In Need of Statesmen (and Stateswomen too!)

By Cornel West
From the Covenant With Black America Blog
April 25, 2007

We are facing a crisis in the quality of leadership in our country. Our people and our country need more statesmen (and stateswomen), as statesmanship is qualitatively different than the garden-variety leadership that we’re experiencing.

Statesmen take seriously the ability to be themselves, as opposed to the many spinsters who are willing to pose and poster, to pander to a particular group, rather than be real. Opportunism is pervasive and has left us with just a few folk who will not allow themselves to be grinded up by a mechanical formulaic structure. There are some who are shaping the climate of opinion; they’re our thermostats and not thermometers. They’re not satisfied with simply recording, but shaping the dialogue. Our brothers and sisters who are engaged in that kind of education elevate the citizenry of this country.

The continuing challenge at hand for statesmen and stateswomen is to operate above the political fray, to preserve their integrity. True statesmanship is rooted in the hopes and aspirations of the people, and is also informed by the voices of the people.

Throughout our history, ordinary people who believed enough in themselves to try to transform the cynicism and the threat to statesmanship have been the crux of social movements. As a people, we are capable of producing great social change. Look within and you will realize that YOU are the leaders you’re looking for.

So, how many statesmen and stateswomen are in the house?

—Cornel West

July Ebony Magazine Explores Culture of Disrespect

If you haven't done so or don't have a subscription to Ebony magazine, you may want to head to your nearest bookstore or magazine rack and purchase the July issue.

I've already read it. One of the must read articles is by my fellow Houstonian and frequent CNN commentator Roland Martin, who writes an essay about why certain terms are strictly in house things that other cultures can't say.

But I'm not going to spoil the fun of reading one of our iconic magazines for you. I strongly urge you to get this issues and read it for yourselves.

Transgender Athletes Get Into The Game

My love of sports also includes me participating in them as well. I played Little League baseball as a kid and was on my high school's varsity tennis team my senior year. I also played basketball pick up games, tennis and bowled until I started transition. After I moved to Louisville I played softball on my church team in 2002 and recently started bowling on a regular basis again.

So as a transgender sports fan I was pleased to hear about the International Olympic Committee's decision to allow transgender athletes to participate in the Olympics starting with the 2004 Athens Games. Under the Stockholm Consensus, the IOC allows transgender athletes to participate in their new gender two years after they've undergone genital surgery. If the operation took place before puberty, the athlete's gender will be respected.

In the case of a post-puberty gender transition, the athlete must undergo complete genital surgery and get their gonads (their ovaries or testes) removed before they can compete. They also have to get legal recognition of their chosen gender, complete hormone therapy to minimize any sex-related advantages and wait two years before they can become eligible to apply for a confidential IOC evaluation.

While most transwomen are okay with the new policy, transmen understandably bristled at the genital reconstruction requirement. Jamison Green in a 2004 CNN.com interview criticized the genital reconstruction completion requirement.

"I don't think that needs to be a criteria," said Green, who sits on the board of directors of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. "Many female-to-male people can't afford to have genital reconstruction, so I think that's an unreasonable penalty."

That thought is echoed by Keelin Godsey (left in photo), who is a transgender track and field star at Bates College has a goal of making the US Olympic team and competing in Beijing next year. The transman is delaying his transition in order to make it happen.

Transgender athletes are not a new issue. Stella Walsh, the Polish-born 1932 100-meter Olympic gold medallist and 1936 silver medallist dominated women's sprinting during the 30s and 40's. The naturalized American citizen was revealed by an autopsy to have male genitalia and XY chromosomes after she was killed by a stray bullet during an 1980 armed robbery in Cleveland.

Renee Richards battled the USTA during the 70's and filed suit in 1977 for the right to play at the professional level as a woman. Mianne Bagger recently underwent the same struggle in the golfing world.

