Coming Back From Creating Change 2016

And now it's time to say the words that everyone in Harris County loves to hear.

Time for me to come back home from #CC16 Chicago style.

After some morning panels and a closing brunch we'll be gathering for the final plenary session as the Chicago Host Committee gets to the bittersweet moment of passing the hosting torch to the #CC17 host city, Philadelphia..

I won`t get to see the end of it because I have to catch my flight back to Texas at ORD.

Our Creating Change in Houston was two years ago, and all of us who were involved in putting it together still have fond memories of doing so.  We want another opportunity to host it again and want to top what we pulled off in our maiden attempt..  

Hey, Dallas has held it twice , we've only hosted it once.

But thanks Chicago for handling your #CC16 business.  It's been an amazing and drama filled at times four days here, but I'm more than ready to get back to the warmth of Houston and scarf up some barbecue when I get back home.

To my old friends I had a chance to spend time with at #CC16, enjoyed it immensely and looking forward to the next time we get to share some space together.   To my new friends and all of our youth I got a chance to talk to and take pics with, it was my sincere pleasure to do so.

And to the peeps who live for stirring up mess and drama (and they know who they are), time for you petulant children to grow up and chill with that mess because we have far more important work to do on behalf of our entire community.

Later, Chicago.

TransGriot 2015 NFL Picks-Conference Championship

I'm in Chicago for Creating Change, but the NFL 2015-16 playoffs are rolling toward Championship Sunday and who will play in Super Bowl 50.

In last week's Divisional Round went 3-1 (5-3 for the playoffs) on my picks thanks to that unbelievable play in OT by Larry Fitzgerald that followed a miracle Green Bay Hail Mary that tied the game at 20-20 and sent it to overtime.

It's Championship Sunday, and hope we get two games that match the drama of those Divisional round matchups.

AFC Championship

#2 New England Patriots (13-4) at #1 Denver Broncos (13-4) 

First up on Championship Sunday is the rematch, with much higher stakes between the Patriots and Broncos.  The regular season clash played at Sports Authority Field back on November 29 resulted in an unexpected 30-24 Denver overtime victory that knocked the Patriots from the unbeaten ranks and the Broncos eventually getting home field for this game.

This time, Brock Osweiler won't be the starting QB, Peyton Manning will be.  He led them to a come from behind 23-16 victory in their Divisional round game against the Steelers.  The Brady bunch ended the Kansas City Chiefs season with their 27-20 win at Gillette Stadium.

Should be another interesting and close game between future Hall of Fame QB's Manning and Brady, but only one will be walking away with the Lamar Hunt trophy at the end of the game and a punched ticket to Super Bowl 50.

While it's hard to beat a team twice in the same season,  Broncos will win this game.

NFC Championship

#2 Arizona Cardinals (14-3)  at #1 Carolina Panthers (16-1)

This game will be in Charlotte, and it's a game matching arguably the two best teams in the NFC and possibly the league.

Both of them had interesting Divisional round games to say the least.   The Cardinals had go to overtime to punch their first NFC conference title game ticket since 2008 after Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary throw on the last play of regulation time tied the game 20-20.  

The Panthers stormed out of the locker room and built a 31-0 halftime lead against the Seahawks, then had to hold on for dear life as the two time NFC champs mounted a furious second half comeback that fell just short.

This should be a fun game to watch, but as for who I think will be hoisting the George Halas trophy after the game, it will be the Panthers.

#CC16 Day 3

Day 3 of Creating Change Chicago style and the last full day of seminars after an interesting night in which a protest aimed at the A Wider Bridge reception ended up with the Chicago po-po`s being called .

Highlights of today`s agenda are the MasQUEERade Youth Ball and the 50+ and Allies Dance .  

I`ll also be tweeting at times various panels when I pop into various panels and something interesting gets said.

Shut Up Fool Awards- Moni's At #CC16 Edition

I'm up in Chicago for the 2016 edition of Creating Change, and I'm having a blast getting my learn on and seeing everyone that made it up here for this major conference.  We're happy that the weather is not as chilly as we expected, but the Chicago Host Committee is showing us a great time as we get our learn on.

