"...as if he knows something about "walk-in" versus "drive-ins" and three different types of "johns"...

And what would an MPSA stalker know about "prostitute traffic shifting to Stone Mountain, GA." [which is miles away from 'midtown' Atlanta]?? The MPSA is a half step above a neighborhood watch group, however with some its members being off-duty Atlanta police officers [who really try to intimidate]; there's not suppose to be any "connection" with the Atlanta Police Department [officially], so how would they be privy to information/records from the Stone Mountain area?? Their "jurisdiction" doesn't extend nearly that far!

You can read the rest of Cheryl's post at her abitchforjusticeblog

Uh Oh-The SCOTUS Is In Session

When I last had a chance to vent about the US Supreme Court, I was highly pissed along with many other African-Americans about the 5-4 conservafool majority decision in the Shelby case that eviscerated Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

And what incensed me even further was that once again Uncle Thomas was eagerly living up to his 'honorary white man' status Pat Buchanan bestowed him with by voting in lockstep per usual with Antonin Scalia  

The conservafools in Texas and NC within hours of that unjust SCOTUS decision passed or implemented voter suppression laws that US Attorney General Eric Holder is now suing them over using Section 2 of the law.

Texas GOP AG Greg Abbott implementing the unjust Voter Suppression law that was blocked in court prior to the Shelby decision is a major reason I'm supporting Wendy Davis for governor.

It's the first Monday in October, and the Roberts Court is now back in session for another term that will last until June 2014.   What cases will the Court hear during this term so the conservative justices can roll back the human rights of African-Americans again?

We also come into this new 2013-14 term with three of the justices in their middle 70's and liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turning 80 years old.  Conservative Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are both 77 and liberal Justice Stephen Breyer is 75.  

So when is the next SCOTUS vacancy going to pop up that President Obama will have a chance to fill and who will he appoint to do so?   Will he appoint an African-American woman to fill it or will he go with someone from the Native American, Asian or Latino community if that happens?. 

It'll need to happen by 2015 because after that, there is no way a SCOTUS justice nominee, especially if its one of the conservative ones being replaced by a moderate to liberal nominee to FINALLY change the balance our way will get confirmed during a presidential election year and the last of President Obama's term as much as the GOP foaming at the mouth hates him.

But once again we'll have to keep an eye on developments from the Supreme Court building that have just as much if not more impact on our lives than any legislation coming from Capitol Hill or executive orders from the White House.

Dunn Trial Moved to Early 2014

I was wondering why the news cycle was so quiet about the other Florida 'Stand Your Ground' case hauntingly similar to and up the road from the Trayvon Martin one in which another Black teenage male died. 

Michael Dunn, the man accused of killing 17 year old Jordan Dunn in the parking lot of a Jacksonville, FL convenience store in a dispute over loud music was supposed to go on trial starting September 23.   The trial has been postponed until January or early February 2014.

The other similarity in this trial and the Zimmerman one is State Attorney Angela Corey is handling it, which in the wake of the jacked up Zimmerman one and the the Marissa Alexander ones has sparked calls by a citizen's group for her removal from prosecuting the Dunn case.

So stay tuned, we'll see if justice prevails or as some people fear is going to happen, Dunn walks.

Free Valjean Royal!

Black transpeople having negative and unjust encounters with the justice system is sadly not limited to our sister Cece McDonald.   While we are justifiably outraged about Ms. McDonald having to serve 41 months in jail for basically defending herself, imagine being in jail 40 years for two crimes you didn't commit.

Meet Valjean Royal, who was born in East Chicago, Indiana in 1953.  After a nightmarish childhood that included being molested and forced into being a child pron model by an uncle, being sent to a mental institution to 'cure' her of being trans, and being sexually assaulted in another jail, Royal found herself on the mean streets of East Chicago, IN, the south side of Chicago, Gary, IN, Detroit and Indianapolis doing survival sex work and as a nightclub dancer trying to get out of that situation and become the woman she was and desperately wanted to project to the world.

But an unsolved 1972 Indianapolis murder of church deacon James Burse would eventually throw another major complication into Valjean's life.  

Royal found herself arrested on June 9, 1973 for being in a bar while underage. That same fateful night Walter Banks was arrested by the Indianapolis Police and suspected of first degree murder.. Banks told the Indianapolis police during his interrogation that the 'he/she' knew something about the unsolved murder of Burse.

