Virginia Foxx Showcases GOP Ignorance

If the GOP wants to know why they have been getting their asses kicked in national elections and has shrunk to just a regional party, look no further than their jihad against GLBT civil rights that leads to negative news coverage like this.

While it's great comic relief for me as a Democrat, and as someone who has tangled with the yahoo variety on more than several occasions, I am disturbed that its gotten this bad for the GOP.

It's also not good when one party is controlled by its nutcase fringe to the point where reasonable people are fleeing it.

Michael Steele has a tough job trying to sell this tainted brand to the American public, and especially peeps of color after decades of hatin' on us.

The anti intellectualism along with the racism turned me off toward them ever getting my vote as a college student, and they didn't do themselves any favors by trying to suppress my vote in the 1984 presidential election.

The Deep South GOP's are even worse, being the first ones taken over by the Christobigots. The Texas GOP for example has had party platforms which are more batshit crazy than the national GOP

But the problem with the GOP is that it has become an increasingly white male dominated, monoracial, anti-intellectual, hostile to civil rights far right wing party.

In many cases the so called minorites they hold up as examples in the GOP are far worse, because they are selling out their people just so they can look more 'conservative than thou' to fit in.

You can also count on women like Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC) to make themselves look like idiots on a regular basis along with a certain governor from Alaska.

This nation's two party system works best when you have two healthy parties fighting for the center. It pushes the other party to make the improvements or adjustments needed to come up with intelligent, long lasting policies that everybody can support and rally behind.

When you have a party that's not even trying to be centrist and adopting the Bushian 'you're either for us or against us' bunker mentality, that's not only bad for democracy, it's bad for the country as well.

I'm Shocked

I was talking to Dawn about a recent fencing tournament in Indianapolis she competed in that I couldn't attend. When she gave me the 411 about what happened at it, she also surprised me by telling me a few of her fellow fencers were looking for me.

Now for the most part I'm there at those tournaments to support her in addition to being fun to watch. Since that's her world, I try to stay in the background and let her be the center of attention in it. I've had some wonderful conversations with many of the peeps in the Great Lakes fencing region, the Veterans 40 and veterans 50 fencers, and various officials.

I've done stuff like babysat toddlers so their mom could compete on the fencing strip, been in the cheering section for other KY division/Vet fencers, and even volunteered to help at an LFC Pirates of the Caribbean themed Halloween party. I guess in the process I built up some goodwill among the fencing community.

Sometimes I find it incredible when I discover just how much of a footprint I leave in the various worlds I interact with. I was mildly shocked to find out from a Cleveland based flight attendant who remembered me from my CSR and ASA supervisor days in Houston while flying on a Continental trip back home. It was my first trip on the airline since we parted ways and I was flying back to Da Ville from speaking at last year's Trans Pride March.

Even though it had been seven years since I'd worn a CAL uniform at the IAH gates, she told me just how much I was missed by the Inflight crews across the system. The same thing has been reported to me by former IAH co-workers as well, who ask my homegirl Quinn how I'm doing and send messages through her as to how much they miss me.

Some of you may be amazed I feel this way, but I'm shocked sometimes at just how much love I get from peeps just for simply being me.

All I'm trying to do is simply treat people with the respect and dignity that they want to be treated with, listen to them when they have something to get off their chests, and be a loyal and supportive friend to all I'm blessed to have in my life.

Heading To DC

Once again I'm hitting I-64 east and heading to our nation's capital to talk to some congressmembers. I may even take some time on this trip to do a little sightseeing and souvenir hunting.

This time we're going to try a different routing. Instead of heading east on I-64 to Charleston WV, heading north up I-79 through Morgantown, and catching I-68/I-70 into Maryland and then dropping down I-270 into the Washington area, we're going to run through Virginia and see if the southern routing shaves off some time.

Either way, we're going to have to cross a mountain range, so the scenery will be just as beautiful no matter what direction we take.

If I get a chance to access a computer I'll keep you peeps posted. In the interim I'll do a diary of my time up there and post it when I get back from DC.

Thanks 'Errbody'!

Thank you to Renee and 'errbody' across the blogosphere and the Net who sent e-mailed birthday wishes, hit my Facebook account, mailed birthday cards, called or left messages on the birthday post I put up. It was deeply appreciated and made a somewhat blah day a little better.

It sucked to have to spend 'my' day at work, but I won't be complaining when I get the check next week.