It's Friday, and even though I'm up here handling #CC16 business, fools are everywhere, and I gots to call them out.  Speaking of calling fools out, I'll be adding five more names to the SUF Lifetime Achievement Awards List during Oscar weekend..  

So let's get started with my weekly TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards and finding out what fool, fool or group of fools get it.

Honorable mention number one goes to Bernie Sanders, who is upset that he didn not get the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, but keeps mispronouncing the name of the organization.

Maybe if you gooten the name of the group right, they may have felt the bern for you.

Honorable mention number two is a group award for PETA, who floated the offer that if the city of Detroit went vegan, they would pay Detroit`s water bill.

And y`all wanna know why I hate PETA`s racist asses.

Honorable mention number three is a group award for all the 2016 POTUS candidates who continue to spew racist, sexist (fill in the blank) comments at every stop on the ccampaign trail.

Honorable mention number four goes to FOX Noise spokessellout Stacey Dash, who while cooning it up for FOX Noise tried to defend the melanin free Oscar nominees by suggesting that the BET and NAACP awards need to go if we Black people want intergration,

You need to chill with the GOP cranial rinses.   The reaon those award shows exist in the Black community Stacey, is because of repeated snubs like the ones you`re trying to defend.

This week the Shut Up Fool winner is Sarah Palin for blaming the arrest if her son Trask on President Obama and PTSD,

Really?  As usual that chillbilly is just like very other Republican in terms never taking responsibiloity for their actions of lousy parenting.

Sarah Palin, shut up fool

#CC16 Day2

The second day of Creating Change Chicago style features the first full day of seminars at the Hilton Chicago

The State of the Movemnet Plenary is happening today, and the Muslim/ Prayer service at 12:30 PM with Imam Daayiee Abdullah presiding over it.

And later this evening, the Agents of Change House Ball
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#CC16-Day 1

The moment the Chicago Host Committee has been waiting and conducting nine months of convention  planning for has finally come to pass.  Creating Change 2016 has started.

White it's the second day of #CC16, it's the first day of Creating Change Chicago style for me at the Hilton Chicago.  Today is dedicated to the all day institutes, and one of them I'm keenly interested in will be the NBJC sponsored The Black Institute in the Williford C room

It will feature a groundbreaking panel discussion moderated by Tona Brown that focuses on the trans attracted men  who love us and the issues surrounding them.

The opening plenary will hopefully be less dramatic than the one in Denver last year, but is featuring a discussion on Black Feminism and the Movement for Black Lives.

I am planning on live tweeting the action while I'm here chilling (literally) in Chicago, so stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for the #CC16 news.  You can also check out the Creating Change website to see the webcasts of the plenary sessions

You can also check out the #CC16 hashtag on Twitter to check out what people are saying about this event on social media or my @TransGriot Twitter handle.

As you noticed, in addition to the live tweeting, I'm planning on writing update posts concerning the #CC16 happenings here at the Hilton Chicago as our LGBTQ community gathers for this major conference.

And so happy to be in town for it.

In The #CC16 House!

Well, it wasn't looking good for a minute, but the stars aligned for me to finally be in Chicago for my third straight Creating Change and fourth overall.

The first Creating Change I attended was in 1999, but it took Creating Change coming to me in  Houston in 2014 for moi to be able to go to my second one.   Unlike last year at #CC15 in Denver when I had a room in the conference host hotel, this time I'll be at the Hyatt Regency Chicago up the street from the #CC16 host hotel, the Hilton Chicago.

My AA flight from HOU to DFW was delayed,  making my connecting flight through DFW to O'Hare a little tigher than I like considering the size of DFW.   But what I can`t complain/about was I had the front row of a regional jet to myself on the HOU-DFW leg (think extra legroom), and a row to myself on/ the second leg.

Even better, I got up here early along with my bag.   Buit I still like Southwest.