Canadian mountain biker Michelle Dumaresq has been on the receiving end of biowomen complaints, Hateraid and petition drives to bar her from competition after she started winning races.

The IOC, dogged by persistent rumors in the world press of dominant Eastern European athletes such as Irina and Tamara Press of the Soviet Union being 'men competing as women' and fears of women being fed male hormones for competitive advantage like the East German women were during their 70's and 80's runs of international sports dominance, instituted a mandatory gender verification test starting with the 1968 Mexico City Games.


It was interesting to note that the Press sisters, despite winning gold medals in Rome and Tokyo and setting a combined 26 world records never again competed for the Soviet Union at the international level once the gender verification test was made mandatory.

The IOC gender test was initially a gynecological exam that evolved into a chromosomal test called the Barr Test. It was invasive, unreliable and was scrapped before the Sydney Games in 2000.

It led to some awkward situations such as 1964 Olympic gold medalist sprinter Ewa Klobukowska from Poland being ruled ineligible for the European Cup women's track and field competition in 1967 because of 'ambiguous genitalia'. She was stripped of her Tokyo Games gold and bronze medals by the IAAF but gave birth to a child years later.

A year later 1966 Austrian downhill skiing world champion Erika Schinegger failed the test after it revealed she was chromosomally male, making her ineligible for the upcoming 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.

Erika later transitioned and reemerged on the international skiing scene as Erik Schinegger.

While the test has been scrapped at the Olympic level, in December 2006 at the Asian Games being held in Qatar, 800 meter silver medallist Shanti Sounderajan from India failed a post race gender test and was stripped of the medal she'd earned.

Some of the issues against transgender athletes stem from ignorance or jealousy. In 1996 a Thai volleyball team made up primarily of gay and transgender people nicknamed the 'Iron Ladies' won the Thai national championship and was immortalized in two Thai films of the same name. Thai government officials barred two of the transpeople from joining the national team and competing internationally out of fears and concern for the country's international image. Canadian mountain biker Michelle Dumaresq is constantly accused of having an 'unfair advantage' by biowomen especially after she began to frequently win events on the Canadian mountain biking circuit.

The 'unfair advantage' argument is actually a bogus one and medical science is increasingly backing that up. Even though a transwomen grows up with testosterone coursing through her body, hormone replacement therapy takes the muscle building advantage away over time. A genetic female skeleton is lighter, so a transwoman has the handicap of lugging around basically a heavier skeleton with FEMALE musculature.

The IOC was followed by the Ladies Golf Union (Great Britain), the Ladies European Golf Tour, Women’s Golf Australia, the United States Golf Association, USA Track and Field, and the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association in crafting policies governing transgender athletic participation in events sponsored by their organizations. The Women’s Sports Foundation, United Kingdom and the United States-based Women’s Sports Foundation have issued policy statements supporting the inclusion of transgender athletes in sport. Other international governing sporing federations have followed the IOC's lead when it comes to determining eligibility of transgender athletes in their sports

Curiously the NCAA, in a policy that is under review, requires that transgender athletes compete in the gender designated on their official government documents, for example, driver’s license, birth certificate or passport. As of yet no high school governing bodies have announced policies addressing the participation of transgender athletes.

But with the increase in transgender kids transitioning at earlier ages, it's time to discuss the issue of transgender athlete eligibility to participate in school-based sports before it goes to court. New York's Harvey Milk High School for GLBT students was in 2003 considering starting athletic teams to play in the New York Public Schools Athletic League.

But best of all, the IOC ruling validates us as people. Athletes all over the world have a common dream of standing on that top step and receiving an Olympic gold medal. One day it may be a transgender athlete that is standing there being recognized as the best in the world. It would also be cool to see a transgender athlete hit the winning basket at the buzzer, score the winning goal or win a race.

The best part is that it may happen in my lifetime. If Michelle Dumaresq is correct about the 110 stealth transpeople already competing at Olympian levels, it may have already occurred.

