Sat Out The Houston Women's March Again

Did you not get the lesson that if your feminism isn't intersectional, you're doing it wrong?
Obviously you didn't, and that's why I and many Houston Black feminine leaders and our allies WON"T be at your little party-TransGriot,  January 19, 2018

And sadly, they STILL don't get it.

That's why when the Houston's Women's March (or whatever they call it now) took place today, I was chilling in my apartment writing and drinking hot chocolate.

Because just like the previous two years, the overwhelmingly white fauxminist centered leadership of it refused to include Black women, reach out to Houston grassroots advocates or the Houston trans community or listen to our concerns.

On top of that they co-opted a universally recognized symbol for a pagan goddess for their new logo

They refused to acknowledge our concerns in the Houston Black community that this march was not only taking place on MLK weekend, but also starting at the same time as the annual Houston MLK Children's March. 

Once they realized they had a PR problem of their own making, issued an insulting last minute late azz invitation to BLM Houston's Kandice Webber and Ashton Woods to participate.

The day these fauxminists finally decide to center the Houston march on women other than their pink pussy hat wearing selves is the day I finally venture downtown to join it. 

Until you get it through your heads that trans women exist in the Houston area in all our rainbow ethnic shades, and all women of color are at the table when you start the 2020 Houston Women's March planning instead of an oops afterthought invite after you mess up, I'll keep sitting this one out.

Until you fauxminists get it together, I'll be at Emancipation Park for the March For Black Women  where I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my presence is welcomed, and the invitation has been extended for me and girls like me to participate in it

Moni's March For Black Women Speech

TransGriot Note: The text of my speech I'm delivering for the March For Black Women here in Houston.  


To my beautiful Black sisters cis and trans, Kandice Webber, Nisha Randle our allies and accomplices, supporters and friends,   I am pleased, proud and honored that my unapologetic Black trans feminine self was invited to be here and say a few words to you on this historic day.

I find it so apropos to be standing here today in solidarity with my sisters on the hallowed soil of Emancipation Park because this place has enormous historical significance for Black Houstonians.  The ten acres of land you are standing on was bought in 1872 by a group of our ancestors organized by the Rev. Jack Yates in the wake of our emancipation from bondage and to hold our Juneteenth celebrations. .For decades it was the only park Black Houstonians could go to because of Jim Crow segregation.    As a child I watched along with my late grandmother Tama Juneteenth parades come down Emancipation Avenue and terminate at this spot before it became a state holiday.

And in this 21st Century moment, I can't think of a better place for this inaugural March For Black Women to be taking place than on these grounds.   I also can't think of a more appropriate place to announce that on March 6 and in a few short months, we will begin the process of emancipating ourselves from the bondage of Republican tyranny in Texas and beyond.

That emancipation from Republican bondage is going to happen if those of you assembled here and within the sound of my voice do two simple things.  One of them is to vote on March 6 and November 6 as if your life and your democracy depends on it, because frankly, that's where we are right now as a country. 

The second, and most important thing to do is TRUST BLACK WOMEN to lead you to that electoral promised land and in all the fights to come.

Trusting Black women to lead also includes without exception trusting Black trans women.

As Lucy Hick Anderson said several decades ago, "I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman.  I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.” And yes, Black trans women , despite all the anti-trans rhetoric being spouted by various faux faith based haters and the Republican Party, ARE Black women. 

Black trans women are ready, willing and able to do our parts to uplift ourselves and the Black community.   But were frustrated as hell because the community at large is ignoring our suffering.  We have Black legacy organizations that haven't uttered one syllable about the ongoing slaughter of Black trans women occuring at a near genocidal rate, and we are distress about our legacy organizations and Black church folk being silent in the face of white fundamentalists, the Trump misadministration and the Republican Party attacking our very humanity and human rights. 

You trans siblings are also angry over the fact that some of our skinfolk are gleefully colluding with white fundamentalists , trans exclusionary radical feminists  sellout pastors and the GOP to demonize us, and that reprehensible behavior needs to end today.

Let me say this loud and clear, and I want you to commit this to memory.   Black trans women are women.  Black trans men are men, and Black trans people are Black people.

Saying that is the first step for the Black cisgender community recognizing beyond as shadow of a doubt that Black transgender people are Black people who are part of the kente cloth fabric of the Black community.