Walked into/ the conference hotel, and within 30 seconds after entering the doorI started bumping into people.   I`m also chilling here until I can catch up with Ruby Corado, whose flight to ORD was delayed.
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As I mentioned in a previous post, it's the first time I've ever been to Chicago in the winter, and I was hoping and praying while I was up here during the four days of this conference that neither the high or low temps would have minuses in front of them or snow would be in the forecast.  So far so good.

You're welcome.  You can thank a sistah for bringing some heat with her and the somewhat warmer winter temps (for Chicago) from H-town by hooking her up with some Giordano's deep dish pizza.

I'll also be hitting some 7-Elevens near my hotel to handle my Slurpee addiction.

I'm looking forward to during my #CC16 time here hanging out with my homegirls and 'errbody' else I know in the LGBTQ community.  I'm also looking forward to meeting in the flesh peeps I correspond with and have gotten to know via Facebook and meeting some new friends while I'm in the Windy City.

Speaking of meeting new friends, for those of you wandering around the #CC16 Hilton Chicago host hotel, just want to let y'all know to don't be shy, say hi to Moni.  I remember what it was like when  I was attending my first Creating Change back in Oakland in 1999 and I was the neophyte activist in awe of my trans elders at the time.

While I may have a lot of people around me at different times due to being in the movement now for 18 years and counting, I don't bite unless you're a right wing Teapublican or a Trump supporter.

Just stop me in the hall or after the panel discussion and say hello when you see me.  If I'm not rushing off to a meeting, to grab food with someone or another panel, I'll be happy to take a few moments to chat with you.

For those of you here in the Windy City for #CC16, here's the link to the program book.   I'm also planning to tweet different panels I find interesting to attend and report about what's happening here when we're not getting our learn on.  

And yeah, I did pack plenty of warm clothes for the time I'll get to spend here..

 I'm taking some time tonight to get some preliminary writing done so I have more time to hang out.  Once I get through doing that, I might go swing by the bar later and see who is in town.

But if y'all don't see me tonight, see y'all at the Hilton Chicago in the morning.

#CC16 Pre-Conference Drama

Assuming my flight left DFW on time, I'm winging my way to Chitown as your read this.

One of the things about every Creating Change is that when you have a conference in which 4000 advocates come to town for a major conference that has the goal of training LGBT advocates to do the work, we shouldn't be surprised if people take the tactics they learned and aim them at you or decide to use the heightened media spotlight this convention gets in the LGBT and local media to advocate for various causes. ..

Drama is already happening in advance of the start of Creating Change 2016.

We already had ICE cancel a problematic #CC16 panel back on January 12, and now a kerfuffle has erupted over the cancellation and now reinstatement of a January 22 reception sponsored by the group A Wider Bridge.

Dean Spade and Dark Matter were openly critical of the reception, calling the group Zionist and an Israeli government front organization trying to pinkwash the ongoing conflict and Israeli treatment of the Palestinians.

When the reception was canceled on January 15, Jewish LGBT people responded in outrage, accused the Task Force of being anti-Semitic and began the noisy push to get the event reinstated on the #CC16 calendar.

The increasing rancor between the two groups resulted in National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey to issue this statement Monday about the reinstatement of the reception.

Having taken in a range of information and seeing what has happened over the last couple of days, I have decided to reverse our decision to cancel the ‘Beyond the Bridge’ reception hosted by A Wider Bridge with guest speakers from the Jerusalem Open House. It is our belief that when faced with choices, we should move towards our core value of inclusion and opportunities for constructive dialogue and canceling the reception was a mistake. Our decision was made by staff; neither our board members nor the local Host Committee were involved.  We are aware that our original decision made it appear we were taking sides in a complex and long-standing conflict, which was not the intention, and that in cancelling the reception we deeply offended many people, and our reversal will offend others.  In reversing the decision today, we want to make it quite clear that the Creating Change Conference will always be a safe space for inclusion and dialogue for people with often widely different views.  It was not at all our intention to censor representatives of the Jerusalem Open House or A Wider Bridge at Creating Change and I apologize that our actions left people feeling silenced.