Neither am I complaining about the love you showered down on me or the fact that I was blessed to make another year.

I also received my birthday present from the Houston Rockets. Read it and weep LA Faker fans. Houston 100-LA 92

May 4 Potpurri

I have a lot of company in terms of the peeps who share my birthday.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
Dawn Staley
Kimora Lee Simmons
Katherine Jackson (Janet's mom)
Jackie Jackson
Dr. Stanley Biber
Audrey Hepburn
Randy Travis
J. Fred Duckett (Astrodome announcer)
Randy Travis
Vladimir Lenin
Nick Ashford
Gary Bauer
George F. Will
Tyrone Davis
Ana Gasteyer
Lance Bass


The Horoscope For Today
from Jill M Phillips
HowStuffWorks

Taurus born on May 4 seeks to distill from life its purest essence. Where most people have a tendency to complicate events, these men and women want to enjoy life in a simple and unadorned fashion. Spiritually, these individuals set high standards for themselves.

Friends and Lovers

People born on May 4 have a charismatic personality that sets them apart. Because of this it is sometimes hard for May 4 people to know why people are drawn to them as friends. Love and romance bring a similar dilemma. They are easily swayed by flattery. May 4 men and women should use a great deal of discretion when choosing a life-mate.

Children and Family

The deep spiritual values possessed by May 4 people are generally the result of some profound experience during their childhood years. Their upbringing is likely to have been unusual or offbeat. They love children, and whether or not they have any of their own, they'll continually concern themselves with children's issues.

Health

May 4 people take an active interest in keeping themselves healthy. They eat well, exercise regularly, and rarely if ever have to worry about putting on excess weight. Frequent check-ups and the use of alternate remedies in addition to conventional ones can help ensure good health.

Career and Finances

With their dynamic personality and devotion to social causes, May 4 individuals prefer careers where they can make a difference in the world. They often choose politics, the law, social work, or family counseling. If they have considerable financial power they may use it to garner support for worthy causes. These people have simple tastes and seldom make a show of what they possess.

Dreams and Goals

May 4 individuals are philosophical types who ask "why not?" when contemplating a life change. They have a wildly optimistic view of life, believing that they can make the world a better place through their own efforts. No matter what kind of career they decide upon, these individuals are sure to favor humanitarian concerns.


Taurus Information for May 4
You should embrace: Interesting projects, joy, changes of venue
You should avoid: Anxiety, insecurity, drawing conclusions

NH Senate Kills Transgender Rights Bill On 24-0 Vote

Here's the bitter irony in this 24-0 vote. The New Hampshire Senate is the only legislative body in the United States in which women not only have the majority, but hold key leadership positions.

They can pass a gay marriage bill, but not join 13 other states that ban discrimination for transgender people in housing, accommodation and employment.

New Hampshire transpeeps, maybe it's time for you to channel that righteous anger you feel right now into getting politically active and running one of our own peeps as a candidate for the legislature.

So why the hell did a bill to ban discrimination against transgender people die?

"The bill had flaws," said Nashua Democratic State Sen. Bette Lasky who commended citizens for coming to the Legislature and telling heartfelt stories about their difficulty in keeping a job or getting a promotion.

What are the so called 'flaws' in the transgender civil rights bill that Sen. Lasky alluded to, and if they were there, why wasn't it amended in committee or on the Senate floor to eliminate them so the bill could pass?

Barrington Democratic State Sen. Jackie Cilley attacked the state Republican Party leadership and the media for referring to the legislation (HB 415) as the "bathroom bill."

"To those among you who repeatedly used the label the bathroom bill…and failed to tell the whole story and failed to tell the whole truth, I say you are not journalists, you are merely stenographers for your ignorance, hatred and discrimination," Cilley declared.

Yeah, but you voted to kill the bill. So that leads to the perception, Sen. Cilley, that on some level you agree with the deceptive spin and lying of the media, the GOP and the rest of the Forces of Intolerance cabal you decried in your statement.

Far from dissuading the use of the 'bathroom bill' attack spin against transgender civil rights legislation by the Forces of Intolerance, you and your colleagues have given it new life.

It's sad that you and your senate colleagues didn't show the courage of the New Hampshire House and Speaker Terie Norelli. It passed by one vote after she spoke on the floor and helped convince the House to adopt the bill on a second attempt.

My transpeeps can handle as Dr. King called it finite disappointment. But this vote is bordering on spirit crushing territory.