What's Wrong With My Comets?

photos-Crystal Smith hustling for ball, Comets coach Karleen Thompson, Tina Thompson, Michelle Snow and Sheryl Swoopes.

One thing about me that didn't change with transition is that I'm a huge sports fan. And one of the sports that I love is basketball, be it college or pro.

I'm also a huge WNBA and Houston Comets fan. I frequently attended Comets games when the WNBA started play in 1997 before I finally got smart and purchased my season tickets before the 1999 season. I enjoyed being in Compaq Center's Section 126 watching the Comets dominate the league by winning four straight titles from 1997-2000.

I knew going into this 2007 WNBA season that it might be a tough one despite the fact they made it to the Western Conference finals before falling to Sacramento. There were a lot of changes in Cometland during the off season. A new owner in Hilton Koch. With Van Chancellor leaving to take the LSU women's job Karleen Thompson got elevated to become head coach and general manager. There were new faces in the lineup like first round draft pick Ashley Shields and vets Latasha Byears and Crystal Smith. But I was also comforted by the fact that we had Olympians Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson in the lineup.

The 2007 version of the Comets started off losing their first 10 games before they finally broke through to beat the LA Sparks 74-64 on June 20. They followed that up by beating down the Washington Mystics 95-85. They had two games coming up with the Phoenix Mercury, who would have to play both of them with all-everything player Diana Taurasi serving a two-game suspension and Cappie Poindexter suffering an injury.

So the Comets bad luck was finally changing, right?

Nope. I caught today's broadband broadcast of the game and saw why they are losing. Inconsistent defense. Poor basketball decisions at various times and especially down the stretch. Too many forced shots. They play like the old champs with aggressive energy and suffocating defense for stretches of the games, but disappear at critical times.

Ashley Shields is a talented ballplayer but her shot selection is horrendous. You have the WNBA's second all-time leading scorer in Tina Thompson on your squad and she barely touches the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Michelle Snow has yet to become the dominant player she has the talent to be. She's 6'5", dunked in college at Tennessee, but sometimes is just too passive when the Comets need her to be a nasty, shot blocking, snatch-the-rebound-off-the-glass inside the paint force, especially at crunch time.

One thing I do give them credit for is the Comets play hard and never quit. That's all you can ask as a fan. I have no doubts that Karleen Thompson is going to be a good coach in this league. She played at USC with Tina Thompson and LA's Lisa Leslie, was an assistant with Michael Cooper's LA Sparks teams that won WNBA titles in 2001-2002 and has been on Van Chancellor's last two staffs. She's learned from two of the best coaches in the game and I know nothing would please her more than getting the Comets back to elite level status. Sheryl being out for the next two to four weeks with a back injury hasn't helped either.

I love my girls, but they have major work to do just to get into the top four teams in the Western Conference to qualify for the playoffs. Even if they do, it'll be a short stay. I don't see it happening unless they start playing 40 minute ballgames and not 10, 20 or 30 minute ones.

Designer Transition-A Sistah's Wish List

Rapid scientific progress is being made in terms of mapping human DNA thanks to the Human Genome Project. It has unlocked the secrets of which parts of the DNA strand control various aspects of human development, personality, gender and even which base pair combinations trigger susceptibility to certain diseases. It has led to gene based therapies to combat those diseases as well.

And for better or worse, its opened the door to human cloning as well.

I'm in a sci-fi kinda mood today. Let's presume that scientific knowledge has progressed to the point where I can not only transition, but look like any woman on the planet past or present and keep my personality traits. I'm happy with the way I look (about 99% of the time) but if that option were available to me, who would I choose to resemble excluding friends or family members?

