2012 Texans Watch-On To Foxborough!

The Texans over the month of December have not exactly shown us Houston fans they are the same squad that swaggered and dominated NFL competition through the first 12 games of the season. 

They entered their playoff game with an outlook as cloudy as the rainy overcast Houston weather that kept Reliant Stadium's roof closed and a fan base that had seen far too many of these NFL seasons that got our civic hopes up but ultimately crashed and burned for our local NFL franchise.

Well, the Texans have been saying all year they wanted to slay some demons and make new and wonderful NFL history for our city.  They took the first step in their road to the Super Bowl in their deja vu rematch with a Cincinnati Bengals squad that had won seven straight and wanted to slay a demon of its own in terms of not having won a playoff game in 22 years.

In front of a record crowd of 71,738 that included former Oilers great Earl Campbell the Bulls on Parade showed up Saturday along with a Texans offense at its clock controlling best.   They held the ball for nearly 39 minutes as Arian Foster rushed 32 times for 140 yards and a touchdown.


They are still having issues finishing drives with touchdowns as Shayne Graham's four field goals attests to.  It didn't help that Matt Schaub threw a pick six in the second quarter for a brief 7-6 Bengal lead but followed it up with a drive that led to a Graham field goal that put them up at the break 9-7.

But with the Bulls on Parade forcing turnovers and not allowing the Bengals a single third down conversion, the Texans sent the Bengals packing again with a nerve wracking 19-13 win.   

They now earn a return trip to Foxborough to play a rested New England Patriot squad that embarrassed them on national TV 42-14 last month to start their four game funk and that no one outside of Loop 610 thinks they can beat.   In fact the early Vegas line has them as 9 point underdogs.

We'll see next Sunday.

2012 TransGriot NFL Picks-Wild Card Weekend

The regular season prognostication contest between myself and Mr. Watts is over, and it came down to the last week and the last game of the 2012 NFL season.  

Specifically the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Redskins one.   I went with RG3, Mike went with TR3 (Tony Romo, three interceptions).  I prevailed by one game after having as much as a seven game lead during the season. 

Best of all, I have the bragging rights over my fellow Texan until we crank this NFL prognostication competition up in September 2013 with me as defending champion.  

Week 17 records 
TransGriot  11-5
Mike Watts 10-6

2012 Final Season Records
TransGriot  163-92-1
Mike Watts 162-93-1

Speaking of champions, the road to next month's Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans gets started with Wild Card weekend.  Just to keep my championship NFL prognostication skills sharp I'll predict who I think will come out on top in these playoff games like last year all the way until the Super Bowl on February 3.  If Mike Watts puts his picks up on his blog I'll link to them as well. 

So let's get started with the 2012-13 TransGriot NFL playoff predictions, shall we? . 


Saturday NFL Wild Card Playoff Games 

Cincinnati at Houston

My 12-4 hometown NFL ballers weren't supposed to be playing this weekend.   They were 11-1 and had a stranglehold on the number one seed for the entire AFC playoffs until they dropped three of their last four games to play their way into Wild Card weekend. 

That means they stumbled their way into a deja vu rematch of their 2012 NFL wild card playoff matchup with the Bengals.   

And yeah, Mr Watts and the media had to bring up a painful memory for longtime Houston NFL fans. January 3 was the 20th anniversary of the Oilers playoff collapse against Buffalo that sowed the seeds of NFL civic discontent that led to them moving to Nashville in 1996.

Meanwhile the 10-6 Bengals enter this deja vu rematch on a bit of a roll   They won three of their last four and seven of their last eight in the second half of the season with only a 20-19 loss to Dallas on December 9 marring their record.  Houston area homeboy Andy Dalton will be motivated to flip the script of last year's playoff game and end their playoff futility streak.  The Bengals haven't won a playoff game since 1990. (ironically against against the Oilers) .

However, this game is being played at Reliant Stadium and the AFC South champion Texans, with 8 Pro Bowlers on this squad, are more than a little pissed off about their play down the stretch and making their NFL road to New Orleans harder.   This will be Matt Schaub's first playoff game as the Texans QB and he will be motivated to play well and show he is worthy of his Pro Bowl selection after a lousy December.  So will future defensive MVP JJ Watt and the Bulls on Parade defense. 

Despite what the NFL national pundits and haters like Shannon Sharpe and Keyshawn Johnson say, Texans in this one. 

Minnesota at Green Bay

The 10-6 Vikings won their last four games to edge the Bears for a playoff spot and beat Green Bay at Mall of America Stadium 37-34 in their 2012 regular season finale to get in.  They have the NFL's leading rusher in Adrian Peterson, who missed breaking Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record of 2105 by 9 yards.  AP has compiled 210 and 199 yard games in both NFC North divisional encounters with the Packers which the teams split.   