And what good does it do to have moderate-progressives in control of the legislature if you're going to vote like right wing conservatives?

So how long will my transgender brothers and sisters in the Nutmeg State have to wait for their legislators to pass laws that allow them to 'live free or die'?

And will you find the courage to do so?

NY State Assembly Passes GENDA

We're at the halfway point for transgender rights in New York State with the passage April 21 of GENDA by a wide margin in the Democratic controlled State Assembly.

Governor David Paterson (D) has indicated he will sign the bill if it passes the state legislature, which ends its current session on Monday, June 22.

GENDA would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression in employment, housing, public accommodations, access to credit, and other key areas. The Gender Expression Non-discrimination Act also would add gender identity and expression as protected categories in the state's human rights law.

The bill has broad public support according to a March 2008 poll by Global Strategy. 78 percent of registered New York voters favor passage of a bill to protect transgender rights.

GENDA debate according to the Gay City News only took 15 minutes before the Assembly passed it for the second year in a row. The bill now moves to the Senate where Democrats for the first time since 1965 have achieved a slim 32-30 majority. While under GOP control last year the bill died without being taken up.

Ignatieff Officially Becomes Liberal Party Leader

Renee and some of the other Canadians I converse with on a regular basis tell me about their disenchantment with their 'pit bull in a sweater vest', AKA Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

Their yearning for their own victory over conservatism north of the border may be coming soon. Last weekend the Liberal Party held their convention in Vancouver and formally voted to take the 'interim' tag off Michael Ignatieff.

Say hello to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who received support from 97 per cent of the 3000 delegates attending the convention. He has been the party leader on a interim basis since Stephane Dion resigned in the wake of their October federal election loss.

“You can feel a longing for change sweeping across the land,” Ignatieff said in his acceptance speech. “If we offer our citizens a message of hope I believe Canadians will ask us to form their next government.”

And during the part of his speech that slammed PM Harper, Ignatieff stated, “You have failed to understand that a prime minister has one job and only one job, which is to unite the people of this country. Mr. Harper, you have failed us. If you can't unite Canadians, if you can't appeal to the best in all of us, we can.”

The 'we can' echoed the 'Yes, we can' slogan of President Obama's presidential campaign, who is more popular in Canada than he is here in the States. President Obama during his whirlwind visit to Canada did meet with Ignatieff last February, and they share ties to Harvard University.

Ignatieff gave no sign that he planned to force an early election, despite a Nanos Research poll showing the Liberals with a narrow 36 to 33 per cent lead over the Conservatives.

But that poll, conducted in the wake of recent statements by Ignatieff that tax increases might be needed to pay for deficits being accumulated by the Canadian federal government to pull Canada out of recession, reveals that only 27 per cent of Canadians thought that Ignatieff would make the best prime minister, compared with 32 per cent for Harper.

Stay tuned as the political intrigue in the 'Great White North' continues.

Happy Birthday To Moni

My favorite day on the calendar next to Christmas has finally arrived.

It's Cuatro De Mayo, AKA my birthday.

On this day at 10:45 PM CDT in the Lone Star State yours truly arrived on the planet. I look much different now that I did when I arrived in the world, and it's all good.

Thanks to everybody who has wished me a happy birthday so far and will do so before the end of the day. You don't know how much I appreciate it.

For the most part today is shaping up to be a good news-bad news kind of day. While I'm celebrating the fact I made it to another birthday, have my health, a roof over my head, and was blessed to see an African-American president inaugurated and doing spectacularly well in the job.

On the other hand I'm feeling homesick again, frustrated because it's been a while since I've traveled anywhere, moody because I took my last 'mones a few days ago and have to reload in addition to having to work until midnight later today.

But unlike most years in the weeks leading up to my birthday, this year I didn't spend a lot of time lamenting stuff. Maybe it was probably because I was busy with this blog and other writing assignments, the podcast and just simply living my life. I didn't have time to whine about stuff I can't change, the goals I haven't reached yet, or my dreams that as of yet remain unfulfilled. I didn't have time to mope about or ponder the various moments in time in which I made decisions back in the day that turned out to be life altering ones. I have to suck it up, put on the big girl panties and deal with it.

Could things be better? Yep. Do I need to make some improvements in my life in a few areas? Yes. Do I need to realize it's still not too late to make my dreams come true and stop being so hard on myself because it didn't happen sooner? Yep. Could I stand to lose ten pounds? Umm hmm. Do I need to do a better job of staying in touch with friends and family back home, around the country and the world? You betcha.

