Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!

Today is Valentines Day.

For those of y'all who put a ring on it, are about to, or have hooked up with that special someone, it's a wonderful day filled with love and romance for you.

For people like myself who are still single, different story. We're buying our own chocolate and taking ourselves to dinner.

At any rate, I'm not hatin' on you coupled peeps, just envious that you were fortunate enough to find someone to share your lives with and I wish you the best.

Here's a link to some of my past Valentine's day musings as I continue to scarf up my chocolate and play my Luther CD's

Now where's that chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?

There PETA Goes Again

PETA's at it again with their nekulturny behavior in terms of selecting their 2010 worst dressed celebrity list.

The same geniuses who brought you Klan hoods at the Westminster dog show and 'nekkid' women to protest fur couldn't stay away from disrespecting the sistahs for continuing to wear them.

They already been warned upfront what will happen if they even attempt to try to damage fur coats owned by Kelis or Mary J. Blige, and I see they haven't felt froggy enough to make that leap.

But back to the latest PeTA hijinks that will have me heading at warp speed to partake of some yardbird or whatever meat du jour I feel like scarfing up.

In the process of selecting their 2010 worst dressed list, they've added some disrespectful commentary toward the sistahs.

There's no love lost between Aretha Franklin and PeTA, and this is the comment they left under the picture of the Queen of Soul rocking her fur.

Finally: footage proving that Bigfoot really does exist!

They had this to say about Rihanna, who's been sporting an array of furs with increasing regularity. They had to go there and try to link her personal drama with their BS.

You'd think that being a victim of violence would have opened Rihanna's heart to the suffering of others—like the animals who were beaten, drowned, and electrocuted for her fur coats. Girl, you've got beautiful eyes: Use them to see the pain and suffering your wardrobe causes.

PETA, how about opening your clueless eyes to your insensitive, bigoted, racist, sexist, and (fill in the blank) commentary?

You also need to heed what Aretha told your clueless behinds a while ago.

please mind your own friggin business..... and then just maybe, when PETA gives an iota about the human race...maybe we can chat...

love and kisses, Aretha

The Vancouver Games Begin

They got off to a sad start with the unfortunate death of a Georgian luger during a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre Friday morning, but the XXI Winter Olympic Games are underway.

So is the athletic competition that we'll be enjoying for the next two weeks. As a matter of fact, the ski jumping prelims took place before the opening ceremony.

With the start of these games, Vancouver with a population of 2 million now has the distinction of being the largest city to ever host a Winter Olympic games. This is also the first time that an opening ceremony was held indoors as well.

Governor General Michaelle Jean declared the games opened as the honor of the lighting the cauldron fell to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, NBA baller Steve Nash, and Olympians Catriona Le May Doan and Nancy Greene Raine.

The ceremony went flawlessly until it was time to light the indoor cauldron, and one of the four arms failed to lift, leaving Catriona Le May Doan holding her torch as the other three pillars were lit.

Today was a drama filled day, but let's hope that the only drama from now until the February 28 closing ceremony is focused on the competition.

Winter Olympics: Why Team USA Is Nearly White As Snow

TransGriot Note: My latest piece for Global Comment

With the Vancouver Games starting today and it also being Black History month, I have pondered why we haven’t had as many excellent African-American winter Olympians as we consistently produce for the Summer Games. The Olympics, after all, mean a lot to me.

Whether they take place in the summer or winter, I’m parked in front of the television during that fortnight of competition. I get excited when I see the torch lighting ceremony happen in Greece and eagerly count the days down to the opening ceremonies in the host nation. I get a little emotional when the closing ceremonies occur and see the flame extinguished until the next Olympiad.

There are many reasons why I love the Olympics. For that two to three week period the Games are occurring we are literally one planet cheering the athletes no matter what nation they are from.

It’s unpredictable and controversial at times. Just ask the Russians and Americans about the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ or the 1972 USA-USSR basketball gold medal game in Munich. The Canadians, meanwhile, are still angry about Jamie Sale and David Pelletier being robbed of an 2002 pairs figure skating gold medal by shady judging.

You never know who the star athlete of that particular Games may be, which is why we have all been delighted by Michael Phelps in 2008, Nadia Comaneci in 1984, and Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.

The games are always a perfect blend of pageantry, history, high level sporting achievement, heartbreaking defeats, upsets, victory and high stakes drama all played out on an international athletic stage.