But the 11-5 Packers are playing this rubber match at Lambeau Field and have Aaron Rodgers on their sideline.  The Packers were 6-2 in the second half of the season and the NFC North Champs are getting healthy on the defensive side at the right time.  Peterson will probably rush for another 150 plus yards on the less than stellar Packers rushing defense, but if Vikings QB Christian Ponder doesn't play as well as he did last weekend and Aaron Rodgers is at his usual MVP level, it won't matter how many yards AP gains because their season will be over. 

Packers to take this one

Sunday NFL Wild Card Playoff Games


Indianapolis at Baltimore

Intriguing game on many levels.   The precocious rookie dominated Colts team that went 6-2 down the stretch and 9-3 under interim coach Bruce Arians as Pagano was on medical leave versus the injury plagued AFC North champion Ravens 4-4 second half season record.

Chuck Strong vs the Ravens being motivated to play well for their inspirational leader in LB Ray Lewis. 

Lewis announced he is retiring after a stellar NFL career, has an ESPN commentary job waiting when he does and returned for the playoffs after spending most of the season rehabbing a torn tricep muscle.   

There's the interesting note that this is the first time the 11-5 Colts will be playing a playoff game in Baltimore since sneaking out of town under cover of darkness to move to Indianapolis in 1984.  Longtime Ravens fans still haven't forgiven or forgotten that episode..  

You have the dynamic of former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell who is now the Ravens offensive coordinator. Chuck Pagano, the guy hired to replace Caldwell, spent several seasons in Baltimore and was the Ravens defensive coordinator prior to taking the Colts job

It's Houston homeboy Andrew Luck's first ever playoff game versus the inconsistent but playoff battle tested Joe Flacco.   They have quick strike capability with speedy rookie WR TY Hilton, veteran Reggie Wayne and a defense with playoff vets Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis still terrorizing NFL quarterbacks.    

But the Angry Birds have the playoff experience and made it to the AFC Championship game last year.  Can their defense carry this team one more time for their leader before he hangs it up or will Indy's youth be served before a hostile M&T Bank crowd?   And yeah, which Joe Flacco will show up?   How many carries will Ray Rice get? .  

Ravens will be motivated to win this one for Ray, the M&T Bank Stadium crowd will be fired up, and it will be the Ravens in a close one.


Seattle vs Washington

The most anticipated playoff game of the weekend involves two rookie quarterbacks spectacularly leading their teams in Rookie of the Year candidates Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III

2011 Heisman trophy winner RG3 is all that and four bags of chips.  Thanks to a 7-1 stretch run Griffin led the Redskins to a 10-6 record and their first NFC East title since 1999.  Seattle also went 7-1 in the second half of the season to finish 11-5.  One of those games was a 42-13 beat down of the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field mere days after the Niners beat the New England Patriots in Foxborough.

The Seahawks defense is slightly better and especially their defensive secondary.   The Redskins D-line, like Seattle's has caused teams headaches during the second half of the season.   The Redskins offense is explosive and has rookie running back sensation Alfred Morris along with wide receivers Santana Moss and Pierre Garçon to complement RG3's world class sprinters speed.  

Seattle's offense isn't slouchy either.  Wilson is a better than average runner, and you have RB Marshawn Lynch and WR Golden Tate to throw into the offensive mix.  

The Seahawks were the only team to run the table at home, and two of the teams they beat there in addition to the 49ers were the New England Patriots (24-23) and the Green Bay Packers in that controversial 14-12 'Fail Mary' game that hastened the merciful end of replacement refs calling games.

But this playoff game will be at FedEx Field, it will be jumping, and we should be hearing 'Hail To The Redskins' when this close one is over.  

Redskins to win this one.

Justice For January Rally Tonight

I posted about January Marie Lapuz, one of the girls like us in the Vancouver area who was loved and respected in the community being murdered in her New Westminster, BC home on September 29th of last year.  
Charles Neel, the person who is alleged to have committed the crime was arrested on December 5 and charged with her murder. 

Later today the Vancouver trans community and their allies will have a rally starting at 4 PM PST in support of January.  They will gather at the New Westminster City Hall and march to the New Westminster Provincial Courthouse in a call for justice for January Lapuz and in opposition to the release of Charles Neel.   

Activists at this rally will call on the Canadian federal and British Columbia provincial governments to immediately enshrine human rights protections at the federal and the provincial level in BC for all gender variant, transgender, transsexual, two spirit, intersexual, and other individuals.  

They will also call for general reform and improvement of BC's Trans Health Program, and ending the mistreatment of Canada's transgender and gender variant citizens.