Diana Ross once said in a 1989 ESSENCE magazine interview, "I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman.  I never wanted to be anything else.  We have brains. We are beautiful.  We can do anything we set our minds to"

And what we Black women as a group need to set our minds to do is come to the realization that Black trans women are not your enemy, my Black cis sisters. 

Black trans women, it is also past time for you to stop giving your Black cis sisters the side eye and treating them as if they are our enemy.  They aren't..  It isn't Black women who have been gleefully colluding with the GOP to mess with your human rights. it was a far too long list of folks who didn't look like us in the persons of Janice Raymond, Germaine Greer and other TERF's. 

It wasn't a Black woman who wrote SB 6 or other anti-trans Texas legislation.  What I saw in my multiple trips to Austin last year were Black women legislators like Senfronia Thompson calling it out and helping to kill the unjust SB 6.

It was the Lone Star dynamic oppressor duo of Lois Kolkhorst and Joan Huffman,  Kolkhorst authored it, and Huffman shoved it through her senate committee.  Both of them need to be punished at the polls for it along with the man who egged them on in Potty Dan Patrick.

However, a note to Chimamanda Adichie, Stacey Patton and anyone else in the Black feminine ranks cosigning their transphobia, we will not tolerate and will swiftly call out anti-trans rhetoric coming from you or any Black cis woman.  We don't need that TERF crap in our ranks because we have more important societal fish to fry.

Black trans people, Black trans kids and Black trans women exist.   Being trans isn't 'just a white thang', and we aren't going away or going back in the closet as evidenced by those of us showing us and standing here in solidarity with you here today in Emancipation Park.

From this day forward, we want and need our cis sisters standing in solidarity with us, and we want to be standing in solidarity with you our cis sisters.
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We know who our enemy is, and it isn't our cis Black sisters.  We are fighting the same demonization and denigration of Black womanhood you are.   We are dealing with the same anti-Blackness you fight against.  We are fighting the same issues of living in an America hostile to Black people and Black feminine bodies you are fighting in addition to having to deal with transphobic ignorance inside and outside our shared community/   We want to work with you in sisterhood to eradicate it. 

But the non negotiable price of us offering that help is unconditional acceptance of who we are as Black trans people.   It's past time for cis and trans Black women to have those tough ongoing conversations that will lead to us building sisterhood so we can focus on the larger, more important  tasks ahead.

And by doing that you may get an amazing friend in the process.

It's nation time people.  Houston, Texas, America and our people are depending on us to as usual, save this country and this state from itself, provide the visionary leadership necessary to liberate our people and to paraphrase Barbara Jordan bring about a Texas and America better than its promise. .

Let's get to work making it happen.

March For Black Women Happening Saturday

This week in Houston the first ever March For Black Women is taking place on Saturday at Emancipation Park from 10 AM-1 PM .   And yes, I've been asked to be a speaker for it.

Unlike the Houston Women's March, this one is centering Black cis and trans women, which is why I was asked to participate in it and stood in solidarity with my Black cis sisters in boycotting the Houston women's march after their concerns in the organizing runup to it were dismissed or flat out ignored. 

As to why we are marching, the statement from the March For Black Women website:

Why We March

Angela Davis once said,  "I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE.  I AN CHANGING THE THINGS I CANNOT ACCEPT."

In that spirit, we are calling on every Black woman in the Houston area and our allies to change a system that is no longer acceptable or viable for Black women. We strive to unite Black women from every walk of life and demographic to rise together in all our diversity, face our common oppressors, and denounce the systems and communities that deny us our civil and human rights and relegate us to political backseats.

We are also coming together to celebrate the sisterhood, struggles, and accomplishments of the unique space that Black women hold in society. We affirm the position of Black women in politics and ensure our representation is rightfully increased.AA

We are a power like no other when we are joined together. We have suffered the most heinous maltreatment in this country, and we are still here. Standing. Proudly. Let us gather together to celebrate one another. There is no one that understands us like us. We will celebrate the African Diaspora of womanhood in all the ways it exists. We will experience the music and poetry of sisters from different perspectives and engage in the advancement of Black lives.

This event is Black woman-centered, but we welcome all allies in support of Black women. Be mindful that this is for us.

***

Fundraising is still happening for this even, and the march is still seeking volunteers


So looking forward to being a part of this historic event, and I'm still working on putting the final touches on my speech.   As to what I'll say, stay tuned i'll post the text of it on that March 3 date to the blog .