African-Americans have a long and distinguished history in Summer Games competition dating back to the 1904 St. Louis Games. George Poage not only was the first African-American competitor, he took two bronze medals in the 200m the 400m hurdles.

From Jesse Owens to Flo Jo to the Dream Team, it’s a long and proud history of sterling athletic achievement. But when it comes to the Winter Games, we’ve been invisible.

The Winter Olympics were first held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. It wasn’t until the 1980 Lake Placid Games that Willie Davenport and Jeff Gadley became the first African Americans ever to qualify for a US winter Olympic team. Davenport and Gadley were members of the USA 4 man bobsled team that finished 12th.

Davenport stated in a February 21, 1980 JET magazine interview,

“There is myth in this country that Blacks can’t make the American winter Olympic team. Jeff and I proved this to be wrong and that you don’t have to be rich and white to make it.”

The interesting footnote to this piece of sporting Black history is that Davenport was the 1968 gold medalist and 1972 bronze medalist in the 110m hurdles. He was also a five time Summer Olympian dating back to the 1964 Tokyo Games.

The first African-American Winter Games medalist was Dr. Debi Thomas, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 figure skating competition in Calgary. The first African-American winter gold medalist was Vonetta Flowers, who won it while competing in the 2 woman bobsled with Jill Bakken during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Four years later, in Torino, speedskater Shani Davis became the first African-American male ever to win a winter Olympic gold medal and the first to win an individual event Winter Olympic gold medal when he won the 1000m.

So why the imbalance of African-Americans in Winter and Summer Games participation?

There are several things factoring into the 84 year gap between the first medals awarded to African-American participants in the summer and winter Games.

One of the first is exposure. Many of the winter sports contested in the Olympics are dominated by Europeans and don’t get the type of television coverage in the States as they get overseas. If it’s not covered on TV in the States, that particular sport is virtually invisible to the casual US sports fan.

As Tiger Woods, Peter Westbrook and the Williams sisters have proven, if you see yourself represented on the screen in a non-traditional sport, kids will gravitate to it. There’s a wave of African American kids participating in golf, fencing and tennis as a result of the trailblazing efforts of those athletes. Since Shani Davis’ 2006 gold medal winning appearance in Torino, speedskating has witnessed an uptick in participation by African American kids wanting to be like Shani.

Contrary to Willie Davenport’s 1980 statement, money matters in making a winter Olympics team. Most winter sports require expensive outlays for equipment, training, and coaching. They also require access to facilities that are hundreds or thousands of miles from the urban areas where most African-Americans live.

Read the rest here.

Be Careful Who You Mess With

Transpeople as we are out and about in the world living our daily lives take a lot of crap. We suffer the slings and arrows from various institutions in society, our families, and sometimes even our own ostensibly friendly GL community.

That accumulated verbal and sometimes physical abuse takes a tool. We may not lash out at that moment, but when you least expect it, when we've had enough, we'll lash out at our tormentors no matter who they are.



We're only human in the fact that sooner or later, like a pot with a lid on it, those negative emotions will boil over and have to be released.

BTW, transgender don't mean punk. So for you peeps who think it's cool or you insecure ones who want to make yourselves feel more like a 'man' or woman' by jacking with transpeeeps, think again.

You never know what peeps have endured that day. If you think that transpeeps are going to meekly take your crap with minimal consequences to you, it may not turn out the way you expect.

Keep fracking with somebody that has a little more strength than the average cis female, is on estrogen, has had a bad day, and see what happens.

Shut Up Fool! Awards- Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies Edition

Tonight the XXI Olympic Winter Games Opening ceremonies will take place in Vancouver's BC Place Stadium.

It's the day they've been waiting for since they beat out Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, Korea on July 2, 2003 to become the host city for the games.

So from today until the closing ceremonies on February 28, Vancouver will be the center of the winter sports universe, and Renee will be watching my girls beat Team Canada in women's hockey.

USA! USA! USA!

Ahem, now back to our regularly scheduled post.

Since it's Friday, you know what means TransGriot readers. Time to discover which fool or fools won the gold medal for stupidity.

We're going to stick to an Olympic theme for the duration of the Games.

There were as usual too many fools in contention for this week's honors. Sarah Palin gets the bronze for mocking the president for using teleprompters, then getting caught with the old elementary school trick of writing notes on your hand during the Tea Klux Klan event in Nashville.