Good luck and hope you have a sizable turnout for this event.

TPOCC 2013 New Year's Message

And we're off!!! Just weeks ago we stood with LGBT leaders at the White House and vowed to make 2012 the last year in U.S. history where our Trans & Gender Non-Conforming brothers and sisters would be treated like second class citizens. We meant it! This year, with your help we plan to continue our fight for justice in every area disproportionately affecting our black and brown people. Now, we can't do it alone. Just as I testified before the Senate & asked for the passing of ENDA, I'm asking you for your continued support and donations to the Trans People of Color Coalition. You can stand in solidarity with us today by pledging a monthly donation of either $20.13 or $13 to ring in the new year. And of course, if you can give more, we appreciate every penny. Warmest Regards, Kylar W. Broadus, Esq. Executive Director Trans People of Color Coalition

©2013 Trans People Of Color Coalition | National Headquarters, Washington, DC 20012

TransGriot Note: Photo is of TPOCC Executive Director Kylar Broadus and Steering Committee member Cecilia Chung attending the 2012  LGBT Reception at the White House. (Courtesy Photo) TPOCC wishes you unity & prosperity & look forward to working with you in this new year!

Shut Up Fool Awards-First Shut Up Fool Of 2013 Edition

Happy New Year!  Hope you didn't celebrate too hard and you made New Year's resolutions you're going to at least try to make a reality in 2013.

Another year and this is the first of 52 weekly winners of my TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.  As you longtime readers know, every week without fail I highlight the fool, fools or group of fools that have exhibited jaw dropping stupidity, hypocrisy and ignorance that I have just got to call them out on. 

So let's get the 2013 Shut Up Fool! party started.

Honorable mention number one is the 15 and 16 year old Northern California teens who drugged one girl's parents with milkshakes from an unnamed fast food restaurant so they could use the Net after 10 PM.  

Only the fact these girls were juveniles saved their behinds from adult prison time. 

The girls thought the parents no Internet after 10 PM policy was 'too strict'    If they thought that was too strict, wait until they get out of juvenile hall.   Not only is the belt probably waiting for their azzes (if that part didn't happen already, they're probably looking at even more draconian parental Internet control.  

Honorable Mention number two is Wisconsin state Senator Glenn Grothmann (R), who got himself in hot water by stating that 'almost no Black people care about Kwanzaa, just White Left Wingers'

Glenn, last stats I saw concerning Kwanzaa indicate that up to 4 million African-Americans celebrate the holiday, and others like myself do acknowledge its existence.

This week's first Shut Up Fool for 2013 is a group award for the House Republicans.   They failed to renew the Violence Against Women Act for the first time since 1994, pass 60 billion in funding for Hurricane Sandy victims, still kissing up to the NRA on gun legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, and still think the only thing they need to correct about Republican campaigns for national office is soften the conservative message.

Really?   This week said loud and clear you're kissing the NRA's rumps, you still are hatin' on women, and you just told the Northeastern US, a region that provides you with much campaign cash, to screw themselves in their hour of federal funding need.

They are also threatening another showdown over the debt limit in their 70 plus year quest to kill Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Is November 2014 here yet?

House Republicans, shut up Fools!    

Welcome Back Rep Alan Grayson!

One of the other cool things about the opening of the 113th Congress yesterday is the return of Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) to the Democratic caucus..

I'm so happy to see Rep Grayson back.   We've needed somebody on the liberal-progressive side inside the Beltway who isn't 'scurred' to call out the Republifools and stand up proudly for our policy ideas and principles. 

Check out his first interview on Rev. Al's Politics Nation since returning to DC in which he accuses the GOP of 'legislative terrorism' ion the debt ceiling issue. 




Welcome back Rep Grayson.  This time I hope your stay in Congress is much longer than just two years.

Tom DeLay Sentenced To 3 Years In Jail

You've probably read posts of mine about Texas politics in which I have mentioned the Delaymandering, the (illegal) midyear redistricting of Texas that happened after the Pest Control Man and two associates solicited $190,000 in corporate contributions in the 2002 election cycle to get control of the Texas House.


His Texans For A Republican Majority political pac then sent the corporate cash to an inside I-495 arm of the Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Republican Texas House candidates. Under Texas law it is illegal for corporate money to go directly to political campaigns.

Once the GOP got control of the Texas Legislature for the first time in modern Texas history, they pushed through in 2003 what I call the Delaymandering, the Tom DeLay engineered midyear redistricting plan that not only radically altered Texas congressional districts to send more Republicans to Congress, it also redrew the state legislative and state senate lines to produce Republican supermajorities.