My Top 30


1. Halle Berry

2. Beyonce

3. Phyllis Hyman

4. Jayne Kennedy

5. Dorothy Dandridge

6. Lena Horne

7. Diahann Carroll

8. Florence Griffith-Joyner

9. Vanessa L. Williams

10. Phylicia Rashad


11. Tyra Banks

12. Beverly Johnson

13. Meagan Good

14. Gabrielle Union

15. Jasmine Guy

16. Coretta Scott King

17. Toni Braxton

18. Pam Grier

19. Jada Pinkett Smith

20. Vivica A. Fox


21. BernNadette Stanis

22. Denise Matthews (aka Vanity)

23. Yolanda Adams

24. Aaliyah

25. Janet Jackson

26. Iman

27. LisaRaye McCoy

28. Toccara Jones

29. Sade

30. Mpule Kwelagobe

The Miss Black America Pageant

As I mentioned last month I'm a pageant fanatic. My love for them also extends to an event that was 'must see TV' when I was growing up, the Miss Black America Pageant.

The pageant was created by J. Morris Anderson as a protest noting the dearth of African-American contestants in the Miss America pageant. The first one was held on August 17, 1968 and went national the next year with contestants from 42 states participating. A decade before Vanessa Williams broke through and won Miss America, sistahs were showing the world their grace, beauty, intelligence and talent on the Miss Black America stage. Many Miss Black America contestants have gone on to greater success in other arenas, such as Oprah Winfrey, Kathleen Bradley, T'Keyah Crystal Keymah, BernNadette Stanis and CeCe Peniston. The 1969 pageant, held at Madison Square Garden served as the venue for the Jackson 5's first national television performance.

I also love the Oath of Positivity that all Miss Black America contestants take that was also penned by pageant founder J. Morris Anderson:

My physical appearance will always reveal my positive mental attitude toward life.

My head held high will indicate the mental and spiritual strength that lives within me.

My straight, cheerful manner of walking will exemplify the positive direction my life has taken.

My eloquent manner of talking will always relate the positive mental, spiritual and physical forces that reside within me.

My illustrious smile will always express the pleasure I receive from living.

The positive look in my eyes will always indicate the self confidence and positive spirits inside me.

THEREFORE:
I CAN perform any task;
I CAN sell any product;
I CAN succeed in any job;
I CAN cause any relationship to thrive;
I CAN overcome any obstacle;
I CAN accomplish any objective.
I AM a positive mental, spiritual and physical person.
I AM spiritually capable of succeeding.
I CAN successfully compete on any mental level;
I WILL succeed on any physical level of activity in which I engage.

It was also great for kids of my generation to see the women that they grew up with recognized for their beauty and talent just like the white women whose images we were bombarded with on a daily basis.

The pageant was sorely needed in an era where you still had some Black parents who idolized white standards of beauty. Some forced their kids to walk around with clothespins constricting their noses in an attempt to get the 'narrow' white nose instead of our broad African ones. Too many of us growing up heard the comments of our elders and our peeps in which dark-skinned people were shunned and light skinned people with 'good' hair were the beauty gold standard.

The pageant helps remind all of us that all Black women are beautiful, no matter whether our skin color is vanilla creme light or ebony dark.

The Race Enters With Me As Well

Trans Griot Note: photo-Anna Julia Cooper

One of the things I'm most cognizant of, whether I'm writing my column, posting on this blog, or speaking in front of various groups, that whether I like it or not I represent not only myself and the transgender community, but the entire African-American community as well.

I was reminded of this yet again when I was a recent guest on Tranny Wreck radio back on May 2.

The show was discussing the topic 'Is Everyone Racist?' and as anyone who's ever read this blog or listened to my archived shows on Ethan St. Pierre's TransFM will tell you, I'm blunt, authoritative and passionate about the things I talk about, especially when it comes to my people.

Well, one person posted a comment in the remarks about that Tranny Wreck show that I pissed him off.

Good.

The reason Rebecca invited me on the show in the first place was to inject a different viewpoint on race and racism in the wake of the Don Imus comments. Being that I am unabashedly a proud African-American transwoman I have seen and experienced things in my lifetime that give me a perspective on racism that is far different than one a white, Latino or Asian person would have.