Everybody involved in the street life in Indy knew something about that case, because Burse was killed while passing out religious pamphlets and his body was found stuffed in a car trunk with a gunshot wound to his head.   Royal was asked by a Detective Dunn about it and initially denied she knew nothing more about the Burse case than anyone else.

But after slipping into depression while serving her 30 days for the underage bar arrest and fighting thoughts of suicide, Royal inexplicably summoned the investigator once again and made up a story confessing to a crime she didn't commit.   She was arrested, convicted of manslaughter as a result of her confession and sentenced to 2-21 years in prison. 

Royal managed to stay out of trouble and with good behavior, was on the verge of getting paroled in 1977 when buzzards luck struck again in 1976.  She was working in the laundry area and was sick in her bunk on the day an Indian Sate Prison guard working that area was killed.    

She was unfortunately fingered for that murder, went to trial for it in 1978 and on the strength of the questionable testimony of three inmates in front of an all white jury in Valparaiso, IN and was convicted of another murder she didn't commit.

It's past time that the Royal case was reopened and justice be served in this case, especially since it hasn't been served far too many times in her life.

Dantjier Powell Sought In Domonique Newburn Killing

Domonique Newburn's alleged killer is still out there on the run and it's only a matter of time before he is caught and hopefully brought to justice. 

We have a name for the person accused of killing her back on August 20, and it's 18 year old Dantjier Powell of San Bernadino, CA. 

Interestingly enough Powell dated the 31 year old Newburn for several years and her car was found in a park in that city.

Powell's father went on KTLA-TV recently to plead with his son to surrender and face the judicial music for his alleged crime. 

Powell according to a NY Daily News article is purported to be traveling with Jamie Nicole Cotton, 25, and may be trying to escape via bus.

The trans community hopes he listens to his father and stops running so justice can hopefully be served in this case.  It's just a matter of time before Powell is spotted, caught by the police wherever that happens and extradited back to California when they do. 

He is alleged to have done the crime, and now its time for him to face justice for being the person alleged to have violently taken Domonique's life.

And yeah, trans community, no trans panic defense allowed in California.

It also goes without saying that I'm sick of my transsisters being killed with little or no legal repercussions for the persons who did the horrific deed. 

Two More Trans Sisters Senselessly Killed

Damn, we've lost two more girls like us to anti-trans violence.   Once again both transwomen who were killed were under age 35.

We'll start this sad news off with what transpired in New York last weekend.   

21 year old aspiring fashion designer  Islan Nettles was out with a group of trans girlfriends when they ran across a group of men around 11 PM EDT Saturday at the corner of West 148th Street and Eighth Ave. 

When the men realized they were girls like us, they began spouting transphobic slurs and savagely throwing punches   Nettles was taken to Harlem Hospital where she remained on life support for several days until she was taken off of it August 22 and subsequently died of her injuries.

The anti-trans hate attack took place across the street from the NYPD Police Service Area 6 station and resulted in the initial arrest of 20 year old Paris Wilson.    The investigation by police detectives was thrown course by a false confession of one of Wilson's friends and the belief that Nettles' injuries weren't fatally serious.

Nettle's mother and Harlem based TBLG groups are not happy with the ridiculaously low bail set in this case. The Manhattan D.A. requested $7,500 bail during the first court appearance but Judge Melissa Crane set bail at $4,000 bond or $2,000 cash after Wilson's attorney argued that he was no flight risk.

"It's troubling that such a terrible attack would happen and there was no awareness and the person got let back out on the street with a small bail," said Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center said according to a DNAInfo story.         

Meanwhile on the Left Coast it was 32 year old aspiring actress Domonique Newburn, who was found dead in her Fontana, CA apartment at 4:30 PM PDT on August 20   Newburn appeared in the YouTube web series Hollywood House Boys, a show about gay and transgender friends

Witnesses told police they saw a bare chested man leaving the apartment in what appears to be Newburn's vehicle, a black four door 2004 Mercedes  C240 with the California license plate 7AAY925 

Suspect in this case was described as Black, in his late 20s to early 30s, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with an average build.

Fontana police at this time aren't investigating the murder as a hate crime and are looking for the suspect in this case.

Diamond Williams Case Update: Sargent Hearing Delayed

In the latest news about the Diamond Williams case in Philadelphia, 43 year old Charles Sargent, the waste of DNA who was arrested July 20 and is accused of murdering her, was supposed to face an August 7 hearing in Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni's court.