Do I need to lay off the Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream? Um....no.

This year I took the advice I give to others and applied it to myself in terms of counting my blessings.

I love the peace of mind and happiness I live my life with since transition. I have picked up a wonderful new friend to complement the ones that are already in my life. The blog is in another positive growth phase. I still look divalicious, even if I'm not feeling it some days. I have my health, a job and money in my purse.

I also get another chance to hit the road with Polar in 24 hours, and y'all know how much I love road trips.

And best of all I love the person I see in the mirror when I wake up in the morning.

Podcast Show With Jessica Valenti Postponed

Renee and I were set to do a special edition of our Womanist Musings podcast radio show tonight at 8 PM EDT with Feministing.com Executive Editor and author Jessica Valenti, but Jessica advised us on Friday she was going to have to reschedule the interview due to illness.

We know many of you were anxious to hear our discussion about her book The Purity Myth and are just as disappointed as we were to hear that news.

She has offered to reschedule it, and when we confirm the new podcast show date with her, we'll pass that info along to you.

In the meantime, if you absolutely, positively wanted to hear me and Renee's meodious voices on your computer speakers or through your iPod's, you can head over to the show website at BlogTalkRadio and download our archived ones.

Our regularly scheduled shows happen every two weeks on Saturdays from 8-9 PM EDT, and the next scheduled show is on May 9

Ambassadors For The Transgender Community

When I was back home in Houston, there was a sign posted in every GLBT bar that was a not so subtle reminder of what I'm about to talk about in this post that stated:

What I do reflects on you
What you do reflects on me
What WE do reflects on the ENTIRE gay community.

When you are a marginalized community which habitually gets saddled with mostly negative press, it is incumbent upon you to ensure that you aren't doing anything in your daily interactions with the cisgender world to reinforce those stereotypes.

People of color have no problem understanding this concept, but it seems as though some of my white brothers and sisters have difficulty grasping the fact that the so called 'rugged individualist' mentality you operated under before your transitions no longer applies.

Civil rights are won not just with sweeping legislation, lobbying, protest marches, Trans 101 panel discussions or with precedent setting court decisions, but also by one on one personal contact in addition to all of the above.

It's hard to hate on or justify denying civil rights to someone when you have to look them in the eye, have some in your circle of friends or come to the realization that your stance impacts other human beings.

So it's incumbent upon us as a community to approach every interaction with the persuadable general public as a chance to create an ally.

In other words, we need to be ambassadors for the transgender community.

All it takes is simply just living your life, treating people with the same respect and dignity that you wish for yourself, be proud of being a transperson, and being the charmingly gracious person you are every day.

I'm not saying you have to wear an 'I'm trans' t-shirt in terms of expressing your pride in yourself. Expressing pride in yourself is multi-layered. It's standing up straight, looking people in the eye, giving firm handshakes, having intelligent conversations about a wide range of subjects in a manner that will go a long way toward creating positive impressions about you.

By the time the cisperson figures out or you tell them you are trans, once you honestly and forthrightly answer the questions they have about the issue you fell comfortable with, hopefully the groundwork you previously laid will just have them take the news with a grain of salt and you can move on to other subjects.

And hopefully you've not only made a lifelong friend for yourself, but created an you made an ally in the process for the trans community as well.

'Stealth' Update

I posted back in March about the movie Stealth, which stars Alexandra Billings and Jennifer Fontaine and is directed by Marlo Bernier.

Got a recent update from Marlo in terms of how the film is progressing. She's at the 'picture-lock' phase, and then the film moves on to the sound editing phase.

I thank her and the Stealth team for keeping me updated so I can share it with you loyal TransGriot readers.

I'm looking forward to seeing this film when it finally hits my local theater.

The 'Conscience Of The Congress' Helps HR 1913 Pass

One of the things I get tired of hearing ad nauseum from elements of the white gay community is that tired 'Blacks are more homophobic' meme.

Compare and contrast Republican Virginia Foxx's remarks on HR 1913 vis a vis the remarks of CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) speaking on behalf of the just passed bill.



The Congressional Black Caucus is 43 members strong, with 42 congressmembers, one senator, and a former member living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Two members, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Donna Christian-Christensen (D-VI) are non voting delegates. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Al Green of Texas missed the roll call vote on HR 1913 but previously voted for Hate Crimes and ENDA

So out of the 37 members who cast votes on HR 1913 and 36 voted yes.