This person also insinuated that I spoke for the entire African-American race in their haste to criticize me. I'm not overly sensitive to criticism, that's part of the territory as a columnist and an activist. I accept the fact that some peeps aren't going to agree 100% with everything I have to say, even within the African-American community.

The problem is that because we are rarely called upon in either the mainstream or the GLBT community to add our commentary in the media to things that happen in society at large, anyone who does get that shot has it in the back of their minds the famous quote of Anna Julia Cooper.

When and where I enter, then and there the entire race enters with me.

That's why when I'm commenting on various issues, I have to be on point with my commentary. I'm not just braying my opinions like an Ann Coulter or a Rush Limbaugh does. I don't have that luxury. My commentary has to be backed up with facts, logic and reason since we African-Americans are automatically assumed by American society to be less intelligent.

So when some peeps in the mainstream community run across African-Americans who are intelligent, smart, and can string multisyllabic words together in a sentence some of them have a major problem with that.

That's your failing, not mine. I'm not going to apologize for my God-given intelligence or being a Phenomenal Transwoman.

If you can't deal with that, too bad.

The 20 People Who Changed Black Music Forever

Blackamewricaweb.com in honor of Black Music Month has been doing an exclusive series of articles on the twenty people who changed Black music.

The Prolific Prince, the Fearless, Peerless Rock-Soul Star

Pop Darling Whitney Houston, Queen of the Ballad

James Brown, The First, The Last, The Legend

Veteran Label Executive Sylvia Rhone, the Star-Maker

Revolutionary Poet Gil Scott-Heron, the First Rap Rebel

Famed Pianist Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul

Wild Child George Clinton, Funk’s Fearless Godfather

Jazz Trumpeter Miles Davis, the Personification of Cool

Soul-Stirrer Luther Vandross, Balladeer Extraordinaire

Funk Songstress Chaka Khan, the Stand-Out Singer

Michael Jackson, the Child Star-Turned-Adult Enigma

Motown First Lady Diana Ross, the Quintessential Diva

Pioneering Exec Clarence Avant, the Master Mentor

Visionary Artist Stevie Wonder, the Master of Songcraft

Chuck Berry, the Blues Man-Turned-Rock Architect

Rock & Roll Royalty Tina Turner, the Whole Package

Smokey Robinson, the Velvet Voice and Quiet Force

Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, the Standard Bearers

Teddy Pendergrass, R&B’s Romantic Mood-Setter

Operatic Angel Minnie Riperton, the Voice of Perfection

Check it out. It'll definitely give you some insight on some of the artists and behind the scenes peeps that we love. It'll also give you a taste of the variety of elements that encompass Black music.

The (LIE) Impact Leadership Coalition-Lying For Da Man

One of the things that has really irritated me over the last decade is the emergence of the group of conservative Black sellout megachurch ministers who do the dirty work that their white fundie paymasters can't.

When the Reichers opposed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act they called upon go-to homobigot Harry Jackson and his fellow Negro ministers in the Hi Impact Leadership Coalition back in April to browbeat the Congressional Black Caucus into withdrawing support for the bill. That group included Grammy-winning gospel artist and Detroit minister Marvin Winans.

The Congressional Black Caucus is not known as the 'Conscience of the Congress' for nothing. The CBC members and their staffers thankfully saw through the lies that Jackson and his merry band of homohaters were pushing. The homobigots pastors were taking their talking points from James Dobson and asserting that passage of HR 1592, which is now pending in the Senate as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Bill would keep them from expressing their First Amendment rights to preach anti-gay sermons and open them up to prosecution.

You know something, maybe people should file civil suits against you idiots if it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that your anti-gay diatribes inspired someone to go run out after the bendiction and kill a GLBT person.

