Black Trans History: Wilmer 'Little Axe' M. Broadnax

Another proud moment of presenting more of your African-American trans history to you TransGriot readers.  This time I get to focus on one of my fellow Houstonians in gospel singer Wilmer M. 'Little Axe' Broadnax. 

The bespectacled, diminutive Broadnax was born in Houston on December 28, 1916 and performed in gospel quartets in the 40's, 50's and 60's. 



He and his brother William 'Big Axe' Broadnax performed with the St. Paul Gospel Singers in Houston before moving to Los Angeles to perform with the Southern Gospel Singers in 1939-1940.

The Southern Gospel singers all had day jobs that made it hard for Little Axe to get touring gigs, so Wilmer Broadnax formed his own group called the Golden Echoes.

The Golden Echoes became one of the top touring gospel quartet groups of the 40's, but William eventually left for Atlanta to join the Five Trumpets and Wilmer staying as the lead singer of the Golden Echoes.

In 1949, now augmented by future Soul Stirrer Paul Foster (the group that produced future soul singers Sam Cooke and Johnnie Taylor) they recorded a version of "When the Saints Go Marching In".  But their record label head decided to drop them before they could record a second single and the group disbanded.  

Broadnax took his powerful tenor voice to the popular Spirit of Memphis gospel quartet that included legendary gospel singer Silas Steele.   The Spirit of Memphis was one of the top grossing gospel acts of the time and were getting paid as much as $200 a week, which was big money in that time period.  Broadnax recorded and performed with the Spirit of Memphis Quartet until 1952 when he began working with the Nashville, TN based Fairfield Four.

When Five Blind Boys of Mississippi lead singer Archie Brownlee died in 1960, Broadnax was tapped as his replacement while also until 1965 continuing to lead his own group called Little Axe and the Golden Voices.
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As the popularity and commercial viability of gospel quartets waned, Broadnax retired from touring, but did continue to record with the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi into the 70's and 80's.

There is a dispute as to when Wilmer Broadnax actually died.  Various sources claim it was 1994, but the Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project website asserts that he met his untimely demise in Philadelphia in 1992.

He and his girlfriend Lavinia Richardson were engaged in a heated argument when she stabbed him on May 23, 1992 and he subsequently died on June 1, 1992.

But the fact that isn't in dispute is when he died, it was on the autopsy table the subsequent discovery was made that Wilmer Broadnax was a trans man.

Wilmer 'Little Axe' Broadnax is another fasicanting story from our Black trans history and another concrete example of Black trans people being an integral kente cloth part of our Black community.   
    

Michael Dunn Case Going To Trial September 23

Don't look now people, but it's time to get prepared for another 'Kill A Black Kid With Impunity' trial in Florida.  

Michael Dunn will go on trial starting September 23 in the death of 17 year old Jordan Russell Davis.

The 46 year old Dunn has pleaded not guilty and is facing first degree murder charges in the killing of Davis and three charges of attempted murder in the Black Friday incident that happened at a Jacksonville gas station mere months after Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, FL.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in this case (gee, I wonder why).    

On that fateful day Davis and his friends went to a Jacksonville gas station to fill up after finishing a shopping trip to a local mall. They encountered Dunn, a gun collector with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. A confrontation took place over the volume of the music playing in the car Davis and his friends were in.

Dunn, later saying he felt “threatened”, thought the teens were “gang members” and claiming he saw a shotgun took out his gun and fired several shots into the SUV, that struck and killed Davis.


You can bet the conservative movement and the defense team in their zeal to defend Dunn will use their time tested tactics to demonize Jordan Russell Davis and all the boys in the SUV,  turn them into 'marauding thugs' and make Dunn look like the second coming of Jesus Christ to rally the conservasheeple around.

This trial will also have a nearly or completely melanin free jury with the overwhelming stench of vanillacentric privilege filling the Duval county courthouse or wherever they have this trial.

We'll see how this one plays out, but y'all know what kind of track record I have when it comes to predicting these types of cases .

And based on what just happened in Seminole County, I won't be too surprised o see Michael Dunn walking when this case is over. 

TBLG Orgs Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

I spoke at the Houston Trayvon Martin rally at City Hall yesterday and made the point that Black TBLG issues are Black community issues and vice versa.  I also said during my comments that the first thing that people saw about me before we even started talking about me being trans is my skin color . 

I was very happy to note that a group of LGBT orgs spearheaded by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and that includes the Trans Person of Color Coalition (TPOCC)  as one of the signatory organizations issued an open letter expressing their support to the Martin family as they continue to push for justice for Trayvon


An Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

We cannot begin to imagine the continued pain and suffering endured by Trayvon Martin's family and friends. We stand in solidarity with them as they continue to fight for justice, civil rights and closure. And we thank everyone who has pushed and will continue to push for justice.

Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights. We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected. But our work does not end there: we will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities.

We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Brandon Teena, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Marco McMillian, Angie Zapata, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo and countless others.

Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Justice delayed is justice denied and in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "a right delayed is a right denied." We honor Trayvon by seeking justice for all people.

All Out
American Civil Liberties Union
Believe Out Loud
BiNet USA
Bisexual Resource Center
Center for Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Work
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network)
GetEQUAL
GMHC
GLAD
GLAAD
Harvey Milk Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
Lambda Legal
Movement Advancement Project
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
The Trevor Project
Trans Advocacy Network
Transgender Law Center
Trans People of Color Coalition

100 Young Black Leaders Respond To Zimmerman Verdict

The responses to the Zimmerman verdict continue to roll in from various sectors of the African-American community from our celebrities, actors, bloggers and sports figures actors to political leaders.

This is a video of a statement from 100 Young Black Activists to the family of Trayvon martin responding to the unjust verdict.



To the Family of Brother Trayvon Martin and to the Black Community:

May this statement find us in the spirit of peace and solidarity.

We know that justice for Black life is justice for humanity.

Our hope and community was shaken through a system that is supposed to be built on freedom and justice for all. We are your sons and daughters. We are the marginalized and disenfranchised. We are one hundred next generation leaders. We are the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100).


We see the hopelessness of a generation that has been broken trying to find its place in this world. We understand that we need to turn anger into action and pain into power.

As we waited to hear the verdict, in the spirit of unity, we formed a circle and locked hands. When we heard “not guilty,” our hearts broke collectively. In that moment, it was clear that Black life had no value. Emotions poured out -- emotions that are real, natural and normal, as we grieved for Trayvon and his stolen humanity. Black people, WE LOVE AND SEE YOU. We mourn, but there’s hope as long as love endures.

Trayvon was manifested from ancestral excellence. The salt water falling from our eyes now, is not different from the salt water we were trafficked on then. If the soil of the United States could speak, before saying a word it would cough up our blood. Choking frantically, crust-curdling with the gore of a oppressed peoples it has been force-fed. White supremacy has water-boarded it with the remnants of its genocide of us.

This moment reminds us that we can’t look to others to see our value but we have to recognize our own value. In spite of what was said in court, what verdict has been reached, or how hopeless we feel, Trayvon did NOT die in vain. A mother should never have to bury her son. However, his death will serve as the catalyst of a new movement where the struggle for justice will prevail.

Instead of a moment of silence, we raise our voices together. As Audre Lorde said, “our silence will NOT PROTECT US.” We are young leaders standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, carrying the historical trauma embedded in a legal system that will NOT PROTECT US. We are the legacy of Black resilience that compels us to fight for our lives.

We continue to call out Black Love, Black Power and Black is Beautiful in the face of continued devaluation of Black life. We affirm a love of ALL Black life, no matter if we are in hoodies or business suits, incarcerated or in boardrooms, on welfare or in the WNBA, on the corner or in the White House. We declare the fundamental value, beauty and power of ALL Black people. The poet Claude McKay once said, “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave…we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack. Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”

Cheryl Calls Out Some Trans Haters

My trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans was forwarded a link to the Anti-Intellect blog post about the Chad Johnson-Amiyah Scott photo that decried the rampant transphobia in the comments and blog posts about it that is sadly a staple of the Black gossip blogosphere.

Cheryl took it a step further in her abitchforjustice post entitled 'Whites AREN'T The ONLY People Who Can Be Bigots!' and put some of the more egregious transphobic offenders on blast.  

Here's a taste of it:

Example: "...it's not that people are Homophobic. IT'S THAT A LOT OF THIS [THESE] TRANNYS take pictures with celebrity men then go on the blogs and radio and say they are fucking, Chingy for example, he took a couple of pics with a tranny and she said they were dating. And people started calling Chingy gay and his career was over. IT'S NOT THE PEOPLE, IT'S THE TRANNYS TRYING TO PLAY GAMES. THEY DID THE SAME THING TO JOJO Simmons. They said he was trying to fuck on Twitter, and come to find out he didn't know it wasn't a woman. this [these] trannys are shady as fuck...". 