And of course, the GW Bush controlled DOJ looked the other way at the obvious Section V violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

DeLay was found guilty in a Travis County courtroom in 2010 and was facing two to 20 years in prison on the felony conspiracy charge and five to 99 years or life on the money laundering charge

The sentence got handed down, and Dick DeGuerin is worth every dime he paid him.   DeLay got sentenced to three years in the slammer for the felony conspiracy charge and five years for the money laundering.

The folks in heavily blue Travis County are still dealing with the fallout of his political handiwork and would probably disagree with this sentence.  The city of Austin has 750,000 people and deserves its own congressional district.  In DeLay and the Texas Republican Party's zeal to draw Rep Lloyd Doggett (D) out of Congress, the city is split between five separate congressional districts, four of which are held by Republicans that don't live there.

The other people glad to see justice prevailing in this case are the legions of liberal-progressive and moderate Texans.  We're still politically paying for the 2002 DeLay engineered political shenanigans that unleashed fools like Rep. Louie Gohmert on the nation. 

Facing Race 2012 Panel-Race And Gender In The 21st Century

Definitely wish I could have been a part of this panel discussion at the Facing race Conference that was held in Baltimore.  The panel tackled the subject of race and gender in the 21st Century and included Janat Mock.  

113th Congress Starts Today

The 113th Congress starts today with the Democrats gaining ground thanks to the 2012 election.  There will be 200 Democrats and 233 Republicans in this Congress with the seat of resigned Illinois Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr to be determined in an April 9 special election.

The 113th Congress will run from today until January 3, 2015 with the eagerly anticipated on our side November 2014 midterm election at the end of it. 

As always, there's history being made with the opening session of the most diverse so far Congress in US history.

There are 84 freshmen in the 113th Congress, 49 Democrats (33 men, 16 women) and 35 Republicans (32 men, 3 women). This year's Freshman House class includes the first Hindu elected to Congress in Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress in the person of Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)

Speaking of women, in the House, the 113th Congress will have the most female officeholders ever with 100 women in both parties serving in the House and Senate.  In addition to the 80 female House members of both parties serving their various districts there will be a record 20 women serving in the US Senate..  

The Democrats will be the first party ever to have more women and non-white members serving in their caucus than white males.  There will be 43 African-American members of Congress pending what happens in the Illinois special election and one* in the Senate    There will also be a record number of 30 Latinos coming to Capitol Hill as well with 3 serving in the Senate.

There are seven total LGBT members of Congress including for the first time ever a senator in the person of  Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  Hopefully one day I'll be writing about the first trans member of Congress, but for now the 'T' isn't part of the LGBT congressional delegation.

On the Senate side, the Democrats retained control of the Senate and thanks to two independent senators caucusing with them in Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) will have a 55-45 edge 

As far as the 113th Congress leadership goes, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) will remain Senate Majority Leader, Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will remain as Senate Minority Leader.   In the House Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will remain the House Minority Leader but as to who will claim the Speaker of the House gavel is questionable on the GOP side with current speaker John Boehner (R-OH) being in serious trouble with he conservative movement and his rebellious caucus.

It also remains to be seen if the Democrats take their opportunity to change the filibuster rule today.  hope they do after the way the GOP has been abusing it for the last few years.  

Will definitely be tuned into the political drama inside I-495 when this 113th Congress starts.

Stand Your Ground Law Needs To Die, Not Our Kids

Jet magazine in its nearly six decades of publication has had many prominent African-Americans in the worlds of business, politics, sports and the entertainment world on its covers. 

It has had a long proud history of chronicling the inhumanity aimed at our people and especially our children..  Jet published in September 1955 the pictures of Emmitt Till's swollen, disfigured body lying in his open casket during his funeral.   Those photos are credited with galvanizing our community around the Civil Rights Movement and fueling our determination to see it through. 

At the newsstands this week will be the latest issue of Jet with Jordan Davis on the cover and an interview with his distraught parents

We're probably on the cusp of seeing the 21st century's 'Emmit Till moment' in the African-American community in terms of being sick and tired of being sick and tired of our kids dying at the hands of another proud accomplishment of the National Rifle Association, the Kill Black People With Impunity Stand Your Ground Laws.

The latest incident in Florida in which a Black teenager died at the hands of a white male assailant now claiming the 'stand your ground' defense is transpiring in Jacksonville, FL.

17 year old Jordan Davis was on his way home minding his own business along with two friends in their SUV outside a Jacksonville gas station November 23 listening to rap music after shopping at the mall during the after Thanksgiving Black Friday sales.  

46 year old Michael Dunn parked in the space next to the vehicle along with his fiance Rhonda Rouer to attend a wedding when they stopped at the store to buy a bottle of wine before returning to their hotel.  They parked next to the SUV containing Davis and his three friends as Rouer went into the store to buy wine to take back to their hotel room.. 