Artur Davis (D-AL) voted against the bill.

There's always gotta be one.

So explain to me white gay community, if we Black people are 'so homophobic', why did 36 out of 37 available CBC members vote for this legislation?

Time to bury that tired meme once and for all.

H/T Rod 2.0 Beta

Don't Want EBONY Or JET To Die

Tami had a post in March that discussed her take on whether we should do more as a community to keep our iconic magazines alive.

While some folks are hollering 'let them die', I have a problem with that knee jerk shortsighted view of the situation, even though I have mixed emotions about it.

As a historian, I don't like the idea of losing EBONY and JET, much less contemplating a world without its needed voice. As many of you did, I perused the older issues of EBONY and JET at my grandparents house growing up and I spent hours perusing those issues and reading the history that unfolded before my eyes. I also chuckled at some of the back in the day ads that served as a time capsule for the period.

It seems that everybody had a subscription to those two magazines when I was growing up, and whether you were at your cousin's house in Mississippi, your uncle's place in Los Angeles, EBONY or JET would be sitting in a prominent place in their living rooms. One of the first things I did after moving out of my parents house was get my own EBONY subscription.

Thanks to the late visionary John H. Johnson, these magazines since 1945 have been covering our stories, our people and our history when white owned magazines would barely touch our communities, much less tell our stories in a balanced way.

Without EBONY and JET, much of the Civil Rights history probably wouldn't have seen the light of day. Many of Dr. King's essays were published in the pages of EBONY. Our iconic stars on stage, screen, television and the sporting worlds wouldn't have gotten the coverage they deserved.

Our history would have less documentation, especially in the 70's when it seemed that every time you turned around there was another African-American breaking new ground or we had another 'First Black' making history.

And tell the truth, many of you already have copies of the issues of EBONY and JET relating to the historic 2008 election of President Obama, the inauguration and the historic Obama administration.

One of the reasons that African descended supermodels grace the catwalks now is because of Eunice Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair. Not only did it clue designers in on the fact that Black women had dollars to spend on high fashion clothes, the traveling fashion show has raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years for various charitable organizations in the African-American community.

Fashion Fair Cosmetics and its success clued white owned makeup companies into the fact there was a large customer base they weren't meeting the needs of.

But on the other hand both those magazines have been behind the curve for a while in terms of developments inside the AA GLBT/SGL community, something I've long complained about on TransGriot.

It's sad for example, when Isis got more love in white owned magazines than she did in our iconic Black ones (and ESSENCE falls in that category as well).

I'm for giving Linda Johnson Rice the help she needs because the Johnson family deserves that much from us. I'm seriously thinking about renewing my subscription especially since I'm buying them off the racks so much these days I may as well save myself some cash and get it delivered to the crib.

But my support comes with a condition and an ultimatum. I want EBONY and JET to do a better job of covering the entire African-American community. News of our community just doesn't begin and end in middle class African-American communities. There needs to be a serious effort toward inclusive coverage of the entire spectrum of the AA community.

Because as someone who grew up around Black radio and knows the power of Black owned media, it's easier to tell your story when you own the printing press, the television show and the radio station as opposed to depending upon someone else with built in biases to honestly tell the story of your people for you.

Supreme Court Sistahs?

One of the reasons I definitely wanted President Obama in the Oval Office is because I recognized years ago the fact that we have several people old enough, especially on the liberal-progressive side who could retire and create Supreme Court vacancies.

If we got lucky one of those vacancies could open up on the conservative side and tip the balance back to the progressive side.

While I honestly believe that the Souter replacement nomination is going to go to a Latina and it's past time that a Latino/a get on the court, I think the nomination of an African-American woman to the Court is long overdue as well.

There are some well-qualified ones that should get that call, especially to counterbalance the self hatred of Uncle Thomas.

One who has been mentioned is current Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears. She became the first African-American woman to become a superior court judge in 1988. When she was appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court by Governor Zell Miller in 1992, she was the youngest person to sit on the Georgia Supreme Court.

On June 28, 2005 she made history again when she became the first African-American female chief justice anywhere in the United States when she was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Interestingly enough she has decided to retire from the Georgia Supreme Court at the end of her term in June 2009.

There's also another trailblazing sistah that President Obama can consider in Vicki Miles-LaGrange, the chief US district justice for the Western District of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma City native has the legislative experience he's looking for, having been the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate and serving in that body from 1986-1993 while conducting a private law practice.