This gay man's rant first of all separates transgenders from humanity ("...it's not the people, it's the trannys..." as if transgenders aren't 'people'). Then he's automatically assuming that it has to be a falsehood that the celebs mentioned actually were romantically involved with the transgender women. BUT I'd be willing to BET if it were a gay person "outing" [NOT that it's right in either case] a celeb, he'd be licking his lips at the juicy details...and of course, the gay person didn't "trick" the guy (how easily they forget the defendants who use the "panic" defense when they've murdered or assaulted a gay man)...

And some of the women who posted were especially hateful. It was even interesting how some posts started off innocent [positive] enough, to deliver a "zinger" (example: "I think everyone should be respected. Playing dress up and getting your dick cut off does not make you a woman." To this, I say, "WTF??") Even posters who were expressing like 'allies' were guilty of erroneous pronoun usage in other replies.

You can check out the rest of Cheryl's post by clicking this link.

Mia Macy: Why We Need ENDA

I've enjoyed talking to Mia Macy (of Macy vs Holder EEOC case fame) from time to time about various subjects including our shared desire to have trans human rights become a reality in our lifetimes.  It was nice to see her in this video produced by the Center For American Progress that lays of the case why we need ENDA to become the law of our land.

Trayvon Was:

An honor student with a 3.7 GPA
Accepted into college on a full ride scholarship
A volunteer with over 600 service hours
A devoted member of his church
A loyal friend and loving son
An innocent teenage boy

But Black skin, skittle, iced tea, a hoodie and an armed  bigoted vigilante neighborhood watchman deemed him a 'threat to the community'

And his mother is now mourning his death

What Chad and Amiyah Can Teach Us About Respecting Trans Women

TransGriot Note: Interesting article from one of the people I had the pleasure of meeting during OUT on the Hill last year, Anti-Intellect, concerning the ignorance bubbling up once again in the Black gossip blogosphere concerning this recent photo Chad Johnson took with girl like us Amiyah Scott

The guest post at Funky Dineva is entitled 'What Chad Johnson and Amiyah Scott Can Teach Us About Respecting Transgender Women'.   

It's a call for the Black community to chill with the ignorance and disrespect aimed at trans women and start understanding and respecting the ones in their midst.

I agree.  And it needed to happen like yesterday.
I also got a little love in the post, too.

And yeah, ignorance alert in the comment threads. 

Here's a taste of it:    

I look forward to the day when a straight man taking a picture with a trans woman is not an issue. If social media is any indication, we have a while to go before that vision becomes a reality. Over the weekend, a picture surfaced of former NFL player and reality star, Chad Johnson, posing with Amiyah Scott, a trans woman. Judging by the number of ignorant comments leveled at both Johnson and Scott, you would have thought that the two had committed a serious crime, and in a sense, they had. In our transphobic world, a straight man taking a picture with a trans woman is seen as a “crime”. What is the crime, you ask? The crime is respecting a transgender woman.

Media representation has the potential to make us comfortable with people from different walks of life, but it also has the potential to make us see a community in a monolithic way. Trans women have all too often only been seen as predators and/or comic relief. I am here to tell you, however, that the lives of trans woman are diverse and multifaceted. Yes, there are trans women who have not revealed their gender identity, often for good reason, but there are many who live there lives with honesty and openness. Trans women come from all walks of life, and it is long overdue that we start to recognize their diversity within their community. We need to look beyond the stereotypes to see the trans women who are enrolled in college and trade schools, the trans women who are journalists, motivational speakers, doctors, executive directors, hairstylists, actresses, wives, mothers, and almost any other role imaginable.

You can read the rest of it by clicking this link. 

Told Y'all

Told y'all this was how the trial in Sanford, FL was going to go down.  And to be honest, if it hadn't been for the protests last year, Zimmerman wouldn't have been arrested, much less even gone to trial in the first place.

Told y'all that The Seminole County, Florida jury with no Black people on it would find George Zimmerman not guilty.   I predicted that on Thursday even before I heard the closing argument of Mark O'Meara Friday.  

After the defense delivers their closing argument tomorrow and the case goes to the jury, what Black America fears is the visual when that jury comes out of deliberation and delivers the verdict in front of the unblinking eye of the media's television cameras, a 'not guilty' verdict will be read.

We will then in Black America have to painfully watch as George Zimmerman exhales, cheers and he, his family and friends plaster cheesy grins all over their faces in victory while Tracy Martin, Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's brother Jahvaris Fulton and their family, friends and supporters have stunned or disconsolate looks on their faces as the sickening realization sinks in that Zimmerman just got away with murdering their loved one.

Can you say 'nullification' people?   Thought you could.