Dunn confronted the teens about their music and demanded they turn it down.   The teens responded by cranking up the volume and according to Dunn's attorney threatened him.   Dunn grabbed his gun out of his glove compartment, claimed he saw a shotgun in the SUV and fired eight to nine shots at the SUV that struck Davis who was sitting in the backseat before driving off. 

Police found no weapon in the teen's vehicle and Dunn was arrested a day later, charged and indicted on December 13 for the first degree murder of Jordan Davis.   Dunn of course is hiding behind the 2005 Stand Your Ground law that Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) and his task force claim there's nothing wrong with.

Tell that bull feces to the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.  70% of the people who claimed the Stand Your Ground defense went free despite the fact that in 200 cases that were analyzed by the Tampa Bay Times, the defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim — and still went free.

And I guess Stand Your Ground doesn't work for Black people.  Marissa Alexander is doing 20 years in a Florida jail because she fired a warning shot at an abusive husband who admitted he has a domestic violence history and threatened to kill her during an altercation. 

And bottom line, loud music is no reason to whip out your gun and kill a 17 year old kid.  But as Jason Whitlock correctly stated when he commented on the Belcher-Perkins murder-suicide last month,

"Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

 And as Melissa Harris Perry pointed out, when you're a Black male, being who are is threat enough.  

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It's obvious to everyone but the fetishistic vanillacentric privileged gun sales pimps of the NRA that their Kill A POC Kid With Impunity law has got to go.  Jordan's parents Lucia McBath and Ron Davis now know what Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are going through.   They are vowing to lead the effort to push for federal action to take down the Stand Your Ground Laws in Florida (and 25 other states) that took his life, and we need to join them in that crusade before someone you love is the next victim of it.

The Stand Your Ground Law needs to die, not our kids.  

May Be A While Before We See A Trans Miss Universe

While trans women aged 18-27 now have the opportunity starting this year in the Miss Universe pageant system to enter the pageant and become Miss Universe (and those of us beyond competition age are happy for you) bear in mind it may take a few years before you not only see a trans Miss USA crowned, but a trans Miss Universe.

The Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants have been around since 1952, but it took until 1977 for an African descended woman to win Miss Universe (Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago) and an African-American woman until 1995 (Chelsi Smith) to win both the Miss USA and Miss Universe titles.

And Texas bragging alert, Chelsi was from the Houston metro area as well.

As far as the Miss USA color line goes, Jayne Harrison made it to the top 15 as Miss Ohio in 1970.  Future Oscar winning actress and another Miss Ohio Halle Berry fell just short of making that history as a first runner up for the Miss USA crown in 1986. 

Four years later Carole Gist achieved that historic breakthrough win as the first ever African-American Miss USA.  She was also the first ever African-American Miss Michigan USA and nearly made it a clean sweep as the first ever African-American Miss Universe. 

Gist finished first runner up in the 1990 Miss Universe competition later that year in Los Angeles.  

So American trans family, be prepared for a possibly long wait until we see a trans woman crowned Miss USA or Miss Universe.  While many of the national Miss Universe pageants will accept the new open competition rules, there are some notable transphobic holdouts such as Mexico and Venezuela. 

But the bottom line as Jenna Talackova proved last year, to have a chance to win your national crown and be in the Miss Universe mix you have to be in the competition in the first place. 

For an American trans woman, first she would have to win her statewide pageant to get to the Miss USA stage, then win that pageant to get to Miss Universe.  If you live in competitive and populous pageant states like California or Texas that's a tall order. 

Those two states combined have won it 15 times with the Texas rep winning it 9 times.  If that transwoman is a Texan, she will find herself in a pageant that has more contestants in it than Miss USA (51) or Miss Universe (70-90 on average).  There have been years in which the Miss Texas USA pageant has had over 100 women competing in it.

The odds get a little longer if that transwoman in question also happens to be a transwoman of color. 

If that is your dream trans woman of color, go for it.  Prove me wrong.   Nothing would make me happier than to write the post announcing you to the world as a Miss Universe pageant winner and seeing current Miss Universe Olivia Culpo or a future one crown you.. And don't forget, they offer you a college scholarship along with all those cool prizes and that one year contract.  

And as Crystle Stewart and others former titleholders can tell you, it can lead to other media opportunities as well.

I'm hearing that some transwomen in various countries may attempt to enter their national pageants in order to qualify for Miss Universe 2013 and I wish them the best of luck in doing so.  

But seeing a transwoman wear that crown may take a while.     