She's not only served in the Department of Justice as a criminal trial attorney in Washington DC, she also prosecuted sex crimes as an Assistant DA in Oklahoma County.

She was nominated in September 1994 by President Bill Clinton and became the first African-American federal judge in the 10th District.

Then there's my personal favorite in Constance L. Rice, the second cousin of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

As the Co-Director of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund Los Angeles Office, Rice has filed class action civil rights cases redressing police misconduct, race and sex discrimination and unfair public policy in transportation, probation and public housing. Rice has led multi-racial coalitions of lawyers and clients to win more than $4 billion of injunctive relief and damages.

Talk about someone who would be the antithesis of Clarence Thomas.

There are other Supreme court quality sisters at various levels of the federal and state judiciary that we'll probably get to hear about in the next few years.

When that historic moment finally does happen, Thurgood Marshall can rest easy in the fact that the next African-American to take the bench will be light-years more worthy of building on his giant legal legacy.

2009 MissTiffany's Universe Pageant Coming Soon

Well peeps, it's that time again in Pattaya, Thailand.

The 2009 edition of the Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant will be held May 10-15. The 12th annual competition will be fierce when transwomen all over Thailand head to the Tiffany's Theater for the first round eliminations that will whittle the field down to the thirty girls that will compete over the next several days for the tiara.

The May 15 finals will be televised live on Thai TV.

As I've noted before, the Thais are serious about their beauty pageants, and the Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant is taken just as seriously as any other pageant in the Land of Smiles.

The winner gets a 100,000 baht cash prize, a Honda Jazz car, and prizes. She is also give the same national love and respect as the other Thai pageant winners in the major cisgender pageant circuits such as Miss Universe and Miss World.

The Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant also has in their mission statement some serious goals in terms of promoting human rights awareness and creating positive images for transwomen internationally. Some of the winners have gone on to bigger and better things in Thai society.

While people may debate whether a pageant is the right vehicle for that, one thing you can definitely count on is that neither pageant fails to get international news coverage.

The Miss Tiffany's Universe winner also represents Thailand in the Tiffany's Cabaret sponsored Miss International Queen pageant. The Miss Tiffany's Universe is for Thai transwomen only, while the Miss International Queen one is open to transwomen from around the world.

Last year politics intruded on the 2008 Miss International Queen pageant. It was canceled due to the Thai political drama that led to the international airport being shut down.

It not only put a severe crimp in the Thai tourist industry, it also kept 2008 winner Kangsadal Wongdusadeekul from competing against the rest of the world's transwomen. Because of last year's drama, Thailand will have two representatives in this year's Miss International Queen pageant.

With the new government in place, let's hope Thailand and its people get a long period of political stability.

It's also going to be interesting to see who emerges as the 2009 Miss Tiffany's Universe winner.

Alright Rockets! Beat LA!

My hometown NBA ballers did something in the playoffs they haven't done since 1997.

Won a first round NBA playoff series.

Yep, the TransGriot was living in her southwest Houston digs the last time my boys won a playoff series. Wednesday night they eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers by pasting a 92-76 beatdown on them in Game 6 to take the series 4 games to 2.

Ron Artest dropped 27 points in this game, with Yao Ming chipping in 17 points and snatching 10 rebounds while guard Aaron Brooks tossed in 13 to send the Rockets out of the first round winners for the first time in 12 years.

Their reward is to play the top seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. But before y'all write off my Houston homeboys, better check your NBA playoff history. We have a nasty habit of knocking off Number One seeded Laker teams, especially if they're wearing NBA crowns.

Exhibit A- 1981 NBA Playoffs. The 40-42 Rockets knock off the defending champion LA Lakers in the first round.



Exhibit B-The 1986 NBA Playoffs-The Rockets, armed with the Twin Towers, stunned the defending champion LA Lakers in the Western Conference finals by taking three straight games to win the series 4-1.



It would be fun for me to see an I-45 NBA Western Conference Final series between my Rockets and the Mavericks for the NBA State Championship.

The 1981 and 1995 I-10 Western Conference Finals series with the San Antonio Spurs were fun to watch, especially since my boys won the State Championship and continued to the NBA Finals. One of those first round series losses was courtesy of the Mavericks so revenge would be sweet in this case. But we have to get past the Lakers first and Dallas has to knock off a Number Two seeded Denver Nuggets team in order for that series to happen.