If you thought I was kidding or being overly partisan about saying the GOP and conservatism is the political arm of white supremacy and FOX Noise is its megaphone, congratulations, last night was your wake up call

And yep folks, now that Georgie boy got off for killing Trayvon Martin, next task for white supremacy AKA the conservafool movement and their FOX Noise megaphone is coming to the rescue of Michael Dunn. 

Last Thanksgiving weekend he shot and killed 17 year old Jordan Davis in Jacksonville for the crime of being in an SUV in a gas station parking lot in which music was played that was too loud to this white man's tastes.  Expect the conservative demonizing of Davis to start as soon as the trial date gets closer.

Anyone want to lay early odds that Dunn gets acquitted in that case? 

As Marissa Alexander painfully found out, 'Stand Your Ground' wasn't designed by ALEC for Black people with guns, only white ones.  

I wanted to be proven wrong on this Zimmerman case.  I wanted to tell myself that my cynical reaction based on a lifetime of not too pleasant interactions with whiteness and white supremacy in America wasn't warranted.  I wanted to believe that it's the justice system and not the 'Just-us' system.  I wanted to believe that a Black life is just as valuable in the United States as a white one.
 
The courtroom in Sanford, FL and that verdict just pretty much verified and summed up what I've been saying for seven years on this blog in various ways when I talk about race, race relations, whiteness and white supremacy. 

Whiteness and white supremacy trumps Black lives.   It also made me ponder once again if elements of white people really believe what Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in the Dred Scott v Sandford case back on March 6, 1857 and that's what you really think of us.



"...beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

Do I or any other African-American have no rights you as a white person are bound to respect?  That's the message the Zimmerman jury verdict sent last night.
 
So no, I don't want to hear the bull feces about this case 'wasn't a race issue', this wasn't a Black-White issue or 'I'm tired of these Black-white issues' or 'I'm tired of identity politics'.   Not today, tomorrow, the rest of this week, the rest of this month or the rest of this year. 

This case was most certainly was about race.  White supremacy has been fracking with African descended people for over 400 years and isn't showing any signs of slacking off or getting tired of coming up with new ways of accomplishing the task.


And for those of you Black people who irrationally hate on me and other Black transpeople, y'all better chill with that shyt right now.   It's nation time and we Black people of all varieties have work to do
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As I've told your clueless behinds more than a few times Black trans issues are Black community issues and now more than ever we need to close ranks and unite.

They see my Black skin first before the trans issue even comes up.  Exhibit A of that is CeCe McDonald, who is in a Minnesota prison on a 41 month sentence for the crime of being a Black Trans Person Walking and defending herself against a white supremacist.  The white female who instigated the attack only received 180 days in jail.

That unjust Zimmerman case verdict basically said that Black kids, and especially Black male kids like Trayvon Martin can be shot and killed with impunity by white people.   But don't you Black people dare do it to our precious white kids or else. 

Don't even try coming on here in the comment threads and pointing out Zimmerman is half Latino.  You will get clowned, called out and embarrassed.  He wasn't claiming that half Latino heritage the night he got out of his car and hunted down and killed Trayvon. 

Neither was he claiming that heritage as he basked in the vanillacentric privileged glow of his father Robert Zimmerman, Sr., white folks gleefully rushed to his defense and showered him with defense fund cash in six figure amounts during this entire sorry episode.

Even now you vanillacentric privilege wielding peeps are all over the Net either gloating about this verdict, spewing racist comments or trying to whitesplain and justify a grown ass white man man killing an unarmed 17 year old Black child.   So George Zimmerman is all yours. Can't throw him under the bus now because he's a concrete example of and a window into what whiteness and white supremacist thinking does to you peeps and deep down what you really think about us.

But the people I really feel for at this moment are Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton.  Keep them and their family in your prayers. 

But while Zimmerman won this legal battle, the legal war will continue.   The feds haven't weighed in on this case yet, and you can bet there will be a civil lawsuit he'll have to deal with.  

After you finish venting, do what I will do.  Wake up, get organized, and prepare for the legal, political and civic engagement battle we must now wage to total victory over the forces of whiteness and white supremacy which are ensconced in their political arm, AKA the Republican Party. 

You want to get justice for Trayvon?  Vote the GOP bastards out in your state or area who support or voted for Stand Your Ground and voter suppression laws.  Vote out unjust Teapublican judges, DA's and prosecutors. Vote out Republifool congressmembers and senators in the 2014 midterms and beyond.  Vote for candidates who will stand up for human rights and justice for all people. If you don't see those candidates, run for office your damned self.

Get control of your state legislatures and Congress back and fix what dictatorial Republican control and a conservative Supreme Court broke.  