But if you're in the Houston area on March 3, I hope you'll join us on that date to support and march with us     

March For Black Women Houston Is Happening!

You would think that Texas white women, after voting for Greg Abbott in 2014 at a 67% clip, and Trump in 2016 would at least be trying in 2018 to atone for their past mistakes and learn what the word intersectionality means.

But nope, still making the same bullheaded white feminism fueled mistakes.  After failing to address concerns by various Houston Black and women of color leaders that women of color representation is still below reasonable expectations, Houston's Black women have said enough and are skipping the Houston Women's March scheduled on January 20.

Black Lives Matter Houston and Houston Rising are organizing the March for Black Women HOU that will take place on February 24 at Houston City Hall.

Black Women!!!! We are a power like no other when we are joined together. We have suffered the most heinous maltreatment in this country and we are still here. Standing. Proudly. Let us gather together to celebrate each other. There is no one that understands us like us. We will celebrate the African Diaspora of womanhood in all the ways it exist. Experience the music and poetry of sisters from dynamic perspectives. Engage in the advancement of Black Lives. Connect.

 This event is Black woman centered. We welcome all allies in support of black women. Be mindful that this is for us. This event will be continuously updated with artist and speakers who will be present at the march.

I've been asked to be part of it and have accepted the invitation.   As we get closer to the date of the March For Black Women HOU, I'll keep you posted on the developments. 

   

Raquel Willis DC Women's March Speech

Janet Mock wasn't the only trans woman speaking at the recent DC Women's March.  Raquel Willis was also on that stage to speak on that historic January 21 day, and she finally found and posted to YouTube the video from her speech.

As someone said on the YouTube comment thread, "Ms Cheryl (Courtney-Evans) is looking down and smiling."

I didn't like hearing that her mic was cut before she finished her remarks, but now I can share her Women's March speech video with you TransGriot readers

The full text of Raquel's speech entitled 'A Vision of Liberation' can be found at this link.

Janet Mock's DC Women's March Speech

Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive
-Janet Mack, January 21, 2017

While I wasn't there at the DC Women's March and was 139 miles up I-95 away from it in Philadelphia, we did have some trans participation there at it.  

I know Nikki Araguz Loyd attended it along with 500,000 other peeps, and the reports are still coming in from people there and around the country in Trans World who were in attendance or participating in their local events.

Here;s the video and the text of Janet's speech.

So we are here. We are here not merely to gather but to move, right? And our movements, our movements require us to do more than just show up and say the right words. It requires us to break out of our comfort zones and be confrontational. It requires us to defend one another when it is difficult and dangerous. It requires us to truly see ourselves and one another.

 I stand here today as the daughter of a native Hawaiian woman and a black veteran from Texas. I stand here as the first person in my family to go to college. I stand here as someone who has written herself onto this stage to unapologetically proclaim that I am a trans woman-writer-activist-revolutionary of color. And I stand here today because of the work of my forebears, from Sojourner to Sylvia, from Ella to Audre, from Harriet to Marsha.

I stand here today most of all because I am my sister’s keeper. My sisters and siblings are being beaten and brutalized, neglected and invisibilizied, extinguished and exiled. My sisters and siblings have been pushed out of hostel homes and intolerant schools. My sisters and siblings have been forced into detention facilities and prisons and deeper into poverty. And I hold these harsh truths close. They enrage me and fuel me. But I cannot survive on righteous anger alone. Today, by being here, it is my commitment to getting us free that keeps me marching.

Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive. It must extend beyond ourselves. I know with surpassing certainty that my liberation is directly linked to the liberation of the undocumented trans Latina yearning for refuge. The disabled student seeking unequivocal access. The sex worker fighting to make her living safely.

Collective liberation and solidarity is difficult work, it is work that will find us struggling together and struggling with one another. Just because we are oppressed does not mean that we do not ourselves fall victim to enacting the same unconscious policing, shaming, and erasing. We must return to one another with greater accountability and commitment to the work today.

By being here you are making a commitment to this work. Together we are creating a resounding statement, a statement that stakes a claim on our lives and our loves, our bodies and our babies, our identities and our ideals. But a movement – a movement is so much more than a march. A movement is that difficult space between our reality and our vision. Our liberation depends on all of us, all of us returning to our homes and using this experience and all the experiences that have shaped us to act, to organize, to resist. Thank you.