The bottom line is that Jackson and his band of bigots are straight up prevaricating. There has been no law ever enacted in United States history that curtails First Amendment free speech protections and this one is no exception. In fact, the ACLU noted that HR 1592 "has stronger protections for free speech than any other federal criminal law now on the books."

How dare these so-called men of the cloth even part their lips to parrot James Dobson's false witness on this bill. Are you that joined to the hip and pockets of white fundamentalists that you can't even come up with your own creative BS in an attempt to kill this bill?

By the way, you failed. The House passed it 237-180 and it's now in the Senate.

Y'all are on the wrong side of history and this issue along with your Reicher buddies. 68% of the country is in favor of passage of this legislation, and that support according to a June 10-13 Gallup poll is BIPARTISAN. It even includes your homobigot base.

The evidence is crystal clear that bias crimes committed against transgender people are rampant and something needs to be done about it. I posted earlier about today being the seventh anniversary of the Amanda Milan killing in New York. It should be of great concern to you so-called Black preachers that your fellow African-Americans are disproportionately affected by it. Since 1999 70% of the over 300 victims posted to the Remembering our Dead list are predominately people of color.

So why in Hades would you oppose a bill that has the support of law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and the NAACP when you as an African-American know better than anyone what it's like to live life with a target on your back?

Amanda Milan Anniversary

black and white photo of Amanda and Nicole by Brian Lantelme.


Today is the seventh anniversary of the brutal killing of Amanda Milan.

In the early morning hours of June 20, 2000 25 year old Amanda met some friends at a McDonald's on the corter of 8th Avenue and 43rd Street. Around 4 AM she left and crossed 8th Avenue as her friends watched to catch a cab back to her Central Park West apartment in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

It would be the last time her friends got a chance to hang out with her.

She encountered a 20 year old man by the name of Dwayne McCuller. He saw the tall, buxom and beautiful African-American transwoman pass him and for whatever reason made a derogatory comment that escalated into a heated verbal exchange.

"Why would you say something like that to me? You don't even know me." she replied to the initial insult.

McCuller reportedly shot back, "I know what that is between your legs, you're nothing but a man. I'm going to shoot you."

Milan evidently replied, "Don't say you're going to shoot me. You want to fight me? Fight me like a man."

"Get away from me, you faggot," McCuller said, according to Milan's friends.

That exchange was typical of Amanda's feisty nature. She was a transwoman proud of who she was and didn't take crap from anybody. She was born Damon Lee Dyer in Chicago in 1974, moved to New York and transitioned in 1992. She was well-liked in the New York transgender community and often helped people down on their luck. The media played up the jet-setting escort aspect of her life but ignored that she had dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

According to a June 20, 2001 Salon.com article, her friend Patra, who is a transwoman of Jamaican descent explained Amanda's guiding philosophical principles. "Her philosophy was, ameliorate yourself from mental slavery, stand up and be who you are, play that role," said Patra. "She said all of us have an abiding reality and death is the only judgment on how a life is lived. She believed there is no justification in living a life of lies if deep down in your heart you know who you are."

Six months earlier she was lamenting the deaths of Kim and Simone, two of her closest transwomen friends. They'd been tight for 10 years, and Kim was found dead at the foot of a cliff in Australia. Simone was thrown from a fifth floor window a few months after she left New York and moved in with a man in San Francisco. She made the statement that 'things happen in threes' reflecting the belief in African-American culture that deaths occur in clusters of threes, fearing that she was next.

That statement turned out to be prophetic.

She headed to a row of cabs in front of the Port Authority Terminal after the verbal exchange. McCuller was told by 26 year old Eugene Celestine that he had a knife in his possesion which he handed to McCuller. He ran to catch up with Amanda and slit her throat. It severed her jugular vein, larnyx and cartoid artery and several people tried to stop the bleeding. With Amanda choking on her own blood she was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead at 5:10 AM.

One of the disturbing things that hasn't been confirmed but had become legend in the retelling of this story is that the cabbies, street vendors and other people in the vicinity that night allegedly cheered as McCuller cut Milan's throat.