The struggle continues. So we have to be just as tough minded about taking on whiteness and white supremacy.  And we as African descended people in America have to deal with the reality that just about everything in America sociopolitically is a Black-White issue, has been for over 400 years and must be analyzed first from that context.  

Until we (and White people too) deal with the reality that America is still dealing with (or refusing to deal with) the poisonous post-traumatic aftereffects of slavery, with one of the prime ones being the devaluing of Black life, we are not going to even begin to make progress on permanently changing the negative paradigm.
  

Malaysian Transwoman Appointed As Political Secretary Hopes For Equal Treatment

Anna Julia Cooper once said in a famous quote about Black women, 'When and where I enter, then and there the entire race enters with me'.
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33 year old Hazreen Shaik Daud probably feels the same way right now every time she walks into work as the newly appointed political secretary for Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu in Malaysia.

Trans women have been catching hell there, especially in the Malaysian Muslim trans community as they fight for visibility and acceptance.

Assemblyman Teh in the recent Penang State Assembly pointed out that trans people were targeted with discrimination and requested a special committee be set up to investigate the issues and problems facing our trans cousins there.

She was a project officer with the Penang Family Health Development Association who speaks four languages and has a degree in information technology.   She said certain companies had refused to employ her expressing concerns that she would not be able to fit into a male dominated workplace.  

Hazreen had come in contact with Teh multiple times as part of her job with the Penang Family Health Development Association and offered her the position as his political secretary earlier in the year.

Once he explained the duties of her position, she accepted it. "I am grateful to YB for offering this job to me and I am looking forward to the challenge."

She's also hoping that by her excelling in this position, it will pave the way towards equal treatment for the entire trans community.  "It is difficult for us to be hired by companies so I hope that with my appointment, we can show that we are as capable in our work as others,” she said.

Latest Turkish Trans Murder Fueling Protests

Next to Brazil, the most dangerous place to be a trans person is in Turkey.  

It has the deleterious combination of rampant transphobia, no hate crimes or anti-trans discrimination laws on their national legal books to combat it and police in some cases indifferent to bringing the perpetrators of these killings to justice. .  

According to Transgender Europe, between January 2008 and December 2012 there were 30 murders of Turkish trans persons.  It pales in comparison to the trans bloodletting going on in Brazil but one murdered transperson is one too damned many.   

But despite being number two in terms of those reprehensible rankings, the Turkish government persists in its obstinate refusal to pass those obviously needed laws.

But with the murder of 24 year old Dora Özer, our Turkish transsisters may have finally hit their sick and tired of being sick and tired of this jacked up situation tipping point.

Özer was found brutally stabbed to death by her roommate in the apartment they shared in the town of Kudadasi.

In the wake of her senseless murder, the Turkish trans community launched a wave of coordinated protests across the nation yesterday in the cities of Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakir, Eskişehir, İstanbul and İzmir.  There was also a protest in the German capital of Berlin where there is a sizable Turkish expat community. 

During the marches our Turkish trans cousins and allies condemned the rampant transphobia in their nation that fuels the violent anti-trans hatred aimed at them, protested government inaction on the issue and demanded justice for Dora.  

Here's hoping the march was successful and it accomplishes all of its goals, including getting justice for Dora.

Brandi's In The News Again!

Back in May I talked about a JET magazine story that was brought to my attention by ELIXHER magazine and Janet Mock featuring Washington DC girl like us Brandi Ahzionae.

It contained a quote from Brandi that dovetailed nicely with my sentiments about the piece that I hoped it was the beginning of more positive coverage of trans women and transpeople in general.

It's two months later and Brandi's in the news again thanks to a recent Washington Blade article featuring her and Washington DC anti-trans discrimination campaign poster girl Consuella Lopez.

In addition to being one of the people featured in the DC Office of Human Rights ad campaign Lopez is a licensed hairstylist. She owns a salon in the suburban DC metro area and has worked with celebrity clients such as Mila Kunis, Tracey Edmonds and Patricia Arquette.  

She met Ahzionae at the September 2012 kickoff event for that campaign and was producing a trans calendar for Casa Ruby at the time. She extended Ahzionae an invitation to model for it which she declined, but Ahzionae did accept Lopez's subsequent invitation to take her on as a hairdressing apprentice. 

Brandi also produces a newsletter called the DMV Trans Circulator that seeks to create what the site describes as a “trans community inside and outside the prison walls in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia” that is “free from imprisonment, police violence, racism and poverty.” and is taking classes at the Aesthetics Institute of Cosmetology in Gaithersburg, MD.