The silver goes to Tom Tancredo for his racist literacy test speech. If that were the case, most of the attendees at the Tea Party convention wouldn't pass it.

Our gold medallist this week? John Mayer.

Renee said all that need to be said about why in this Womanist Musings post.

But this line alone in the Playboy interview vaulted him to the gold medal for stupidity..

My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock.

John Mayer, shut the HELL up, fool.

Can Vancouver Top Beijing's Olympic Opener?

The Winter Olympics opening ceremonies will take place later tonight. The question that people around the world are asking is what will Vancouver do to top the awesome spectacle Beijing put on to open the 2008 Games.

It seems since 1992 the torch lighting ceremonies have gotten more spectacular from an archer being used to light the Olympic flame cauldron in Barcelona to Li Ning sky walking his way to the Beijing one.



That's the gold standard so far. Here's the one for Torino 2006.



So the big questions being asked are not only who will be the person or persons from Canadian Olympic history be who will light the Olympic flame, but how will they do it?

So I'm A 'Violent Racist', Eh?

I surfed over to Transadvocate and checked out an interesting post by Marti Abernathey.

She asserts that because Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss dares to speak the truth to power about the inaction on ENDA, the trans sellouts working with Gay, Inc to 'keep the trannies in line' and without civil rights coverage have already or will soon start a whisper campaign to discredit her inside the Beltway.

I rolled over on the floor laughing when I read what was said about moi in this whisper campaign:

Monica Roberts – violent racist

Yeah, right. Seems like I had no problem wandering into whatever congressional office I wanted to visit in 2007 and 2009.

As a matter of fact I got enough intel from the 2007 visits to the Hill that I sounded the alarm along with the people that were smeared about the disturbing news we'd heard that trans people were about to get cut out of the then-trans inclusive ENDA.

We dissenters were called 'crazy' by NCTE leadership and the claim went out that trans inclusion in ENDA was a 'slam dunk'.

Until October 2007 and that slam dunk clanged off the back of the Congressional rim.

To the person or persons who started that inside the beltway smear, this is what a 'violent racist' looks like:



Funny, they look like you and share YOUR ethnic heritage.

Just one point of correction on the whisper campaign as it pertains to moi, I’m also the ‘uppity n*****r’ as well as being labeled ‘racist’.

Better than being a vanilla flavored sellout to the Trans community any day.

By the way smearmongers, racism = prejudice plus power, and that's something you should have retained from Sociology 101.

I got better things to do than waste my valuable time and money trying to work with people who are kissing their oppressor's behinds and are too clueless, fearful, lazy and stupid to do anything about it.

When you're ready to pass some legislation that will help all segments of the GLBT community and not the 'we're just like you' neo-Mattachine crowd, call me.

Then again, maybe I should show up for an NCTE lobby day with an Afro, a black leather outfit and wear a black beret while I hold up a black gloved clenched fist and shout 'all power to the people' over a megaphone.

Yes, Jamaica Still Has A Bobsled Team

The Jamaican bobsled team made their competitive debut at the Calgary Games in 1988 and were immortalized in the movie Cool Runnings.

But what have they been up to since their auspicious turn on the Olympic competition world stage 22 years ago?

They made respectable showings in Calgary, the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville and are still competing on the World Cup circuit. Despite having little funding and substandard equipment, the Jamaicans still managed to get into the world Top 50 4 man sled rankings and give their longshot hopes of competing in Vancouver life.

They dearly wanted to return to the country where their program debuted in Olympic competition, but unfortunately when the competition gets underway that won't happen.

"We've been in battles for many, many years," Chris Stokes, a founding member of the Jamaican bobsled team more than 20 years ago, told The AP in a phone interview. "This is one more. But it's disappointing, no question about that. The guys worked really hard and did well. Not qualifying, it's by no means a failure. It's a step going forward.

They failed to qualify for the Vancouver Games, but they are still planning to be at the Whistler Sliding Centre if for no other reason than to give the team a taste of what an Olympics is like.

"It's very important for them to go and see," Stokes said. "They'll remember what the games are like and watch the start line of a four-man Olympic race and feel that adrenaline. I hope it acts as a motivation for them."

Jamaica is already setting their sights on competing in the 2014 Games in Sochi.

