Radio Legend Tom Joyner Has Retired

"Oh Oh Oh, it's the Tom Joyner Morning Show!." 

That jingle started the day for many African American for 25 years, but as of Friday, December 13, Tom Joyner has hung up his headphones and done his last broadcast. .

Legendary radio DJ Tom Joyner was on the radio for 50 years.   He started at a station in his hometown of Tuskegee, AL and went on to major markets in Chicago and Dallas.

He become known as the 'Fly Jock' when he took two radio jobs, one for a morning show on Dallas's KKDA-FM and flying to his afternoon gig in Chicago at WGCI-FM.   He did that round trip for eight years and piled up a lot of frequent flier miles doing so..

But it was hosting the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show for the last 25 years in which he blew up.   At its peak the TJMS was in over 180 markets and 11 million listeners, and he was considered the voice of Black America. .

He's decided at age 70 to hang up the headphones and retire. 

I woke up to like many people in Black America to his show.  Many people have done his Fantastic Voyage cruise that has raised money for HBCU's across the country.

He is also credited with registering in the 1996 election cycle 250,000 African American voters. 

President Obama and FLOTUS Michelle Obama are just some of the many politicians and celebrity peeps who graced his airwaves.    Even Laverne Cox has been on the TJMS.

And I miss the It's Your World radio soap opera they used to do.

Happy retirement Tom!    We're glad that you'll still be focused on raising money for HBCU's, but we will miss waking up to your voice and that unforgettable iconic jingle ,from Monday through Friday as we head off to work or school. .

In January the Ricky Smiley Morning Show will debut in the former TJMS time slot.  I'll give it a chance, like many people will, but it won't be the same because you are following in the footsteps a legend, and that's hard to do.  .

And Black America will miss him

   

Miss Major's TGIJP Retirement Party Coming Soon

After her decades of service to our community, the TGI Justice Project announced that Miss Major Griffin-Gracy  would be retiring as executive director of the organization.

On October 25 there will be an epic retirement party in San Francisco for our pioneering trans elder that also doubles as a fundraiser for the organization and Miss Major.

The party will also witness the formal passing of the TGIJP torch to Janetta Johnson, who will take over as executive director of TGI Justice Project.

While Miss Major is stepping down from the ED role at TGI Justice Project, she says she's still going to be speaking out about issues in our community when she feels moved to do so.

“I want to thank you all for working with me and being part of the transitions and changes we’ve  gone through at TGIJP over the years. And I want to assure you that while I’m stepping down as Executive Director, my mouth is not stepping down and I will continue to bitch and let people know what my community is going through. It's difficult living in our truth, but what better way to survive? It's important that we survive; we've got to come out on top. Please continue to support and back up Janetta for taking on the responsibility of taking TGIJP into the next phase. Wish her well and help her prosper. Be safe and stay strong."

The retirement party is slated to start at 4:00 PM PDT and run until 8 PM at the Bently Reserve Banking Hall in San Francisco, located at 301 Battery Street in San Francisco, CA.

You can purchase your tickets at this link.. There is also a Gofundme that has been set up for Miss Major to help her with her retirement expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/MsMajorRetirement 

Thanks for all you have done for us Miss Major, being still f*****g here to tell your story, passing down our history to me and others in our community, and representing for girls like us.

Rev Sally McClain Retires

Those of you who have been long time readers of TransGriot know that the blog not only started in Louisville, but through May 2010 chronicled some of my Bluegrass State life as a Texan in exile.

One of the people that I talked about in various blog posts who was a big part of my Louisville life and  my evolving faith journey was my pastor at Edenside Christian Church, the Rev. Sally McClain.  

I first met her approximately 48 hours after arriving in Louisville in late September 2001.  I was still reeling emotionally and depressed about my move from Houston, the series of seismic level events in my life starting that February which precipitated my relocation.  I was also spending a lot of my time in my new locale pondering my future and my 40th birthday that was a mere 8 months away.  

Dawn had me hop in her car and took me to meet the pastor of her church and at the time I didn't know anybody yet in Da Ville besides the Fairness peeps, my housemates, and my new next door neighbors.

When I walked into Sally's office, it did wonders for my mood that day.   You gotta love a pastor that has a stuffed Cartman doll on her bookshelf and who Dawn nicknamed 'Mustang Sally' because at the time she took over the leadership of Edenside she was driving a Ford Mustang.  

A few days later after visiting her Edenside office the Louisville AIDS Walk happened, and I joined the Edenside crew as we walked from the Belvedere starting point in downtown Louisville across the Clark Bridge to Indiana and back.  

I had so much fun that day with the folks there I started attending Sunday services at Edenside since the Highlands neighborhood in Da Ville that surrounded the church reminded me a lot of Montrose.

Edenside eventually grew on me until I joined the church a few months later in 2002.  You have to love a church like Edenside that in addition to being actively involved in the Highlands neighborhood and the Louisville community, hosted art shows in its building, hosted a concert by one of our members who was a jazz vocalist, had an HIV/AIDS memorial service and has the Louisville Scottish Association Bagpipe band pop in from time to time.