When her apprenticeship ends in May 2015 she can receive her own stylists license once she passes the test.

This article is a concrete example of what I've talked about that needs to happen more often in our community in which transpeople support each other, reach back and lift someone else up so they can be in a position to lift up others behind them.

But nice to read this story about Brandi and I hope we continue to see more positive ones similar to it about trans people in TBLG and other media. 

This Racist Joke About A Plane Crash Isn't Funny

Somebody either at KTVU-TV or the NTSB is in serious trouble for a racist joke that ended up getting broadcast as news on a San Francisco television station.    

Some genius thought it would be hilarious to come up with offensive names for the pilots of Asiana Flight 214 that crashed in San Francisco last Saturday with now three people dead.

NTSB policy is to not release the names of pilots or crewmembers involved in aviation accidents to the media. When KTVU-TV called Friday morning wishing to do just that and get that information for their ongoing local reporting on the story, according to a NTSB press release a summer intern acting outside their authority erroneously released the names that ended up being read during their noon broadcast.

When they realized the embarrassing error, KTVU-TV apologized on air and on their website blaming the NTSB

Despite the finger pointing at each other, both organizations quickly apologized and owned up to their parts in the station being pranked. 

But you also have to ask yourself how diverse is KTVU-TV's staff if a racist list of names got through their multilayered fact checking verification process in a station that has a broadcast area with a sizable Asian population?

It also isn't funny because three people have died so far in this aviation accident with six others still hospitalized and being treated for their injuries as the NTSB investigation into the crash continues.

NTSB has promised action to ensure it doesn't happen again.  But whoever did it better start updating their resume. 

TransGriot Update: The Asian American Journalists Association is justifiably pissed off about what happened and isn't buying the clueless act of the NTSB or KTVU-TV.   Somebody in one of those orgs came up with the offensive name list.    

Sieg Heil Y'all-GOP Texas Is NOT A Democracy

Gov. Ann Richards and Rep Barbara Jordan must be looking down upon us from their heavenly perch, shaking their heads and wondering what the hell is going on in our beloved Lone Star State?

Two words: Teahadist Republifools

And if you thought I was being over the top partisan when I called the Republican controlled Texas government 'neo-fascist GOP oppressors' and I referred to Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst as Tex Fuhrer and Deputy Tex Fuhrer, peep this hearing on SB 2 in which Sarah Slamen is dragged from the mike by jack booted stormtroopers  DPS troopers

Sieg Heil, Y'all 




   

Longtime San Francisco Trans Activist Jazzie Collins Passes Away

San Francisco based activist Jazzie Collins, who called the city home for over twenty years, was recently honored by the California legislature's LGBT Caucus and was a tireless advocate and voice for all the Bay Area's marginalized communities has passed away at age 54.

The comments are pouring in on her Facebook page for this beloved Bay Area trans elder from all of the people who knew and loved her. 

California Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park), Chair of the Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Caucus, and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) released the following statement in response to the passing of Ms. Collins.

“Jazzie was absolutely glowing last month when the LGBT Caucus honored her in the Capitol,” said Assemblymember Tom Ammiano. “Of course, we were the ones honored to have her with us, gracing us with her stature as a community leader and a human being. Her work for justice and equality in San Francisco will have long-lasting impact, as will her advocacy for communities that needed her voice. Her death robs us of that voice, and she is missed.”

“Today we lost an advocate and a leader,” Assemblyman and LGBT Caucus chair Rich Gordon said. “Jazzie Collins worked tirelessly on behalf of all communities, serving as an untiring advocate for the poor, for the transgender community and truly, for all San Francisco residents. While we celebrate her Ms. Collins and her life’s work, her spirit will continue to live on through the many lives she has touched. On behalf of the LGBT Caucus, we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones. May she rest in power.”


Collins was a Trans March board member,  vice chair of the LGBT Seniors Task Force and head volunteer for the San Francisco Senior Action Network.

Here's YouTube video of Jazzie speaking during a 2011 OccupySF event




Indeed, we have lost an iconic leader and advocate and she will be missed.

Shut Up Fool Awards-Cheryl's Birthday Edition

Had a few birthdays I've commemorated on the blog this week and must add another one to the list in the person of my trans elder Cheryl Courtney-Evans.  It has been wonderful getting to know her, soaking up some of her wisdom she has for me and everyone else that loves and respectfully listens to her.

Happy birthday Cheryl!  May your day be a special, drama free one full of blessings and sweeter than a gallon of tea.  May you have many more of them!