They are hopeful of adding more sleds and drivers and intend to offer retired US bobsled pilot and 2002 silver medalist Todd Hays a coaching position.

The three time Olympian was recently forced to retire after suffering a concussion following a December crash during a 4 man training run at a World Cup event in Winterberg, Germany.

Hays has lent the Jamaican federation equipment and his expertise in the sport.

"There are many things we can, and we will, do to improve our chances," Stokes said.

And hopefully we'll see the Jamaicans back at the 2014 Games as well.

Shipley's Donuts

I've discussed my love of iconic Houston centric foods on TransGriot. One of them I got reacquainted with when I went back home for the Christmas holidays was Shipley's Donuts.

Before Krispy Kreme even opened their first store in the Houston area, for 73 years Shipley's has been synonymous with donuts in H-town. They have expanded their reach beyond Houston and have 220 locations in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Some of the Shipley's locations have drive through windows in addition to being open 24 hours for all us night owls who wanted something to eat after leaving the club, on the way home from a late night at work.

So if I was fiending for a ham and cheese or sausage and cheese kolache at 3 AM or wanted a half dozen glazed donuts to eat when the mood struck me with my hot chocolate, no problem.

One of the Shipley's locations is just four blocks down the street from my grandmother's house on MLK Blvd near Loop 610. I needed some exercise and fresh air, so I decided to bounce from my grandmother's place for a few minutes and take a little stroll to grab a half dozen since I hadn't eaten them since 2000.

Yep, they were still as delicious as I remembered them,

I went back the day I was going to leave Houston to take some with me to eat on the bus ride back to Da Ville, but the moment I picked to purchase them they were out of glazed donuts. I was a little disappointed and didn't consider grabbing a few kolaches instead because I had my heart set on the donuts.

Oh well, they'll be waiting for me on my next visit home.

Louisville's 'LGBT Community In The 1980s' Forum To Be Held February 16

Louisville, 1981. The Humana Building was yet to be built. There was no Kentucky Center for the Arts. The Watterson Expressway was still a four-lane nightmare. The airport was an antiquated remnant of the 1950s called Standiford Field.

Old Louisville was still struggling to spiff itself up. Cardinal Boulevard was called Avery Street, and it was only two lanes. The tall apartment building across from the Confederate Monument was called Confederate Towers. Its address was on Confederate Place.

Belknap Campus was half the size it is today. There was no student center. Ekstrom Library was brand new. Where the athletic fields sit today, several low-lying warehouses and factories stood.

In that same year, what was Louisville’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community doing?

Metropolitan Community Church was nearing its 8th anniversary, and there were two small social and support groups. The city had two major gay bars: the Downtowner and the Badlands Territory (to be renamed the Discovery that year). And that’s it. No political groups, no health organizations, no other social or support groups, not even student groups: nothing.

Fast forward to the end of the decade.

In 1989, the LGBT community convinced the old Louisville Board of Aldermen to pass an ordinance banning discrimination against people with AIDS. In 1990, that same community convinced the Board of Aldermen to pass a hate crimes ordinance that included the category of sexual orientation (though not gender identity). In 1991, the Fairness Campaign was launched, initiating eight years of efforts before a local LGBT civil rights ordinance was finally passed.

What happened in Louisville’s LGBT community in the 80s that enabled such a decade of growth and progress in the 90s and beyond? Why the 80s, and not the 70s or the 90s? What lessons did the community learn in the 80s, what challenges? What victories did it have, and what defeats? In short, why was the community so sedate in 1981 and so noisy ten years later?

“Busting Out: Louisville ’s LGBT Community in the 1980s” hopes to answer those and other questions. Seven leaders from that era will participate in a forum to be held at Strickler Hall, Room 102, on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 from 7-9 PM . The public is invited to attend and ask questions.

For more information, contact Brian Buford at the University of Louisville’s Office for LGBT Services (brian.buford@louisville.edu) or David Williams, founder of the Williams-Nichols Archive and Library for LGBT Studies at the University of Louisville, at KyArchives@aol.com.

Olympic Heartbreak For Philip Boit

Three time Olympian Philip Boit had hoped to close out his Olympic cross country skiing career in Vancouver. Unfortunately he fell a heartbreaking two points shy of making it happen.