And oh yeah, did I forget to mention a certain DJ spinning Christmas tunes with soul as part of our church's contribution to the Bardstown Road Aglow event the first Saturday in December that kicks off the holiday season in the Highlands? 

She also led by example.  She's on the advisory board for the WHAS-TV Crusade For Children, one of the major charity fundraising events in the area.  Before I left for Texas she'd become a regular panelist on WHAS-TV's The Moral Side Of The News. 

As the Cartman doll on her bottom bookshelf demonstrated, Rev. Sally also has a wicked sense of humor she''d unleash at times. As a proud UK alum during basketball season no Louisville and Indiana fan in our congregation was safe whenever they lost their annual games to the Cats.

I loved the fact she could say in a 20-30 minute sermon what it would take most Black minsters 45 minutes to an hour to dramatically pontificate on.  I also loved the fact my Louisville church later officially became an open and affirming one.

I also loved the fact Edenside services started at 10:40 AM, included weekly communion and we were done by 11:45 AM.  Most times I was back home by noon unless we were having a post service church dinner or event.  

Yesterday the retirement service was held for Rev. Sally at Edenside.  We tried to arrange it so I could come to Louisville and 'sliiiiide into Edenside' for this event as a surprise for her but it didn't work out. 

Then again, the news of me being back in Jefferson County wouldn't have stayed a surprise long either.

With all the stuff I been juggling lately I didn't think about simply writing a statement about what my time at Edenside meant to me that pretty much coincided with Sally's tenure at the church for Dawn to read until it was way too late to do so.. 

She not only helped me start to get over being depressed about being there but helped me get acclimated to life in Kentuckiana as a member of Edenside.   I got the chance to find my speaking voice again as a worship leader and meet some new people who became my friends during the what turned out to be eight years I lived there.  Her sermons got me thinking about a lot of social justice issues that fueled my activism while I was there and sometimes fueled my social justice during my Texan in exile days.

And it was a two way street.  I was the DJ for her son Derek's wedding.  I also gave her the advice after she asked my opinion about her first Moral Side of The News telecast to be fearless in making her points.  As the only female panelist on the show at the time, the boys ganged up on her during her first appearance.    

Just as things changed and time moved on after I left Houston, the same is true for my 105 year old church.   Some of the members I met when I arrived in 2001 and later joined the church have either moved on, moved out of state like I did or are not in this plane of existence.  Edenside's building is unfortunately for sale as well and Sally is retiring.

But the 1000 miles between me and Edenside didn't keep her from checking on me from time to time or sending me her and the Edenside family's condolences when my father was gravely ill last March and eventually passed away.

Congratulations on your retirement, you've earned it.  While I'm sure the Edenside church family will miss you doing those weekly thought provoking sermons, spending quality time with the grandkids and getting to travel for stuff other than church related events will be a bonus.
 
And I'll not only stay in touch, but give you at least 48 hours warning the next time I'm headed to the Louisville area.

'The Purple One' Isn't Running In 2012

Next to me ripping the GOP on a regular basis here at TransGriot, the person who is next in line that I have frequently called out on more than a few occasions when he deserved it has been Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

I and many people in the trans community have cursed  'The Purple One' for our major differences in the speed of passage of federal human rights laws for transgender people that came to a head in October 2007 when he stripped us out of an ENDA bill that eventually got passed by the House but went nowhere in the Senate.  

However, as much as I have chewed on 'the Purple One' in these electronic pages for being a legislative impediment for trans human rights issues, I also have to note that he also hired a transman on his staff

And differences in trans policy aside, The Purple One and I do have similar stances on a few liberal-progressive issues. 

I also love the fact that Rep. Frank ain't scared to call out the conservafools for being the lying, informationally challenged doofuses they are on their own propaganda network.   That tell it like it T-I-S style also applied to constituents too.

So I was stunned to flip the TV on to MSNBC this morning right in the middle of his press conference announcing that he is retiring and will not be running for a 17th term in 2012.   Massachusetts lost a congressional seat in the latest round of redistricting and Frank noted it was a factor in his decision along with his desire not to be in politics past his 75th birthday.

He was the first congressmember to come out while in office, and rose to become a liberal icon and one of the more powerful Democrats on the Hill.   He has since been followed to Capitol Hill by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) who is now running to become the first openly gay US senator and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).

President Obama had this to say about the retirement of Rep. Frank:

"This country has never had a Congressman like Barney Frank, and the House of Representatives will not be the same without him. For over 30 years, Barney has been a fierce advocate for the people of Massachusetts and Americans everywhere who needed a voice. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of families and businesses and helped make housing more affordable. He has stood up for the rights of LGBT Americans and fought to end discrimination against them. And it is only thanks to his leadership that we were able to pass the most sweeping financial reform in history designed to protect consumers and prevent the kind of excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis from ever happening again. Barney’s passion and his quick wit will be missed in the halls of Congress, and Michelle and I join the people of the Bay State in thanking him for his years of service."

When the 113th Congress cranks up for business on January 3, 2013, for the first time in 32 years Rep Barney Frank will not be in the House chambers as a part of it.

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