Speaking of drama and stress, it's also Friday, and that means we now must segue to our usual TransGriot 'bidness' of shining a spotlight on the fool, fools or group of fools who are causing societal stress and angst because of their arrogance, breathtaking ignorance or simply just straight up fools we gots to call out.

So let's get started with this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards since we had lots of nominees to wade through.

Honorable mention number one goes to Texas state rep Steve Toth (Teabagger).  Steve is against the idea of teaching comprehensive science based sex education in Texas schools as a way to cut down the teen pregnancy rates because in his words, 'sex education sexually arouses teenagers'.


Honorable mention number two goes to Rick Santorum, who desecrated by beloved home state and parted his lips to say that the extreme abortion bill was part of a Movement of Love. 

Oh really?  The Tiller family probably doesn't share that sentiment along with millions of American women. 


Honorable mention number three is a group award for the North Carolina Taliban GOP, who turned a motorcycle safety bill into an abortion bill with no advanced public notice. 

So much for open and transparent government in the Tarheel State

Honorable mention number four is Sherwin Smith, the deputy director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in a May 29th meeting responding to Maury County citizen complaints about the drinking water making their kids sick, Smith said that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an “act of terrorism.”

Really?  And I thought the Republicans here in Texas were batturd crazy.  This is Republican governance at its finest once again.   And I wonder how many of these Maury County people complaining about their water quality voted GOP in the last election cycle.

This week's winner is Sen. Rand Paul (Teabagger-KY) for not only voting against ENDA in committee, but once again letting his white hood show when it was revealed that his social media director Jack Hunter, a SC shock jock who called himself the Southern Avenger' and was a member of the racist League of the South.  

Paul is standing by his Klan, er man.  In an interview with HuffPo's Howard Fineman, Paul said that an aide who believes in secession and has a history of wearing Confederate flag masks should be forgiven because he is “incredibly talented” and his mistakes are similar to using marijuana.

WTF?   You must be smoking marijuana to say something that stupid.  And Paul wonders why African-Americans are tone deaf to his GOP recruiting pitches.

Sen. Rand Paul, shut the HELL up fool  

TransGriot Nuke A Troll 33-Time To Sail The Cyberocean Blue

The hardworking crew of the USS Monica has been on liberty call, and now it's time to take her out of port on another mission of dropping 50 megatons of knowledge on some poor deluded fool who steeped loud and wrong to me in the comment threads.

The latest target for irradiation is Bakatak, who took the time to write this comment on my 'I Repeat:: White People Doing Blackface Drag Is Not Acceptable, Period!' post that got caught in the spam filter  

Well if you want to play that game, Michael Jackson going white face is extremely racist to us "whiteface" folk.

Also if I ever see a black person dressing up as any "white" character I will take it as a form of racism.

This argument is fucking stupid and the reason racism persists. Who the fuck cares? Let a black person go white face, or white person go black face, let Asians go red face, who the fuck cares?

If my favorite character is a black man from a movie/show and you call me racist for going as them for halloween, well then I have a big middle finger for you.

5...4...3...2...1...launch.

(Doing Yoda impression)  The vanillacentric privilege and ignorance is strong with this one.

Are you really this stupid?   Yeah, obviously you are since you demonstrated your limited vocabulary by dropping multiple f-bombs in this short commentary.

Let's start the fun by ripping apart your ridiculous attempt at an analogy you utterly failed to execute in terms of trying to insert Michael Jackson into your comment about my post slamming blackface.  

Michael Jackson wasn't doing whiteface, he suffered from a medical condition called vitiligo. 

And since you're watching too much Fox Noise, racism= prejudice plus systemic power.  That a concept you should have retained but obviously didn't from Sociology 101.

Racism is not an all purpose insult pissed off white person flings back at Black person (or any non-white person) who calls them out on their perpetually nekulturny and bigoted behavior.  

FYI fool, there is no such thing and never will be as 'reverse racism' because in this world only white people have the power to turn their prejudices and bigotry into repressive legislation and stall, retard or roll back the forward progress of minority groups.  

That's probably why you're so 'scurred' that US white peeps will be a minority in this country by 2050.  You're deathly afraid non-whites will do unto you what you keep doing unto us.  

And I warned peeps in that post not to bring up the Wayans Brothers and you tried Moni anyway. (Moni takes off velvet gloves and cracks knuckles) 

The Wayans Brothers tired performance in White Chicks is not even in the same galaxy as blackface and the 180 years of negative racist history it carries.