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? It would be a nice birthday present if the Rockets beat the Lakers in Game 1. Go Rockets!

Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!

Happy 25th Anniversary SBH!

This month marks the 25th anniversary of what has become an iconic publication for Black women in the US, Sophisticate's Black Hair.

It has also been an invaluable part of my transition as well.

Sophisticate's Black Hair or SBH as we fondly call it has had my undivided attention ever since I spotted the debut issue of it on my local Walgreen's magazine rack back home in May 1984. That debut issue had a smiling Jayne Kennedy Overton on the cover and quickly become the go to magazine when you were looking for anything Black hair related.

SBH was the brainchild of publisher James B. Spurlock. It was his dream to meld positive imagery, great journalism and a powerful 'Black Is Beautiful' message inside the pages of a magazine. While EBONY, JET and ESSENCE did the Black community's heavy lifting in that regard, there was a need for an SBH as well to sing and celebrate the praises of Black hair.

And 'sang' they did. As I flip through some of my old copies it was not only a cultural mirror of the times, it also serves as a style time capsule as well.

There have been a wide range of people that have graced the covers of SBH from Oscar winner Halle Berry to Tyra Banks to current fave Rihanna. There have been SBH interviews done with various Black women about their hair styling secrets that range from our various sistah Miss USA's to various actresses to the First Lady of the United States.

SBH also covers the wide range of hairstyles from bone straight to natural to locs, how to replicate them and take care of it at home in between the salon visits. It even offers advice and tips on the business side of it and advice from beauty experts.

When I was looking for a shorter hairstyle I perused multiple issues of it until I discovered one that fit me perfectly.

I also loved its ongoing mission of focusing on the beauty of Black women, and they even focus on Da Fellas from time to time. They will interview well known African-American men who will wax poetic sometimes on why they love sistahs or other issues.

And in every anniversary issue they name the 10 Best Styled Women of the Year as chosen in a poll of SBH readers.

I know you're curious, so here are SBH's 2009 Best Styled Women:

Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Beyonce, Tyra Banks, Queen Latifah, Halle Berry, Ciara (take that haters), Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson.

So congrats SBH for 25 wonderful years of singing the praises of the beauty of Black women and our hair, and may the next 25 years be just as spectacular.

Justice David Souter Plans To Retire

It's been a bad week for the Repugnican Party, and the news just got worse.

Justice David Souter, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, after 19 years on the Supreme Court plans to retire at the end of this session in June or when his successor is confirmed.

This gives President Obama his first chance to select a younger Supreme Court justice for the liberal-progressive wing of the court. They can definitely use it since Justice Stephen Breyer is 70, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 76 and Justice John Paul Stevens is 89. Souter at age 69 was the baby of the group.

So who will President Obama choose?

I think it will be either a Latino/a or an Asian, since neither group has never had a person from their particular ethnic groups on the Court. Latino/a's were critical to the president's election, and he needs to show them some love. There is also sentiment to have a woman appointed to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

There will be pressure to add another African-American to the court to not only cancel out Clarence Thomas. There has also never been an African-American woman selected as a Supreme Court justice either.

The conservative wing isn't exactly a bunch of spring chickens either. Antonin Scalia is 73, Anthony Kennedy is 70, Clarence Thomas is 60, Samuel Alito is 59 and Chief Justice John Roberts is 54.

Judging by the age of the members of the court, it looks like he'll have some additional opportunities to make Court appointments as his first presidential term moves along.

Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill Passes House!

"I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance." President Barack Obama

As we've stated for a decade, a hate crimes bill would pass with transpeople in it and did!

On Wednesday the Democratic-controlled United States House passed on a 249-175 vote and sent to the Senate the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, also known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill.

"Hate crimes motivated by race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and identity or disability not only injure individual victims, but also terrorize entire segments of our population and tear at our nation's social fabric," House Democratic Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said while urging the bills passage.

The current law which was enacted forty years ago limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin.

The bill broadens the original law by classifying as hate crimes those attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability.

The Senate version of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) who stated the legislation is "long overdue" and "hate crimes are especially poisonous."

"They are acts of domestic terrorism that target whole communities, not just individuals," he said. "This bill will bring greater protection to our citizens and much-needed resources for state and local law enforcement to fight these vicious crimes."

Other sponsors of the Senate bill include Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (D-PA). A Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson said she didn't know when the committee would take up the legislation.

Let's savor this historic event, ensure it passed the Senate and let's get cracking on ENDA.