But according to a Philadelphia Gay News article by Angela Thomas, the hearing was postponed until October 15 after a continuance for the preliminary hearing requested by Sargent's defense attorney J. Michael Farrell was granted.

In addition to the murder, possession of an instrument of crime and abuse of corpse charges he faces in the Williams case, he was also charged with making a terroristic threat when he threatened to kill his girlfriend 

 

That hearing will now take place at 9 AM EDT in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center located at 1301 Filbert St.   I hope the Philadelphia trans community and allies are there in remembrance of Diamond and pack the courtroom on that date. 

NYPD Stop And Frisk Policy Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Judge

US District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled yesterday in Floyd v. City of New York that NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk tactics were an unconstitutional violation of the rights of people of color in New York City.  

Judge Scheindlin went on to find that top New York police officials have ignored the practice and treated racial profiling as “a myth created by the media,” ordered the NYPD discontinue it, and called for a federal monitor to supervise related reforms.

Duh!  We could have told you without a law degree that Stop and Frisk was unconstitutional.   Trans and gender variant New Yorkers can tell you along with other non-white New Yorkers racial profiling is most definitely isn't a myth especially since it happens to them far too often. 

85 percent of those stopped and frisked are Black or Latino. Among all people stopped and frisked, only 1 out of 10 of the stops results in an arrest or summons.

While Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly predictably hated on the ruling, New York's non-white population, the TBLG community (that is disproportionately targeted by and resent the tactics) and human rights advocacy groups hailed it.

Judge Scheindlin's (appointed by President Clinton in 1994) ruling in the Floyd case comes on the heels of the New York City Council passing and Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoing the Community Safety Act, bills that would prohibit profiling based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity and other identities, and would have establish an Inspector General to oversee the NYPD’s practices.

As I've said more than a few times on this blog, Black trans community issues are also Black community issues and vice versa.  

The odious NYPD Stop And Frisk policy is one of those issues in which the interests of the Black community as a whole and Black and Latin@ trans people are symbiotically aligned in wanting a deleterious policy ended as quickly as possible because it also affects our trans sector of it.

Under Stop and Frisk, Latina and Black trans women were selected by NYPD for search under the  suspicion they were sex workers and harassed in many cases.  If officers found more than one condom during the search, they were arrested for solicitation.

The city of New York says it will appeal the ruling, but they would be wise to just cut their losses and come up with a common sense based policing strategy that doesn't involve jacking up and searching non-white New Yorkers just to make white New Yorkers feel safe.

Is B.Scott Genuinely Embracing The Trans Umbrella?

Well, well, well.  As many of you are aware of  BET got itself in some seriously hot water when they hired gender bender B. Scott to be the red carpet fashion commentator for the recent edition of the BET Awards and publicly disrespected him. 

They approved the outfits he wanted to wear, but after one interview the show producers yanked him off the red carpet, demanded he tone down his makeup, pull back his hair and don male clothing.

After doing so he returned to find out he'd been replaced on the red carpet by actress Adrienne Bailon.

It was jacked up and after the outrage ensured over it from B.Scott's love muffins, the Blackosphere and amongst other peeps in the community BET put out a half-azzed spin filled apology that B. Scott rejected.

Now it's being reported by TMZ that B.Scott is filing a multimillion dollar lawsuit against BET and Viacom for what transpired on that jacked up evening.   He's requesting $2.5 million dollars in damages and an apology for the damage the incident did to his reputation  

In a post on his website yesterday he explained why he did so.  

“I’m sure by now you’re aware of an unfortunate incident that occurred while I was serving as Style Stage Correspondent for the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show. After sharing my open letter with the world I’ve received tons of support from family, friends and love muffins for which I’m truly grateful.
While I want nothing more than to put this incident behind me and move on with my life, I still wholeheartedly believe that I’m entitled to a true public apology. BET’s non-apology statement added more insult to injury. What happened to me was not a ‘miscommunication’ nor was it ‘unintentional’. It was wrong. I have been vehemently trying to come to a resolution with BET and Viacom behind the scenes. After a few weeks of back and forth dialogue with no foreseeable resolution, I have filed a lawsuit against BET and its parent company Viacom for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation..
Over the years my love muffins and strangers alike have questioned me about my gender identity. What IS B. Scott? As a society we’ve been conditioned to believe that a person has to be ‘exactly’ this or ‘exactly’ that. Biologically, I am male — as my sex was determined at birth by my reproductive organs.
However, my spirit truly lies somewhere in between. It is that same spirit that has allowed me to become so comfortable in my skin, choose how I express myself, and contributes to how I live my day-to-day life.
It is by that definition that I accept and welcome the ‘transgender’ label with open arms.
It is also by that definition that BET and Viacom willingly and wrongfully discriminated against my gender identity during the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show.
Let’s be clear — I’m suing BET and Viacom for a true public apology and to be fairly remunerated for the time lost, humiliation and emotional distress this entire situation has put me through.”
- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/290080/b-scott-stings-bet-and-viacom-with-multi-million-dollar-lawsuit-for-forcing-him-to-wear-mens-clothing/#sthash.Qu0U4GUp.dpuf

