Show Up & Sell Us Out

Last night I got drafted by my aunt for a midnight run to Bellville, TX helping my cousin and his wife move a mattress and boxsprings to their apartment.  On the drive back to Houston Praise 92.1 was playing the Dottie People's gospel song 'Show Up & Show Out' which was released in 2000 and I love  

Halfway through it the lyrics popped up in my head for my latest song rewrite.  It's rooted in the ongoing HB 235 controversy and the increasingly intolerable tendency of gay rights orgs that purport to be TBLG orgs to either cut us out of legislation,  propose piss poor incremental crap that doesn't do a thing to fix our pressing problems and attempt to muzzle and silence our voices when we criticize their tactics.

Y'all know the drill.  grab those iPods and sing along with Moni's remixed lyrics.   Trans sellouts and your Gay, Inc enablers,  for all you do, this song's dedicated to you.

Hit it.!

Show Up & Sell Us Out
(Sung to the tune of Show Up & Show Out by Dottie Peoples

Chorus:
(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out.

 
When transpeople get the notion to be uppity,
Gay, Inc didn’t have not one worry.
Gay, Inc creates an org and gives a Quisling clout,
Then turns them loose upon us to sell transpeople out 

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out.

Transpeople are yearning for civil rights victory
Over trans hate squarely aimed at you and me.
But it's becoming clear, and the world doesn't have a doubt,
When Gay Inc orgs show up in your town, they sell transpeople out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

(Gay, Inc will) show up
(Then they will) sell us out.

Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out.


[Vamp 1:]
Show up, sell us out.

[Vamp 2:]
Sell us out 

[Ending:]
Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out,
Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out,
Gay, Inc will show up and sell us out,
sell us out!

Loving Black People Includes Black Transpeople As Well

I said this before more than a few times in various ways on this blog, but it bears repeating especially on King Day.

Last night I had a long thought provoking conversation with a friend who is the mother of a beautiful African American transwoman.

In the course of our nearly two hour conversation she shared with me she is not happy with the current state of African American transpeople and decried not only the lack of positive media exposure for African American transpeople, but the lack of exposure for positive African American trans role models and our invisibility in the larger trans and GL movement.

See, and y'all thought nobody besides Moni was paying attention and complaining about it.  You better recognize.

But back to the post since this one is primarily aimed at my African-American brothers and sisters.

I, your African descended trans brothers and trans sisters, and the people who love and care about us are sick and tired of being sick and tired of the animus, the extreme violence, disrespect, ignorance and disdain aimed at us.

It needs to end in our community ASAP.

I'm disgusted with the ignorant, buffoonish and scientifically illiterate comments on Blackosphere gossip wastelands such as Bossip, Media Take Out, Sandra Rose and elsewhere in mainstream media outlets as well every time the subject of African American transpeople comes up.

I'm tired of megachurch ministers pimping hate and disinformation of us to keep clocking those faith based bucks or politicians doing so to amass 'more conservafool than thou' street credibility as they suck up to right wingers and build their personal political power to our detriment.  . 

I'm also tired of those same Black ministers and politicians who are acting as drum majors for injustice as they have a hand in delaying or impeding trans people from getting civil rights coverage we desperately need or lead the charge against us simply getting decent treatment as human beings.

I'm tired of media peeps such as Oprah who can put every color of transperson on their shows when it involves painting transpeople in a positive light except an African American one.

I'm tired of popular culture that paints us with the same 'unwoman' brush as it does our African American cis sisters and our community being silent about it.

I'm also tired of our community aiming 'that's a man' shade at African-American women who don't fit their notions of what a woman is supposed to be, look or act like out of spiteful hatred of her or other specious reasons.  

I'm fed up with the po-po's disrespecting us and violating our civil rights, and sometimes the worst offenders being African American cops.


I'm going to keep repeating it until y'all get sick of me saying it, and then you'll still be hearing me say it in your sleep.

African American transpeople are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.    We share the same blood ties to the African continent and our history that you cis African-Americans do.

We are proud of our heritage, are spiritual people and want to contribute our talents to building our community.

It is past time that every Black American  and every African descended person across the Diaspora realizes that.


This is a message that needs to sink in today and beyond King Day.  If you claim to love all Black people, then by extension that means Black transpeople are included in that definition as well.

TransGriot Note: photo is the late Stacy Blahnik Lee