***

Thank you Janet for the speech and repping us well (as usual) from the speaker's podium of this historic event.

12 Year Old Mexican Child Attempts To Stop An Anti-Gay Protest

And it is written in the Bible that a little child shall lead them.

In a protest reminiscent of the 1989 'Tank Man' protest of a lone man stopping a column of tanks headed to Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush the democracy protests happening there,  a 12 year old Mexican child stood in front of a line of 11,000 people during a march organized in Celaya.

It was in response to President Enrique Pena Nieto's proposed constitutional marriage equality reforms allowing couples in Mexico to marry regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Marriage equality is gaining momentum in Mexico.  It's legal in Mexico City and several of Mexico's 31 states, with legal challenges currently happening across the country.  

The photo was taken by Mexican journalist Manuel Rodriguez, who interviewed the child and asked why he did it..  The child replied, "I have an uncle who is gay, and I hate the hatred."
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Sound like a perfectly logical reason to me, and far more in line with the moral arc of the human rights universe, unlike the 11,000 people in Celaya and other cities around the country marching to oppress their fellow Mexican citizens

H/T Towleroad

NOLA Trans March Later Today

Was advised by Milan Nicole Sherry that later today in New Orleans a trans themed march and community gathering will take place starting at 3:30 PM CDT.

It is being organized by BreakOUT, a local organization that seeks to end the criminalization of LGBTQI youth in the city in order to build a safer and more just New Orleans.

The NOLA Trans March will start and end at the corner of Ursulines and N. Claiborne Ave, and once it is completed will be followed by a press conference.

The march is open to all, and if you wish to take part in it, you are asked to show up at 3:15 PM.

Best of luck and hope it is a megasuccessful event.

Ashton Speaks At #MillionsMarchTexas

One of our fave local activists here in the Houston area, Ashton Woods was asked to speak at the recent #MillionsMarchTexas event in our state capital of Austin.

Here's what he had to say on the subject of intersectional justice.

Not Feeling The Equality March

We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our rights, so we are coming to DC this October 10-11 to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.

The march is not our final destination. It is our first step toward building a national grassroots network that will continue organizing until we have achieved full equality.

The Equality March is fast approaching. It's amazing how fast this has been put together, the number of sponsors compiled, and the long list of prominent activists, GLBT bloggers and organizations that have declared their support for the march that will take place October 11-12 in our nation's capital.

You'll notice that I'm not one of them.

I think the Equality March is a good idea. I just question its value and whether it will achieve its goal of full equality.

It also depends on what the organizers definition of 'full equality' is as well.

There's a group in Kalamazoo, MI battling the Forces of Intolerance that could use some major help, volunteers and cash in keeping their GLBT law on the books.

But what do you see when you click on the NEM website? Links to the No on 1 Maine campaign and none to One Kalamazoo.

So as I suspect, I'm anticipating and willing to put money on is that the majority of the messages we'll hear on that day will overwhelmingly pertain to and be about marriage equality.

That has led to my ambivalence about this march.

My ambivalence is fueled by several factors. It's being timed for a weekend in which Congress is on a holiday recess. Translation; there will be no congrescritters in town.

I understand the planners wanted to mark the 30th anniversary of the first national march on Washington for LGBT Rights and National Coming Out Day. But we have pending ENDA and hate crimes legislation being considered in Congress right now that could have benefited from a swarm of GLBT citizens hitting the Hill to speak to congressmembers about it

It's legislation that unlike marriage equality will benefit a wide spectrum of the GLBT community.

It is diverting scarce community financial resources in the midst of a recession.

“We will continue this fight in every state, in every county, every city and every town, but we are now determined to take this fight to the federal government, to our President Barack Obama, to the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States.”

NEM organizer Cleve Jones, May 31, 2009, Fresno, California

Reading that quote, noting the action alert on the NEM website soliciting support of Rep. Jerrod Nadler's DOMA repeal bill and the silence on ENDA and hate crimes legislation has only crystallized that impression, not dispelled it.

“The Constitution’s promise to all citizens certainly extends to LGBT Americans-particularly the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection of the laws.” President Barack Obama

While I agree with the concept of emphasizing the 14th Amendment to overturn anti- GLBT laws, I think the major thrust of this movement should be a cause that covers the broadest section of our coalition, securing ENDA and hate crimes legislation.

Marriage equality, while its a laudable goal, doesn't meet that test.