TransGriot Note: First photo is Janelle Commissiong  middle one is Halle Berry, and the last photo is of former Miss USA and Miss Texas USA Crystle Stewart wearing her Miss Texas crown.  .

African And Transgender

One of the things I want to do a better job of this year on TransGriot is get the stories of continental trans Africans out there.

Stumbled across this video from a YouTube video blogger who was born here in New York but whose parents are from the Mother Continent.   He discusses being African and trans.

150th Anniversary Of The Emancipation Proclamation

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

150 years ago today on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln and took effect.  


The Emancipation Proclamation proclaimed all those enslaved in Confederate territory to be forever free, and ordered the Army and all of the Executive branch of the US government  to treat as free all those enslaved in the ten states that were still in rebellion.

At that moment, 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the US according to the 1860 census were freed, but it did not apply to the five slave states that remained in the union nor to most regions already controlled by the Union army.

Of course, the Confederates reacted with predictable outrage.  They pointed to the Emancipation Proclamation as proof they were justified in seceding and launching their armed rebellion against the federal government to preserve slavery because in their minds Lincoln would have abolished it anyway.

But conversely, Lincoln probably would have had a tougher time doing so had all the Confederate states not seceded and stayed in the union.  

The Emancipation Proclamation had been discussed in the Lincoln Administration as early as the summer of 1862 as a way to cripple the Confederacy, who was dependent upon slave labor to drive their engine of war and agreed to, but Lincoln felt he needed to do so after a Union battlefield victory.

The strategic Union victory at Antietam in September 1862 gave President Lincoln an opportunity to announce his plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and hinder the Confederacy's efforts to gain international recognition and aid from Great Britain and France.   Five days after Antietam, on September 22 1862 the preliminary proclamation was announced that ordered the emancipation of any slaves in the CSA states that didn't return to federal control by January 1, 1863.  When none did so, it took effect on that date.

There have been spirited arguments from 20th century African-American scholars such as W.E.B.Du Bois, James Baldwin, Julius Lester and Lerone Bennett over just how effective the Emancipation Proclamation was in terms of emancipating our ancestors.   Some called it a worthless piece of paper, while Bennett went even farther in his criticisms in this 2000 book Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream.  Bennett asserted in the book that Lincoln was a white supremacist who issued the Emancipation Proclamation in lieu of the real racial reforms the radical abolitionists were pushing for.

In the short term it had several effects.  It converted the Civil War into not only a cause to reunify the country, but added the moral component of ending slavery.  

It put a permanent halt into Confederate efforts to get Great Britain and France, nations that had abolished slavery, into recognizing a treasonous group of American states trying to form a nation based on the principle of perpetuating slavery.

As Lincoln had hoped, as word of the Emancipation Proclamation spread throughout the South, slaves began to escape and headed to the Union lines in anticipation of freedom.  They enlisted in the US Colored Troops, providing a brand new source of manpower for the Union efforts while depleting the manpower of the slave labor dependent Confederacy. 

As the Union armies advanced into formerly CSA held territory, they were also freed.  Unfortunately in my home state of Texas, freedom didn't come for my ancestors until June 19, 1865, two months after the War To Perpetuate Slavery was over. 

The Emancipation Proclamation did not make slavery illegal in the United States.  It merely provided the legal framework for emancipation of slaves as the Union armies successfully advanced.  It also created the political conditions that led to the passage in Congress and ratification of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

President Johnson referenced this during the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation's issuance during a Memorial Day 1963 speech at Gettysburg, PA and connected it to the ongoing Civil Rights movement activity.

"One hundred years ago, the slave was freed. One hundred years later, the Negro remains in bondage to the color of his skin. ...In this hour, it is not our respective races which are at stake--it is our nation. Let those who care for their country come forward, North and South, white and Negro, to lead the way through this moment of challenge and decision....Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. To the extent that the proclamation of emancipation is not fulfilled in fact, to that extent we shall have fallen short of assuring freedom to the free.
 
President Johnson also referenced the proclamation again during a March 15, 1965 congressional speech announcing the introduction of the 1965 Voting Rights Act one week after Bloody Sunday. 

It seems fitting that 150 years later, we have an African-American president who is also an Illinois resident  issuing a proclamation of his own commemorating what President Lincoln did back in 1863.


But the Emancipation Proclamation was the precursor for the 'new birth of freedom' as Lincoln called it in his Gettysburg Address, although it came for African-Americans at a bloody cost and a 'with all deliberate speed' pace.

Cheryl Courtney-Evans Needs Some Help

I've posted some of my Atlanta based trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans' writing from her abitchforjustice blog here and had the pleasure of meeting her at last year's TransFaith In Color Conference in Charlotte.