I’m sure by now you’re aware of an unfortunate incident that occurred while I was serving as Style Stage Correspondent for the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show. After sharing my open letter with the world I’ve received tons of support from family, friends and love muffins for which I’m truly grateful.

While I want nothing more than to put this incident behind me and move on with my life, I still wholeheartedly believe that I’m entitled to a true public apology. BET’s non-apology statement added more insult to injury.

What happened to me was not a ‘miscommunication’ nor was it ‘unintentional’. It was wrong. I have been vehemently trying to come to a resolution with BET and Viacom behind the scenes. After a few weeks of back and forth dialogue with no foreseeable resolution, I have filed a lawsuit against BET and its parent company Viacom for discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
.
Over the years my love muffins and strangers alike have questioned me about my gender identity. What IS B. Scott? As a society we’ve been conditioned to believe that a person has to be ‘exactly’ this or ‘exactly’ that. Biologically, I am male — as my sex was determined at birth by my reproductive organs.

However, my spirit truly lies somewhere in between. It is that same spirit that has allowed me to become so comfortable in my skin, choose how I express myself, and contributes to how I live my day-to-day life.

Transgender is the state of one’s gender identity (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) not matching one’s assigned sex (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex). [source]

It is by that definition that I accept and welcome the ‘transgender’ label with open arms.

It is also by that definition that BET and Viacom willingly and wrongfully discriminated against my gender identity during the 2013 BET Awards Pre-Show.

Let’s be clear — I’m suing BET and Viacom for a true public apology and to be fairly remunerated for the time lost, humiliation and emotional distress this entire situation has put me through.

It's the declaration that B. Scott is embracing the transgender umbrella after resisting it for years that is problematic for me and elements of the trans community. 

Many of us trans people have dealt with the slings, arrows, anti-trans hatred, crushing unemployment-underemployment and murderous anti-trans violence aimed our way as B Scott defined himself as a proud gay man. 

Now it seems to elements of us in the African-American trans community that alter all the years of ducking and dodging the question of whether he was trans or not, it's now happening as a multimillion dollar lawsuit suit has been filed. 

I'm quite aware of and know evolution and shifting along the gender line segment happens with people as they gain self-awareness and knowledge about where they fall under the trans umbrella.   I'm also quite aware of the fact that sometimes it takes years to get comfortable with the spot you're in under the trans umbrella.  But it's the timing of the 'I'm transgender' declaration that has my 'things that make you go hmm' antennae up.

The timing of this announcement also drove me to tweet this several hours ago after hearing the news about his justified suit.

When B Scott starts taking hormones and calling himself Brittany (or another femme name starting with 'B') and declares he's transitioning then I'll consider him part of Team Trans.

And I'll start using whatever pronouns B.Scott considers respectfully appropriate to his particular situation at this point in time.

Let me make it crystal clear, I have no beef with B.Scott.  What BET did to him earlier this summer was seriously fracked up and pissed me off as someone who fights for the human rights of everyone inside and outside the trans and SGL community. 

But as a proud African descended trans person who has discussed and written about trans issues for over a decade and does seminars, speeches and collegiate level education on this subject,  you can bet I'm going to be keeping an eye on this situation to ensure it doesn't drift into conflation territory or misrepresentation of a trans community that is still quite misunderstood in the African-American cis and SGL community.
 
Until I get and see more evidence that B.Scott's embrace of the transgender umbrella is genuine, permanent and not just related to this legal case, call me skeptical.   

Cece McDonald Talks About Trayvon And The Justice System

Definitely signal boosting this one.  Cece McDonald writes a post in which she discusses the Trayvon Martin case and the injustice system entitled 'Injury and Insult: Trayvon Martin, racism in the system and a revolution amongst us.'.