The murder outraged and galvanized the New York transgender community. A memorial service was organized three weeks later for Milan on July 23 that was attended by 300 people. The crowd at the Metropolitan Community Church on 36th Street included fashion industry people, national and community transgender activists and the general public. (I'm still pissed to this day that I was unable to attend it).

Her friend Octavia St. Laurent (of Paris Is Burning fame) gave the eulogy. "Amanda was a transsexual. She was killed because she was a transsexual. Her neck was slashed and her story went unreported because she was Black and a transsexual,"

She had plenty to say. Her eloquent, heartfelt, angry and passionate eulogy earned her a standing ovation from the assembled crowd when she was finished. She spared no one in her commentary and indicted bigots, sexists, the ignorant, the media and the mainstream Black community.

"The Black community is the worst," St. Laurent said. "They who have suffered from prejudice in this country have treated us worse than any other people."

"Gays have rights, lesbians have rights, men have rights, women have rights, even animals have rights. "How many of us have to die before the community recognizes that we are not expendable?

McCuller was convicted in November 2002 of Milan's murder and sentenced to 17 years in prison. The New York transgender community was additionaly outraged that it wasn't classified by NYPD as a bias crime despite the fact that several witnesses heard McCuller hurl anti-transgender statements and threats to Milan.

David Anderson was convicted of hindering prosecution and received a sentence of one and a half to three years in prison for attempting to help Dwayne McCuller leave New York after the killing. Eugene Celestine, the man who handed McCuller the knife that was used to kill Milan went to trial in 2003.

Milan's mother Adaritha Dyer stated in a New York Amsterdam News interview, "Damon was the joy of my life. The Lord saw fit to bless me with a son of many talents. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, my everything, the Lord looked down upon me 25 years ago and realized that I needed a gift and a treasure that I could enjoy and rejoice in. So he blessed me with you. I love you, and you will be my memory."

Milan's aunt, Diane McKee, who ironically lived several blocks away from the murder location, stated, "I gave him unconditional love."

Octavia was right when she stated at the memorial service, "Death will not be the last word for Amanda Milan." Amanda's death became like the Stonewall Riots in 1969, the spark that once again galvanized the New York transgender community into action.

May Amanda rest in peace.

Letter To My Fellow African-Americans

Dear Fellow African-Americans,

As one of your transgender cousins who shares your ethnic heritage I am moved to ask this question.

What the hell is wrong with y'all?

What has caused some of y'all to take leave of your senses and work with white fundamentalists who only 40 years ago were not only opposed to us gaining our civil rights but didn't want you, your kids or your grandkids to marry their sons and daughters?

It's pathetically sad when you have a group of African-American ministers go up to Capitol Hill to lobby against the passage of the Hate Crimes Bill at the behest of the same group of white fundamentalist preachers who fought our inclusion during the Civil Rights Movement.

It's also mind numbing and sad to ponder that the baby daughter of the greatest American our country has ever produced, the man who eloquently stated that 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere' is associate pastor of a megachurch in which the senior pastor is one of our oppressors and has made anti-gay statements herself.

Why do some of you hate us so much that you will kill us, brutalize us and vote against your own political and economic interests to put people in power to curtail GLBT civil rights? Why are you tossing us out of our homes and churches, ostracizing us within our families, demonizing us inside and outside the African-American community and selectively twisting Biblical scripture to justify it?

Please spare me the 'love the sinner but hate the sin' bogus scripture BS spin line that some of you will use as an excuse to justify your ignorance and hatred. The real deal is that y'all have allowed a bunch of white fundamentalists to jack with our historic community unity by injecting a false issue into our community debate. We have far more pressing issues to deal with than whether Adam and Steve or Tanisha and Markisha get married. We have allowed The Forces of Intolerance to not only gain a foothold in our churches and our communities, but allowed them to distract our churches from their ongoing historic mission of seeking justice for our people and speaking truth to power.