Cheryl just received some bad news concerning her only brother passing that she just relayed to me and others.  Her family is still finalizing the details for the homegoing service, and Cheryl needs some help getting to Kansas City for it since her funds are limited at this time.

I hope you TransGriot readers or anyone you forward this to can help Cheryl get there and back to the ATL so she can say goodbye to him. 

Happy 7th Anniversary TransGriot Blog!

January 1 also happens to be the anniversary date for TransGriot.  At midnight EST on January 1, 2006 the first post went up on this blog.  

You can also thank Jordana LeSesne for pushing me to get the blogging party started as well thanks to a phone conversation we had in November 2005.  I was griping about the dearth of transgender blogs at the time focused on trans issues from an Afrocentric perspective, and she said after patiently listening to my lament, "So when are you going to start it?"

She didn't leave it there.  Jordana also made me commit to a start date for the soon to be born blog and I chose January 1.      

This is the closing paragraph from that initial post.

One thing I can promise you dear reader is that you won't be disappointed. There will be times I'll make you laugh. Other times I'll touch your heart. Then there will be the occasional time or two when I piss you off. But my goal is to make you think and expose you to some of the drama that African-American transpeeps (and transpeople in general) deal with.

The mission statement and hit counter came later, but the humble beginnings of that first post have now led to several awards and me having over 4.5 million people around the world reading the over 6000 posts I've compiled in this electronic space.   

And what's the TransGriot Mission Statement you ask?

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community.  I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

Hopefully in the now seven years this blog has been in operation, I've lived up to that mission statement. 

I know I've lived up to everything I said in the closing paragraph of that January 1, 2006 post.

Happy anniversary, TransGriot! 

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year TransGriot readers!

Well, we made it through that leap year and a contentious presidential election cycle to see January 1, 2013 and for my west of the International date Line folks they are getting over their party hangovers since it's January 2.  

January 1 also means that I've reached another blogiversary, so yay me and yay TransGriot blog.

As to what will happen in 2013, we don't know at this point how this year will play out on a personal scale or on the macro one,.but as always happens on the first day, it's one that is chock full of optimism and promise.  It's also one on a personal level that people make resolutions in the spirit of making a fresh start and embarking on creating changes in their lives so that 2013 does result in positive personal growth

And speaking of positive growth, I hope and pray that 2013 continues to see forward momentum in the United States, Canada and around the world when it comes to trans human rights issues.

And yes, hope to see some positive momentum in my own life and for my blog that now enters its seventh year of chococentric commentary on trans issues and how they impact me and my community. 

2012 Shut Up Fool Of The Year

It's New Year's Day for you folks on the other side of the International Date Line, but on my side of it we're 12 hours away in the US Central time zone from 2013's arrival..

One of the more popular features on my blog is the weekly Shut Up Fool Awards in which I shine a bright spotlight on the fool, fools or group of fools who deserve to be called out on their bull feces and jaw dropping unrepentant ignorance.

There are some folks however who did so repeatedly to the point they were consistently foolish over the calendar year.  Before y'all get your party on later tonight (or are recovering from your New Year's Eve partying) I want you to do so with the knowledge of who won the TransGriot 2012 Shut Up Fool of The Year Award.

Will it be former Rep. Allen West?  Mitt Romney?   Rep. Michele Bachmann?  Former Rep. Joe Walsh?  Rush Limbaugh?  Donald Chump Trump?  Rep Paul Ryan?  Rep Louie Gohmert?  Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL)?  Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)?  Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)?  Or will it be a group award for the first time for Fox Noise?  The Republican Party?   The Romney Campaign Team?

This year fool will join such winners as Michael Steele (2009), Sarah Palin (2010) and Herman Cain (2011).

The envelope please.



It was a tight race this year, but I have to give it to Willard Mitt Romney.  Thanks to you TransGriot readers for helping me sort it out and for the nominations.

Mittens was a long running WTF when it came to his latest presidential campaign run.  From his 47% comment, shamelessly contorting himself and proving he would do and say (or not say) anything to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, liking being able to fire people, pissing off our British cousins on the eve of the London Games during his international tour; playing himself during the second debate with President Obama, claiming Russia was our Number One geopolitical foe, having surrogates from Hades like John Sununu and after he got his butt kicked November 6, his son claiming he didn't want to be POTUS despite spending over a billion of his and other people's money for it.

Mitt took being a fool to new levels, and he did so in front of billions of people.  

Our Shut Up Fool of the Year for 2012 is Mitt Romney.   Congratulations and Shut up Fool!