Philip Boit is the first Kenyan to compete in the winter Olympics and is the 38 year old nephew of Kenyan running legend and Olympian Mike Boit. Mike Boit was the 800m bronze medalist at the 1972 Munich Games.

Boit like his uncle was a middle distance runner but switched to cross country skiing and began training in Finland. In 1996 Nike began sponsoring him and he qualified for the lone 1998 Nagano Olympic spot available to Kenya for the 10k classic field.

He garnered international attention as the first Kenyan winter games athlete but finished 92nd and last in the 10K classic.

Gold medalist Bjorn Daehlie of Norway delayed his medal ceremony in order to greet Boit at the finish line with a hug. Boit was so moved by the gesture he named one of his sons Daehlie after him.

Nike dropped their sponsorship after the 1999 Nordic World Championships, but Boit continued to compete. He did dry training for two years in Kenya and qualified for the 2002 Salt Lake Games. His results were better in these games, finishing 64th in the sprint race in front of three other competitors and retired when the Games concluded.

The retirement was short lived and once again Boit put on his cross country skis to compete in the 2006 Torino Games. He once again finished 92nd in the 15k class race, but ahead of five other competitors.

He stated during a 2006 interview that Vancouver would be his last Olympics. But in the run up to Vancouver the International Ski Federation or FIS decided to tighten the qualifying standard from 500 points for the 15k sprint race to 300.

Boit did his best to make the new FIS standard. He had to battle visa restrictions, long expensive travel from his Finnish training area back home to Kenya, broken poles, drastic acclimatization, and illness but still managed to bring his FIS point rating down from 526 to just two points shy of the new standard.

But it wasn't good enough.

The Kenyan National Olympic Committee filed an appeal on his behalf with the FIS and the International Olympic Committee. FIS rules allow them to potentially draw athletes who have fallen outside of the qualifying standard when the quota of 310 athletes has not been met, but it was denied.

Boit will consider closing out his cross country skiing at the Nordic world championship, but it's a heartbreaking end to the Olympic career of a pioneering athlete.

Ghana's Snow Leopard Hopes To Take A Bite Out of The Olympic Competition

I am a big fan of the Olympic games, be it winter or summer variety.

One of the things about the nature of the winter Olympics is that you don't see many athletes of African descent competing in them very often.

In Calgary there were the Jamaican bobsledders in 1988 who were immortalized in the movie Cool Runnings and competed at Albertville in 1992. There was Kenyan cross country skier and three time Olympian Philip Boit competing in the 10K event at Nagano in 1998, in Salt Lake in 2002 and in Turin in 2006. Boit fell just two points short of the ISF qualifying standard of 300 points in order to compete in his fourth winter games.

In Vancouver, say hello to the Snow Leopard, aka Kwame Nkrumah Acheampong of Ghana.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but as a baby moved with his parents to his homeland. He returned to the UK in 2000 to attend college and while working at Milton Keynes he took a run down a 170 meter indoor ski slope that changed his life and got him hooked on the sport.

Since then Aceampong has made the remarkable self-financed leap from that indoor run to the World Cup ski circuit. He's been the only continental African on the World Cup tour since 2005 and barely missed qualifying for the 2006 Turin Games downhill race.

By March 2009 he'd reached his goal of qualifying for the Vancouver Games by getting his International Ski Federation rating down from over 1000 to the ISF qualifying standard of less than 140.

Qualifying was only the beginning. In addition to sticking to his training regimen, he had to do all the paperwork required to be recognized and registered by the Ghana Olympic Committee.

It wasn't easy for the Snow Leopard and there were some trying times along the way. Being self financed on the World Cup circuit meant there were many competitions in which he slept in his freezing cold van overnight.

When the men's giant slalom competition gets underway at Whistler on February 21, he will become the first person ever from Ghana to compete in the Winter Games. It's an even more remarkable feat considering the 34 year old has only been skiing for six years.

Aceampong is not only chasing Olympic gold in the giant slalom and slalom, he has another dream he's working hard to fulfill.

"As well as doing my best at the Olympics, I want to make an impact that leaves a legacy for future generations that will one day see the Ghana ski team as a serious competitor on the international stage."

You Don't Have The Right To Deny Me My Rights

No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.

Even though Thomas Jefferson didn't practice what he preached in his own life as a slaveholder, he was right on target as usual concerning this subject.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution contains many basic human rights we hold dear as American citizens. But nowhere in it does it say or even imply that the majority has the right to take away the civil rights of a minority group it despises.