And for what? So a few selfish ministers who aren't fit to shine Dr. King's shoes can chase faith-based bucks and lust for power.

Where were you Hi Impact Leadership Coalition members and sympathizers when our right to vote was being jacked with in 2000 and 2004? Oh yeah, y'all were cheesin' for the cameras at the GOP conventions and the White House. Where were you in August 2005 when our people were dying in New Orleans? Y'all constantly flap your gums to rail against GLBT peeps from the pulpit but your silence was deafening then.

As for speaking truth to power, you megachurch posers and wannabes are more concerned with photo ops, building arena-sized churches and acquiring expensive clothes and cars than fighting for the civil rights of ALL African-Americans and speaking out against injustice. Instead of leadership we get posturing, posing, doublespeak and hate-filled soundbites from anti-gay sermons instead of ones like Dr. King's 'Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution'.

Hate sermons mind you that result in the creation of a climate of intolerance, ignorance and fear that resulted in the killings of African-American GLBT people such as Sakia Gunn, Rashawn Brazell, Amanda Milan, Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis. I wonder what DC church the African-American EMT attended who allowed a fellow African-American named Tyra Hunter to bleed to death after a 1995 traffic accident because he discovered that she was a pre-op transwoman? He stopped treating Tyra, but had the time to insult and crack jokes about her.

If you insist that every African-American life is precious and we don't have a person to waste, then that by extension includes same gender loving folks and transpeople as well.

We are your sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and co-workers. We are also proud African-Americans who work, vote, go to church, serve in our nation's military and pay our taxes. All we're asking for is the same thing that any African-American wants, which is respect and dignity to live our lives without unnecessary bullcrap and be contributing members of society.

How many deaths, how much spilled blood, how much pain and suffering and how long will it take before you get that message, my fellow African-Americans?


Respectfully yours,
Monica Roberts
The TransGriot

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth TransGriot readers!

So what the heck is Juneteenth? Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Texas was the westernmost part of the Confederacy and President Lincoln's January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation had little to no effect there until the Civil War ended in April 1865. On June 19, 1865 Major General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, TX with a contingent of 2000 Union troops and read General Order Number 3 from the balcony of Ashton Villa.

"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."

The reaction of African-American Texans (and my relatives) ranged from stunned silence to pure joy at the news. Starting in 1866 the day was celebrated by us as a unofficial holiday with barbecue, strawberry soda pop, picnics, church services and parades and became known as 'Juneteenth'. While some white landowners interrupted Juneteenth celebrations demanding that their laborers return to work, others not only gave people the day off but made donations of food and money for these celebrations as well.

As African-Americans in Texas and elsewhere became property owners land was eventually either donated or money was pooled to purchase property for these celebrations such as Emancipation Park in Austin, TX. In 1872 under the leadership of Rev. Jack Yates a fundraising drive collected $1000 that purchased Emancipation Park in Houston. A similar effort in Mexia, TX (Anna Nicole Smith's hometown) resulted in the purchase of Booker T. Washington Park. It became the hub of Juneteenth celebrations in that part of the state in 1890 with as many as 20,000 people participating in them.

As African-American Texans migrated to other parts of the United States and the world they took the holiday with them. But at the turn of the 20th century interest in celebrating the holiday among the youth declined because of its connections to slavery. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 60's revived the desire of African-American communities to celebrate our heritage and the holiday experienced a new surge of interest.

On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas through the efforts of African-American state legislator Al Edwards (D-Houston). House bill 1016's successful passage and signature by Gov. William Clements (R-TX) in 1979 made Juneteenth the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition.

Today there are 17 states that recognize the holiday. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Juneteenth is also celebrated in other parts of the world, including China, Ghana, Israel and Japan.

So happy Juneteenth y'all. Gotta go to the store and get some strawberry soda pop and barbecue to chow down on.