No, you're stupid for even surfing over to this blog to make such a logic defying asinine statement that calling out racism is the reason racism exists.   Racism exists because white people like yourself are desperate to hold onto by any means necessary that five century grip on power like a wino clutching his last bottle of MD 20/20.  You also still refuse to acknowledge that white privilege and the white supremacist attitudes you  marinate in exist and you're cluelessly (or willfully ignorant in your case) about the deleterious effect of whiteness and white supremacy on non-whites because you've never been on the receiving end of it. 

You white folks really hate it when people of color tell y'all you CAN'T do something. 

Since it's obvious reading comprehension is not your strong suit, I'm gong to point this breathtakingly simple concept that even your conservafool mind should understand.  

Our cultures are not a costume you put on for your people's amusement or entertainment.  

We've repeatedly told you it's disrespectful, racist and dehumanizing for any white person to do blackface, you arrogantly keep pushing the issue and then want to cry, gripe and moan when a world of hurt comes down on your asses when you get called out for it.

So go sit your ass down, turn off the right wing talk radio and Fox Noise, sulk in the corner and if your capable of hard solid thinking, marinate on that reality for a moment.. 

Yeah, you're definitely a bigot for starters.  If you voted GOP, you qualify as a racist oppressor. 

I have something else for besides my perfectly manicured middle finger extended in half a peace sign. 

Duck and cover fool, and don't look at the flash when the troll nuke explodes.    

 

The VRA Is Not A 'Racial Entitlement'

And if you believe that (In)Justice Scalia and conservafool bull feces, you're a fool.

There was a reason that voting rights marches were done in the Deep South and the 24th Amendment to the Constitution exists that bans poll taxes.  Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) doesn't have a metal plate in his head because he was stopped by Alabama Segregation Stormtroopers State Police from crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday for nothing. 

The Republican Party is actively engaged today in suppressing the voting rights of non-white American citizens and if you think that's okay, by voting for Republicans you support that policy and are a human rights oppressor.   

Jenifer Announces Her Run For Houston City Council

She's been hard at work at it for several months, but yesterday Jenifer Rene Pool made it official and announced her candidacy for the Houston City Council At Large Position 3 seat on the steps of Houston City Hall.

And yeah, some blogger y'all know was there for the announcement a little after 3:30 PM CDT.  I wanted to be there to witness Houston and trans history.

If Jenifer is successful in this second run for a city council seat, we'll not only get to see her sitting on the inside of our art deco city hall in one of those nice green leather chairs handling the city's business, she would become the first open transperson in the city of Houston and the state of Texas to win public office.   She would also become the first trans person in the United States elected to the city council of a major US city over 1 million in population.

We're 90 days out from the start of early voting, and Jenifer's team is hitting the trail running because they are determined to make that history happen. 

Fear Of An Unjust Verdict

I did much venting about the Trayvon Martin case when it started unfolding last year and wasn't the only blogger who had something to say about it at the time. 

For those of you who have been surfing over to the blog looking for my chococentric commentary on the Zimmerman trial, I must confess I haven't been watching much of it because I'm not too optimistic that justice will be served in this case. 

The ultimate justice would be Trayvon Benjamin Martin walking into his parents arms and out of that Seminole County courtroom, but we know that ain't happening.

But what I and much of the African-American community fears will happen after the six woman jury made up of ZERO African-Americans gets to deliberate on this case is that George Zimmerman walks.

We have ample evidence of the reality that America doesn't care much about Black lives, and they care even less about a young Black kid's life.   Far too many people, and especially conservative whites believe the bull feces that all young Black men, including Trayvon Martin are dangerous suspects.

After the defense delivers their closing argument tomorrow and the case goes to the jury, what Black America fears is the visual when that jury comes out of deliberation and delivers the verdict in front of the unblinking eye of the media's television cameras, a 'not guilty' verdict will be read.

We will then in Black America have to painfully watch as George Zimmerman exhales, cheers and he, his family and friends plaster cheesy grins all over their faces in victory while Tracy Martin, Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's brother Jahvaris Fulton and their family, friends and supporters have stunned or disconsolate looks on their faces as the sickening realization sinks in that Zimmerman just got away with murdering their loved one.

Well, all we can do is wait and see how this plays out, and see if it verifies what I said when this trial started last month.

If Zimmerman is convicted, the justice system worked in this case despite the attempts of the Zimmerman family and the vanillacentric conservafool movement to shift the narrative, 'work the refs'  and demonize Trayvon for the fateful decision he made to simply get some tea and Skittles from a local 7 Eleven.

If he walks, we're probably looking at Rodney King levels of anger and pissivity in our community that I hope and pray doesn't explode into what Dr. King called it in his 'The Other America' essay as 'the language of the unheard'.