Stay tuned, because the drama over this event probably isn't over, and we'll see how this plays out on Friday.

Moni's Leaving On A Jet Plane...

To Chicago!

The first trip of the New Year for me leaving out of Hobby in a few hours to the chilly Windy City to attend and cover Creating Change 2016.   It's not only the third straight Creating Change I've had the opportunity to attend and my fourth overall, it's going to be the first time I've flown into O'Hare since my Air Marshal days.

It's also the first time I'm traveling to Chicago in the winter.  I usually despise air travel during the winter months, but gots to do what I have to do to be in the #CC16 house including enduring a connection and DFW layover up and back.

I'm so looking forward to seeing the Chicago peeps who are in attendance, my trans sisters and brothers and  'errbody' else in the national and international TBLGQ community that are traveling by land and air to get to the Hilton Chicago host hotel and other nearby lodging spots in the Chicagoland area starting tomorrow.

But I'm not looking forward to the 40+ degree winter temperature difference between Houston and Chicago.

I need to stop whining about it and count my blessings. The temp will warm up to a high of 31 degrees F by this weekend.  Until a few days ago, it was looking like I was going to miss it and moping in Houston about not being there.

Creating Change not only is an event in which we get our learn on and hone our activist skills, it also serves as a big impromptu TBLG family reunion and one in which much of the community's business is conducted during the time everyone is in the Creating Change host city.  

But some positive things happened for me over the weekend that made moi being in the #CC16 house possible, and I thank Brock and Ruby in advance for making it happen

Well Chicago, see y'all in a few hours.  Save some Giordano's meat lovers deep dish pizza for me.

2016 Williams Watch- Good And Bad News From Melbourne

My fave tennis playing siblings are once again starting the New Year Down Under at the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2016 tennis season in the Australian Open.

And after the first round matches were completed in Melbourne, there's some good news and bad news to report.

First the bad news.  There were 12 players in the women's singles bracket that went down in first round upsets.  Number 2 seed Simona Halep, #16 seed Caroline Wozniacki, #17 Sara Errani, #22 Andrea Petkovic, #24 Sloane Stephens and #25 Samantha Stosur were some of the folks who went down in the first round.   #23 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova went bye bye in the second round.

Joining that list of one round and done players was Venus Williams.   8th seeded Big Sis is surprisingly done for this tournament after she was upset by Johanna Konta of Great Britain in straight sets 4-6, 2-6.   Venus has a great 2015 in which she reached the quarterfinals at last year's Australian Open and Wimbledon, and the third round of the US Open but had a bad day at the office at the worst possible time.  

Nothing in her game was working, including her usually lethal serve which was broken by Konta five times.  She was moved around the court easily in a loss that was considered a shock to tennis pundits

But she's out of the 2016 Aussie Open in the first round

Meanwhile on that same Rod Laver Arena court, Serena began the quest for her seventh Australian Open title by knocking off Camila Giorgi of Italy in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to punch her ticket to the second round where she faced Hsieh Sui-Wei of Taiwan.

She took an hour to cruise to a 6-1, 6-2 straight set victory and move on to her third round match with Russia's Daria Kasatkina .

Going to be an interesting week Down Under, especially on the women's side.

Her Story Goes Live Today

After months of buzz, positive press, the release of a tantalizing trailer, and public premiere events in New York and West Hollywood, today the groundbreaking Her Story webseries goes live.

And I'm happy on so many levels to see it.   I'm thrilled to see a trans written, trans acted and trans produced dramatic series with realistic trans characters.  I'm happy that it's getting positive buzz.

And most of all, I'm elated that this project involves two people I have mad love and respect for in Angelica Ross and Jen Richards.

So looking forward to see the first season of Her Story and hope it's megasuccessful enough to where it not only gets a second season, but leads to more FUBU projects like it on cable and broadcast TV.

Here's the link to Her Story for you to check out the six webisodes that make up its first season .

'Hit The Floor' Season Three Starts Tonight

It's been awhile since Sloane was put in the position of being forced to fire Ahsha from the Devil Girls at the end of season 2 back in August.