Here's a taste of it:

Highlighting on the injury to insult, many right-winged conservative foot-mouthed assholes, which include Zimmerman’s defense team, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Reilly, who have tried to justify Trayvon Martin’s killing by demonizing Trayvon by saying “he was wearing what most criminals wear,” referring to his hoodie or that his toxicology report came back with positive test results of marijuana so “he was up to ‘no good’.” So I guess that means that wearing hoodies and smoking pot, going to the store and walking home talking to a friend on the phone is deemed “suspicious” and therefore someone can follow you and kill you and because you seemed suspicious, your death will be overlooked. But we all know that this was more than hoodies and marijuana–it was about racial profiling and the (implicit) racism that still exist in what’s supposed to be a post-racial “color-blind” society.

You can read the rest of Cece's post by clicking this link.

Dwight DeLee Conviction Overturned In Green Trans Hate Murder

Dwight DeLee, who was found guilty of a hate crime in the November 14, 2008 killing of Syracuse, NY trans woman Lateisha Green and sentenced to 25 years in prison, had his conviction set aside by the 4th Appellate Division of New York's Supreme Court based in Rochester.

The court ruled the conviction on Manslaughter in the First Degree as a hate crime should not stand because the jury found Dwight DeLee not guilty of Manslaughter in the First Degree without the added element of a hate crime.


The issue was raised by DeLee's defense counsel after the jury returned the July 2009 guilty verdict, but the lower court judge dismissed the jury instead of returning them to the jury room to resolve the discrepancy.

The appellate court did allow a weapons conviction to stand which means DeLee will remain in prison while the issues surrounding the manslaughter charge are resolved.

Onondaga County DA Bill Fitzpatrick indicated in a prepared statement they would appeal the ruling in the New York State Court Of Appeals.

"We are obviously extremely disappointed in the Fourth Department's decision and we plan to seek permission to appeal as soon as possible. There was nothing in the proof at trial, nor the conduct of the police or attorneys that was at issue. The Appellate Division ruled that, unfortunately, the problem in this case was a judicial error involving the trial judge's instructions to the jury and the jury's verdict based upon those instructions. We intend to ask the Court of Appeals to review this case and follow the well-written and well-reasoned dissent of Justice Erin M. Peradotto."

So stay tuned, will be keeping you TransGriot readers updated as to the latest happenings in the Green case that we thought was handled four years ago. 

And it's also a major reason why GENDA needs to be passed as soon as possible so that trans people are covered under New York hate crimes statutes on gender identity grounds.     

Alleged Killer of January Lapuz To Face Trial

The alleged killer of Vancouver area trans woman January Marie Lapuz will be going on trial next year.

Twenty year old Charles Jameson 'Jamie' Mungo Neel is facing second degree murder charges in the death of the 26 year old Lapuz, who was stabbed in her New Westminster, BC home last September and subsequently died in a hospital a few hours later.

Neel was arrested on December 5 by New Westminster, BC police and faced a preliminary hearing in the court of Judge Therese Alexander back in June.

After hearing witnesses and viewing presented evidence, Judge Alexander ruled this case should go to trial and a date was set for June 9-16, 2014 for the trial to take place.

Will continue to monitor this north of the border case and see in the Canadian justice system is better than the one in my own nation when it concerns dispensing justice in the murder of trans individuals.

In The Aftermath Of George Zimmerman's Release

TransGriot Note:  Renee's got a fresh post up, and this latest Womanist Musings one is her comments on the Zimmerman case from her above the 49th parallel vantage point as a Canadian.

I awoke this morning to discover that George Zimmerman has been acquitted of second degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  I wasn't in the least bit surprised because for as long as I have been alive, Black life has been cheap.  It's a hard truth, but it's the reality with which I live, with which all children of the African Diaspora live.  The phrase "I Am Trayvon Martin" has become very popular and this is because he literally could have been any of us. Some worry that this verdict will embolden racists to target Blacks, but I wonder when have we ever not been a target? From chains to a Black president, Blackness continues to be under assault.

I find the only thing that brings me even the slightest bit of relief is the fact that I am Canadian and my sons are Canadian.  At 12, Destruction is five foot five and would not look much different from Trayvon in the same circumstances.  Like all mothers, I worry about his safety, but our much more rigid gun laws would more than likely mean that no neighbourhood watch cop wanna be, would take his life for simply existing. The glorification and absolutely masturbatory fascination Americans have with guns, combined with a White supremacist culture, which purposefully criminalizes and cheapens the lives of Black children before they can even take their first breath, are directly responsible for the violent unnecessary murder of Trayvon Martin.