But then again most of the peeps with that attitude never read the Constitution.

I fail to understand why some people arrogantly think that they should have a say in who does or doesn't get civil rights coverage, much less think they should vote on it.

Methinks they would have a very different opinion about the subject if it were their civil rights on the electoral chopping block.

One of the things I am really sick of is the use of referenda by conservatives to take away the civil rights of people they hate on. It's also more odious when they do so to drive their turnout to the polls in national election cycles.

This practice causes resentments to build up in the minority group targeted by that nefarious action, is counterproductive to building a unified and strong nation and should be banned.

No, you don't have the right to deny me my rights. Mine nor anyone's civil rights should be decided by the tyranny of the majority.

Miss Me Yet? Hell Naw!

This billboard is greeting passengers traveling along Interstate 35 near Wyoming, MN.

The people who paid for it are wishing to remain anonymous, but I have an answer to the question posed on the billboard.

Hell naw I don't miss Bush.

I'm proud to say I never fell for the 'compassionate conservatism' okey doke. I never voted for him as Texas governor nor for the presidency.

His disastrous stints as Texas governor and president proved many times over the wisdom of me voting for his opponents, and I'm glad the worst president ever is back in suburban Dallas.

Alexandra Billings Documentary

Alexandra Billings is another one of our iconic transwomen I'm looking forward to meeting one day. I'm looking forward to seeing her in 'Stealth' when it finally hits a multiplex near you.

While searching for trans themed videos I ran this documentary about her life entitled Schoolboy to Showgirl:PThe Alexandra Billings Story posted to YouTube.

Enjoy



Part 2



Part 3


Part 4

Shani's Drive For Five Is Down To Four

Was disappointed to learn that Shani Davis is not going to attempt to match Eric Heiden's feat of winning five Olympic gold medals in speedskating in a single Olympic games.

Davis decided to drop out of the 10,000 meters before the January 17 deadline to submit final entries to the International Skating Federation. His 10,000m slot will be filled by Jonathan Kuck.

Guy Thibault, the high-performance director at U.S. Speedskating stated "I'm sure Shani knew already that doing all five was a big thing. That was a big task to do,'' "He didn't want to close any doors, so he could see how things were going in training, before he decided he needs to cut one.

"I want Shani to be the best at what he does,'' Thibault said. "I would rather him focus on the distances he can do something in, instead of getting silver and skating everything.

Even though he's no longer competing in the 10,000m, he's still going to be a busy man in Vancouver. As the reining world champion in the 1000 and 1500 meters he's a favorite to win gold in the 1000 and 1500 and is considered an outside medal contender in the 500 and 5000.

And Shani's busy week in Vancouver starts Saturday with the 5000m.

Teabaggers, You Owe Great Britain A Lot Of Money!

TransGriot Note: I have no love for the racist white wing Teabagger movement. Saw this interesting post from Maura Hennessey which points out that if the Teabaggers continue to claim they are the heirs of the peeps who conducted the original 1774 Tea Party in Boston, there may be potential legal and fiscal consequences.

Teabaggers, you owe Her Majesty's Government a lot of money

Dear Teabaggers,
As a former counsel attached to the Chancellor's office, and having once represented the parent company of Messers Davison, Newman and Company, Ltd, I feel that it is my duty to my clients to bring to your attention the following facts:

You claim to be the legal heirs, as well as the moral heirs, to a group of gentlemen who illegally trespassed upon the merchant ship Fortune, a brigantine then commanded by Benjamin Gorsham, Master and carrying a mixed cargo, including Twenty Eight Teak Chests containing Tea, the lot consigned to Mr Henry Lloyd of Boston Massachusetts, a merchant.

These gentlemen committed the following illegal act on the Seventh of March, the 1774th year of the Common Era and the Thirteenth Year of the Reign of HRM King George III of happy memory, to wit: They did trespass upon Fortune, breaking into the hold, and brought the tea onto the decks where they broke the chests and spilled them into the Charles River.

Of this shipment, Sixteen Chests were the property of Davison, Newman & Co, Tea Merchants and Importers, London. Said Sixteen Chests and their Contents were insured by Messers Peregrine Cust, James Bradley, Charles Harris, Robert Thornton and William Greenwood who wrote a policy with themselves holding the Risk at Lloyds signed and effective upon the Twenty Third of December in the year 1773.