 

2012 International Trans Year In Review

Just as the African-American trans community  made some great strides in 2012, there was remarkable  progress made for trans human rights internationally and many of the folks making news were transgender people.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first.   We continue to see far too many transwomen die due to anti-trans violence, with the major hotspots being Latin America, the United States and Turkey.  We once again memorialized our fallen sisters during the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Where we saw major progress was politically.  In Poland Anna Grodzka became only the third transperson to be elected to her national legislative body in October 2011 and took her seat a month later.   In Thailand Yollada 'Nok' Suanyok on May 27 became the highest ranking trans politician in the 'Land of Smiles' when she won an election in her home province.   Adela Hernandez won office in Cuba.

Groundbreaking trans candidates ran for office in various countries in 2012 as well.  Diana Sanchez Barrios became the first ever to do so in Mexico when she filed to run for a seat in Mexico City's July 1 Municipal Assembly elections.

Argentina passed a groundbreaking Gender Identity Law in May by wide margins in both houses of its national legislature that was signed by President Cristina Fernandez and took effect on June 4.  Activists in Chile are trying to pass a similar law in their nation. 

There's also been positive movement on trans rights issues in Australia and the Philippines.  There was a UN vote that condemned extrajudicial killings that for the first time ever included ones based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Trans rights laws advanced on the Canadian provincial level in Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, while C-279, the federal trans rights law continues to make steady progress as it passed its second reading phase on a 150-132 vote despite determined opposition by some Conservative MP's. 

There was Canada's Jenna Talackova giving us an unexpected win when her fight to enter the Miss Canada Universe pageant resulted in the demise of the bogus 'natural born woman' rule and the Miss Universe pageant system despite transphobic resistance from national pageant holdouts like Mexico and Venezuela opening their competition to trans women in 2013.

Speaking of pageants, the Philippines finally got their long awaited triumph in the Miss International Queen trans one when Kevin Balot became the first transpinay to bring that title home after years of frustration. 

Trans models such as Brazil's trio of Lea T, Carol Marra and Felipa Tavares, Valentijn de Hingh of the Netherlands and gender bender Andrej Pejic are rocking runways, but the trans model is not a new phenomenon.  it's just the fashion world has rediscovered it in 2012.

We're still fighting for our trans marriage rights with Malta's Joanne Cassar's case going before the European Court of Human Rights, Ms W losing another round in Hong Kong, and Nikki Araguz still fighting in Texas.

The ruling in Cassar v Malta should be released sometime in 2013.

Speaking of trans court rulings, our Muslim Malaysian transsisters suffered an adverse ruling when four of them challenged Section 66 of the country's Islamic criminal law code.that bars Muslim men from dressing or posing as women.   It is being used to harass trans women  by Islamic fundamentalists and they unfortunately lost the suit.   

There was major concern expressed from the international trans community when Guatemalan trans activist Fernanda Milan was facing deportation from Denmark in September.   Her case is now being reviewed by Danish authorities after a wave of international protests. 

PC Air, the Thai startup airline famous for having trans flight attendants, hit some business turbulence in October.  It's lone Airbus 310-222 was stuck at Seoul's Incheon airport because the company has not paid its overdue airport charges and fuel fees due to a dispute with its South Korean agent.

The dispute stranded 400 people total at Incheon and in Bangkok, and PC Air was forced to suspend charter service until they can satisfy the Thai Transport Ministry that the incident won't be repeated.

There were some interesting developments in 2012 from continental Africa trans wise as well. 

There was the not so nice one of the Ugandan parliament's misguided attempts to pass an Anti-Homosexuality Act pimped by American based right wing fundie Christian zealots and fronted by David Bahati.   The bill does have a clause that would deleteriously affect transpeople living in Uganda.

It was nice to hear about the story of Titica, one of Angola's rising popular music stars who happens to be a girl like us.

She s a rising star in the Angolan music genre called kuduro, which is a fusion of rap and techno music.  She was named the best kuduro artist of 2011, is a regular on radio and television there and has performed at a Divas concert in front of Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos

Nigerian Mia Nikasimo continues to speak out along with other African activists like Kenya's Audrey Mbugua and Uganda's Victor Mukasa about the plight of transpeople in the 66 nations on the second largest continent on our planet.

And unfortunately, another Olympiad came and went in London without an open trans athlete as American Keelin Godsey fell just short of making the US Olympic team despite his lifetime best hammer throw.

Hopefully when the nations of the world gather in Sochi in 2014 and Rio in 2016, there will be a trans athlete proudly marching into the stadium during the opening ceremony.

Internationally, trans human rights are on the march and our visibility is increasing along with the positive public publicity.  There is still a lot of work to do in various areas of the world to eradicate anti-trans prejudice and anti-trans violence in 2013, but the international trans community is making it happen.

I hope I have more positive news to report when we get to the end of 2013.