Being a Canadian, I watched the circus of a trial unfold from a distance. There are most certainly large differences in American and Canadian law, though we share a symbiotic relationship in many ways, but what I saw before me was a farce.  George Zimmerman may have been accused of murder, but it was Trayvon Martin who went on trial. How is it that the person who ended up dead, and therefore unable to speak for themselves was criminalized? We learned about pictures of Trayvon Martin holding guns, about THC in his system and suspensions from school. It was not long before  he was turned into a drug dealing thug, who Zimmerman graciously saved the world from having to deal with.  What I want to know, is how is any of this is relevant to what happened that fateful night?  Zimmerman would have known none of this as he approached Trayvon, in direct contradiction of police instructions. The only thing that Zimmerman knew for an unequivocal fact, is that Trayvon Martin was Black.


He purposefully stalked Trayvon, creating a situation which ended in death but somehow he is not culpable? Had Zimmerman only listened to the 911 dispatcher, Trayvon would be alive today, but in a world in which every Black person is born a threat, Zimmerman felt emboldened to act.  Even after the fact, he could not admit the mistake he made and instead we had to listen to some cooked up story about self defense. How can someone claim self defense, when they started the situation to begin with?  If Zimmerman felt in true peril, it is only because he is a racist.  Zimmerman benefited from a system which has no interest in justice for people of color. Stop and Frisk Laws as well as the Stand Your Ground Law under which Zimmerman got away with murder, exist only to oppress and criminalize Black and Brown people.

You would think that after the controversial verdict of not guilty had been delivered by the all White jury that the Zimmerman family would finally let Trayvon rest in peace, but the character assassination continued on Pierce Morgan.  In a discussion regarding Trayvon's actions the night he was slain, Robert Zimmerman told Morgan and Lemon:

"I want to know if it's true, and I don't know if it's true, that Trayvon Martin was looking to procure firearms, or growing marijuana, or looking to make lean." 

This is what Robert extrapolated from a hoodie and a packet of sweeties.  How can this be rational?  Yet, we had White conservatives celebrating and calling it a defeat for the supposedly liberal media. Lost in their zeal is the anguish of yet another set of Black parents, who have lost their beloved child forever and the fear of Black parents across the diaspora that their child could be next.

I say child, because that is what Martin was and the only reason he was not perceived as such is his race.  Can you imagine an all White jury arriving at the same not guilty verdict, had the victim been a White kid from the suburbs and the perpetrator Black?   No one would even have had to rally for an arrest had that been the case, let alone watch this farce of justice that supposedly represented a trial.  Was there ever any hope of justice with a jury of all White women - women who have been raised to see Black males as the predator who jumps out of the bushes to harm them - women who have been indoctrinated to believe that only their children have value?

Slowly this story will slip off the front pages of newspapers and the networks will end their round the clock coverage, moving onto yet another tragedy that they can report on. The coldness of the grave does not bring ratings like sensationalism. The only people who cannot walk away, who cannot forget, are those who knew and loved Trayvon. For them, this will be a never ending nightmare because not only did they not get justice, they cannot get their loved one back.  They don't even have the cold comfort of believing that Trayvon's death will lead to change because this trial has proven soundly that he is just another, in a long list of Black youths, whose lives and deaths are meaningless in a White supremacist world. 

British Trans Woman Gets Justice For Sexual Assault After Her Death

(TRIGGER WARNING:  This post discusses a sexual assault) 

Anna Vincent finally got justice for what happened to her on a horrible January 23, 2001 night.  Too bad she wasn't alive to see this day happen.

She was 36 at the time and on her way home inebriated from attending a birthday party.  Just outside the Camden Town tube station she was snatched by Mohammed Salim at approximately 10 PM and dragged by him to a nearby alley.   He tried to force her to perform a oral sex act on him before forcing himself on her, anally raping the post operative trans woman, vomiting and running away from the scene.

At first Vincent wasn't going to report the sexual assault because she felt the police wouldn't care, take it seriously or do anything about it because of her transfeminine status.  She was persuaded to report it anyway and did so the next day.

Good thing she did.  Semen was found in that alleyway, but the case remained unsolved until a cold case review took place in 2011.  
   
With the ability to now do DNA testing on the semen sample, it came up as a billion to one match for the 43 year old Mohammed Salim, who was arrested and charged with her rape and two counts of indecent assault.  