Messers Cust, Bradeley paid to the policy holders Messers Davison, Newman & Co the sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, the agreed and insured value of the Sixteen Teak Chests and their Contents.

Messers Cust, Bradley et al did therefore petition His Royal Majesty for relief, successfully, with His Majesty's Government covering the expenses and levying a tax to recover said expenditures upon the responsible individuals.

Owing to the subsequent unpleasantness in the Americas between 1775 and 1783, this amount was not reimbursed in spite of it being legally levied in response of the willful destruction of private property.

Therefore, the responsibility for the payment of said amount devolves upon the legal heirs and assigns of said perpetrators, which you freely claim to be.

Said legal heirs currently include Ms Sarah Palin, Mr Glenn Beck and the membership of an Organisation known as "Tea Party Patriots"

On behalf of the Government of Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, etc, the successor to the Government of His Late Royal Majesty George the Third, I petition and demand that the owed sum of Four Hundred Eighty Pounds Sterling, legally levied in the Year 1774 be paid with suitable interest, said sum in current monetary value now being the equivalent of $8,924,601,649.92 reckoned at six percent per annum.

I remain your Obedient Servant,
Maureen Eileen Hennessey, Q.C.
On behalf of Her Majesty's Government

Transsister Slams Trans Community Bigotry Aimed At Black Transwomen

I've talked about and written commentaries slamming the 'Black Transwomen Are Ugly' meme that keeps popping up like kudzu in the blogosphere and beyond.

While searching through YouTube this weekend for fresh trans related video, I stumbled across this video from a transsister who was letting somebody have it about a 'Top 100 Ugly Black Transsexuals' video posted on YouTube (that I haven't found yet).

You know if I do, somebody's getting called out. But while I'm searching for that video bigotry aimed at Black transwomen, enjoy this YouTube takedown of it by a biracial transwoman about it.

When Will African American Trans People Be Able To Tell Our Stories On HBCU Campuses?

One of the things I and other transsisters enjoy doing is telling the story of African descended trans people to college students around the nation.

Since only one side of the story has been told for the last 50 plus years, it is a joy to pass along our knowledge to students, administrators, and instructors eager to learn more about transgender issues from our unique chocolate flavored vantage point.

But while we African descended trans people deeply appreciate the opportunities that we get to do so, one thing that bothers us is the fact that we are primarily holding these discussions at predominately white institutions.

I've been doing these trans oriented panel discussions for collegiate groups for more than a decade, and I have yet to do one on a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) campus.

The histories of HBCU institutions are deeply linked with the history of our people. Some of our best and brightest minds and historical figures have graduated from HBCU campuses. Ground breaking research benefiting all Americans has happened on campuses such as Tuskegee University.

But one area HBCU's are sorely lacking in is understanding what's up with African descended GLBT people. The transphobic and homophobic incidents that have occurred on various HBCU campuses in the last two decades point out the pressing need to dispel some misconceptions about who and what we are. Some of my African descended peeps could definitely use the face time with transpeople to dispel the faith based lies they're being fed about us as well.

Not being able to or being extended the invitation to do trans presentations on HBCU campuses is wounding on another level as well. We have seen our white brothers and sisters get routinely invited in the same time period to do these collegiate discussions, and it hurts when we see there aren't similar efforts taking place at HBCU's.

That bothers me and other proud African descended trans people. We get the perception that we are being unfairly rejected by our people. But we know having the gender issues dialogue is too important to let slide and we aren't giving up.

HBCU's are currently educating our next generation of business leaders, doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers and yes, politicians. Students at HBCU's need to be exposed to our lives as well, especially in light of the fact that many of my people are willfully ignorant about trans issues.

But the point we will continue to make is that we did not give up our Black Like Me cards when we transitioned. Some of us graduated from HBCU campuses and we have much to offer the African descended community in terms of our talents and expertise. If HBCU's such as Howard can bring people such as Black conservative and RNC chair Michael Steele to their campuses to speak, what's stopping them from doing the same with African descended transpeople?

For us to have forward momentum as African descended trans people, we must begin breaking down that wall of ignorance in our community. HBCU's will play a key role in making that happen. African descended trans people are more than willing to do our part by candidly speaking about our lives.

But you have to meet us halfway so we can start that dialogue.