And now after a marathon binge watching weekend of Hit The Floor season on shows on Saturday and Season 2 yesterday. season 3 of Hit the Floor finally starts at 8 PM CST.

Y'all know how much I love scripted shows, and I started watching Hit the Floor because Kimberly Elise was playing Ahsha's mom Sloane Hayes and Dean Cain is also in it playing Devils coach Pete Davenport.

But I fell in love with Taylour Paige, who plays Ahsha, Logan Browning, who plays the scheming Devil Girls captain Jelena Howard, Valery Ortiz,who plays Raquel Saldana and Katherine Bailess, who plays Kyle Hart.

I love not only the Devil Girls dance numbers, but all the backstabbing, duplicitous deals and cliffhangers. I also want to see how things turn out for my fave characters.

Anxious to see if karmic justice finally comes Jelena's way.  I'm also interested to see what happens to Ahsha and all the other characters populating Devil's Arena on and off the court.

Happy MLK Day 2016!

"No time for apathy and complacency.  This is a time for vigorous and positive action."
--Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

When I was younger, I loved Rich Little and used to be able to do dead on vocal impressions of people and celebrities.  One of the people I used to do was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and one day I was attempting a humorous impression of him for my classmates during my 8th grade English class.  

My English teacher Ms. Maxie liked it so much I ended up doing the last part of the 1963 'I Have A Dream' speech it at a school assembly for a Black history month program to a standing ovation when I was done.

So my love of arguably the greatest American our people every produced started early, and the more I learn about Dr. King, the more fascinated I become with his all too brief life.

His writings and speeches not only are relevant in 21st century America, they inspired a downtrodden people to stand up and fight for their human rights.   His writings and speeches resonated across this nation and the world.  His words inspire me to fight for another class of downtrodden people in our country in transgender Americans.

On this national holiday dedicated to his memory, I take this day to do as he called it, hard solid thinking about the state of human rights in our country.

In a time when people are pushing back against trans human rights and suggesting that 'this is not the right time' to push laws and policies that mandate you treat transpeople as human beings, I take comfort from my history in the fact that the same loud and wrong commentary was said when it came to the African-American and other human rights struggles.

The rime is always right to agitate for human rights.  Just like during the 1950's and 1960's, 2016 is also not a time for apathy and complacency, but a time for vigorous and positive action about the pressing human rights issues of our time.  It is a time to get busy registering people to vote, getting people informed about the issues and ensure that people take their souls to the polls on November 8 in this critical to our nation's future presidential election.

And it is also a time to contemplate what I can do as an individual and collectively in expanding human rights coverage for everyone in a time when we have a conservative movement that is hellbent on rolling back everything that Dr King and countless other human rights warriors accomplished.

Happy King Day 2016, everyone!

Josh Vallum Charged In Mercedes Williamson Murder

17 year old Mercedes Williamson was the youngest of 21 trans people murdered in the US last year, and her alleged killer will be on trial in a few weeks.

28 year old Josh Vallum is a known member of the Latin Kings gang who has been incarcerated since he was arrested June 2 for Williamson's brutal murder.  Williamson's partially decomposed remains were found on Vallum's father's property in Rocky Creek, MS on June 1 after she went missing on May 30.

And as you probably guessed, the two have known each other for nine to eleven months. While she lived in Theodore, AL, her home address was in George County.

A George County, MS .grand jury indicted Vallum for Williamson's murder back on July 29 with the trial set to start on February 1.  If he is convicted, he faces life in prison with the possibility of parole at age 65..

We'll stay tuned to this case to see if Mercedes receives justice in this case..  

Naw Caitlyn, You Can't Win Republicans Over On LGBT Issues

I had to laugh and shake my head when Caitlyn Jenner was quoted as saying that we can win Republicans over on LGBT rights issues in a recent Advocate article.