The initial trial for Salim at Old Bailey in June resulted in a hung jury, but in the retrial that started July 8 Salem was convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail for the assault on Vincent. 

Unfortunately Anna Vincent didn't see her attacker get brought to justice because she died in 2006. 

The London Metropolitan Police suspect that Salim was involved in other sexual assault cases and are asking for people to call their Serious and Complex Case Team on 0208 217 6526. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Michael Dunn Case Going To Trial September 23

Don't look now people, but it's time to get prepared for another 'Kill A Black Kid With Impunity' trial in Florida.  

Michael Dunn will go on trial starting September 23 in the death of 17 year old Jordan Russell Davis.

The 46 year old Dunn has pleaded not guilty and is facing first degree murder charges in the killing of Davis and three charges of attempted murder in the Black Friday incident that happened at a Jacksonville gas station mere months after Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, FL.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in this case (gee, I wonder why).    

On that fateful day Davis and his friends went to a Jacksonville gas station to fill up after finishing a shopping trip to a local mall. They encountered Dunn, a gun collector with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. A confrontation took place over the volume of the music playing in the car Davis and his friends were in.

Dunn, later saying he felt “threatened”, thought the teens were “gang members” and claiming he saw a shotgun took out his gun and fired several shots into the SUV, that struck and killed Davis.


You can bet the conservative movement and the defense team in their zeal to defend Dunn will use their time tested tactics to demonize Jordan Russell Davis and all the boys in the SUV,  turn them into 'marauding thugs' and make Dunn look like the second coming of Jesus Christ to rally the conservasheeple around.

This trial will also have a nearly or completely melanin free jury with the overwhelming stench of vanillacentric privilege filling the Duval county courthouse or wherever they have this trial.

We'll see how this one plays out, but y'all know what kind of track record I have when it comes to predicting these types of cases .

And based on what just happened in Seminole County, I won't be too surprised o see Michael Dunn walking when this case is over. 

TBLG Orgs Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

I spoke at the Houston Trayvon Martin rally at City Hall yesterday and made the point that Black TBLG issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  I also said during my comments that the first thing that people saw about me before we even started talking about me being trans is my skin color . 

I was very happy to note that a group of LGBT orgs spearheaded by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and that includes the Trans Person of Color Coalition (TPOCC)  as one of the signatory organizations issued an open letter expressing their support to the Martin family as they continue to push for justice for Trayvon


An Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

We cannot begin to imagine the continued pain and suffering endured by Trayvon Martin's family and friends. We stand in solidarity with them as they continue to fight for justice, civil rights and closure. And we thank everyone who has pushed and will continue to push for justice.

Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights. We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected. But our work does not end there: we will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities.

We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Brandon Teena, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Marco McMillian, Angie Zapata, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo and countless others.

Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Justice delayed is justice denied and in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "a right delayed is a right denied." We honor Trayvon by seeking justice for all people.

All Out
American Civil Liberties Union
Believe Out Loud
BiNet USA
Bisexual Resource Center
Center for Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Work
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network)
GetEQUAL
GMHC
GLAD
GLAAD
Harvey Milk Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
Lambda Legal
Movement Advancement Project
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
The Trevor Project
Trans Advocacy Network
Transgender Law Center
Trans People of Color Coalition

100 Young Black Leaders Respond To Zimmerman Verdict

The responses to the Zimmerman verdict continue to roll in from various sectors of the African-American community from our celebrities, actors, bloggers and sports figures actors to political leaders.

This is a video of a statement from 100 Young Black Activists to the family of Trayvon martin responding to the unjust verdict.



To the Family of Brother Trayvon Martin and to the Black Community:

May this statement find us in the spirit of peace and solidarity.

We know that justice for Black life is justice for humanity.

Our hope and community was shaken through a system that is supposed to be built on freedom and justice for all. We are your sons and daughters. We are the marginalized and disenfranchised. We are one hundred next generation leaders. We are the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100).


We see the hopelessness of a generation that has been broken trying to find its place in this world. We understand that we need to turn anger into action and pain into power.

As we waited to hear the verdict, in the spirit of unity, we formed a circle and locked hands. When we heard “not guilty,” our hearts broke collectively. In that moment, it was clear that Black life had no value. Emotions poured out -- emotions that are real, natural and normal, as we grieved for Trayvon and his stolen humanity. Black people, WE LOVE AND SEE YOU. We mourn, but there’s hope as long as love endures.

Trayvon was manifested from ancestral excellence. The salt water falling from our eyes now, is not different from the salt water we were trafficked on then. If the soil of the United States could speak, before saying a word it would cough up our blood. Choking frantically, crust-curdling with the gore of a oppressed peoples it has been force-fed. White supremacy has water-boarded it with the remnants of its genocide of us.

This moment reminds us that we can’t look to others to see our value but we have to recognize our own value. In spite of what was said in court, what verdict has been reached, or how hopeless we feel, Trayvon did NOT die in vain. A mother should never have to bury her son. However, his death will serve as the catalyst of a new movement where the struggle for justice will prevail.

Instead of a moment of silence, we raise our voices together. As Audre Lorde said, “our silence will NOT PROTECT US.” We are young leaders standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, carrying the historical trauma embedded in a legal system that will NOT PROTECT US. We are the legacy of Black resilience that compels us to fight for our lives.

We continue to call out Black Love, Black Power and Black is Beautiful in the face of continued devaluation of Black life. We affirm a love of ALL Black life, no matter if we are in hoodies or business suits, incarcerated or in boardrooms, on welfare or in the WNBA, on the corner or in the White House. We declare the fundamental value, beauty and power of ALL Black people. The poet Claude McKay once said, “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave…we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack. Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”

Trayvon Was:

An honor student with a 3.7 GPA
Accepted into college on a full ride scholarship
A volunteer with over 600 service hours
A devoted member of his church
A loyal friend and loving son
An innocent teenage boy

But Black skin, skittle, iced tea, a hoodie and an armed  bigoted vigilante neighborhood watchman deemed him a 'threat to the community'

And his mother is now mourning his death

Kenneth Furr Appealing Conviction

While the DC and national trans community were justifiably pissed off at the light sentence former Washington DC Metro cop Kenneth Furr got for shooting at three Black trans women with his service revolver in that ugly August 2011 incident, Furr was quietly filing papers to appeal what legal punishment he did get. 

Furr filed papers in DC Superior Court back on February 11 to appeal his sentence of three years and 30 days in prison, 100 hours of community service and a $150 fine with the prison time suspended.

He has already paid he fine and is now serving three years of supervised probation.  As part of his sentence, Furr was ordered to register as a gun offender, undergo substance-abuse treatment for alcohol and anger-management therapy, and stay away from the five victims of the car shooting and the area the incident occurred, bounded by New York Avenue NW, 7th Street NW, Massachusetts Avenue NW and North Capitol Street NW.

Jason Terry of the DC Trans Coalition said in a February 20 interview with Metro Weekly ''I think this reaffirms the suspicion that Kenneth Furr remains a threat to our communities, and lacks both the remorse and self-awareness necessary for people in our communities to be able to feel they can safely go about their lives,'' Terry wrote. ''Somehow Furr and his legal team keep making him out to be the victim here, and that's just not a narrative that we can allow to stand.''

Terry also said in the February interview he hopes that if Furr's sentence somehow ends up being revisited, the appellate court will mandate ''some sort of transformational justice process, so that Officer Furr, his victims and the impacted communities can find a path forward, free from continued fear.''

Will be keeping my eye on this case, too.  But based upon how this Furr case played out and the one involving Darryl Willard, it's easy to see why the District's trans people are pessimistic that justice will be served when it comes to gun incidents with trans women as the targets. 

Morris Denied Plea Deal In Florida Silicone Pumping Case

Serial Miami, FL based pumper Oneal R. Morris faced the legal music in Miami-Dade County for practicing medicine without a license and pumping her clients with a cocktail comprised of Fix-a-Flat, mineral oil and super glue that left several recipients ill and disfigured and at least one person dead.

On June 25 Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzera rejected a plea deal that would have sent her to jail for 180 days, required Morris to pay restitution to her victims and placed her on five years probation.

Judge Venzera felt the plea deal sentence was too light for the seriousness of the crime, saying, ”I don’t think it’s appropriate, not for the charges, not for second-degree felonies. These charges carry 30 years.”

Prosecutors explained to the judge the plea deal would have spared victims who were sensitive and embarrassed about the notoriety of the case from having to testify in open court.

Morris is also facing manslaughter charges in Broward County for the March 2012 death of Shatarka Nuby of 'massive systemic silicone migration' from cosmetic silicone pumping buttocks injections she received in 2007 and 2008.