As someone who watched the Harris County and Texas Republican parties, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lt Governor Dan Patrick (R) stick their noses in Houston human rights business and fund the oppressors deceit filled kill the HERO campaign, had she talked to me and other Houston advocates when she stealthily bounced into my hometown, I would have schooled her clueless behind on the folly of that position.

The Republican Party of 2016 in Texas and around the country is one made up of people who are hellbent on gleefully rolling back the human rights of anyone that isn't a white male right-wing 'christian'.   They have a special brand of hatred for human rights for trans, bisexual and SGL people, and are still working to terminate any progress on LGBT rights issues.

If you think I'm kidding about that, look no further than the unjust anti-trans bills popping up in Indiana , Virginia,  Washington and other GOP controlled state legislatures sponsored by proud Republican legislators or what happened here with HERO last year.

And hello, the GOP controlled NY Senate has been the major reason that GENDA's passage has been stalled in New York state despite their Democratic controlled assembly passing it eight straight times by comfortable margins.

The current Republican Party is not the one Eisenhower or Nixon led, much less even the one of Ronald Reagan.  And if Caitlyn's behind had more melanin in her skin, she wouldn't even begin to part her lips to say something that obtuse.

But if Jenner wants to take on that quixotic mission of trying to convince a party that is foaming at the mouth anti-LGBT for decades to change their BTLG hating ways, have fun wasting your time and breath trying to do so.

Meanwhile, I'll be chilling in Houston trying to resist the urge to say 'I told you so' as I and others do the work necessary to get the conversations going to solidify support behind the no-brainer idea of trans, bi and SGL rights being an international human rights issue.    

2016 Williams Watch- It's Time For The Australian Open

The first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season is the Australian Open, and the 2016 edition of it will kick off in Melbourne later tonight (Monday Melbourne time) and run until January 30.  

All eyes as usual will be on defending women's singles champ Serena Williams after her bid for a Grand Slam came up just short after being upset in the US Open semis.  She's had four months to rest from it, but there is some concern after she withdrew from the Hopman Cup warmup tournament with a knee injury.

She says she's ready to play, and she'll need to be from the opening round.  Her draw for this tournament has the world and Australian Open's number one seeded player on a potential collision course with Caroline Wozniacki (16), Belinda Bencic (12), Agnieszka Radwanska (4) and Australia Open finalist Maria Sharapova (5) in her half of the women's singles bracket.

Serena starts her bid for her 22nd Grand Slam title and seventh Australian Open title with her opening round match with Italy's Camila Giorgi, who is ranked number 35 in the world..

Well, at least they don't have Venus on the same side of the bracket with her little sister this time.

Big Sis came on strong at the end of the season and finished ranked in the top ten.  She starts 2016 with her highest seeding in a Grand Slam tournament since 2011.

Venus is seeded number 8 in this Australian Open tournament, and kicks off her quest for her first Australian Open title since 2003 with an opening round match against Johanna Konta of Great Britain.

This tournament will be interesting for both sisters, and we'll see if this is the first step to a Golden Slam for Serena or Venus executes another deep run that ends up with her clashing with her sister in a Grand Slam final.
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TransGriot 2015 NFL Picks - Divisional Round

As you TransGriot readers probably guessed, I was not happy with the piss poor playoff performance of my hometown NFL ballers, but picked that game correctly.

Note to Texans GM Rick Smith:  Please get the Texans an NFL quality franchise starting quarterback
Went 2-2 thanks to Blair Walsh missing a chip shot field goal and the Bengals melting down in the fourth quarter to snatch playoff defeat from the jaws of a streak snapping playoff victory.

It's now the 2016 NFL playoffs Divisional Round.  The stakes are higher in these four games this weekend, with the winners going to the conference championship games and the losers ending their season lamenting about what might have been.

And  now, my picks for this weekend's NFL playoff games.

NFL Divisional Round    Saturday, January 16, 2016

#5 Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) at #2 New England Patriots (12-4)

Interestingly enough, this is the first ever meeting of both teams in the playoffs

The Chiefs go into this game as the league's hottest team after the number 2 ranked defense in the league forced five turnovers in their 30-0 shutout of the Texans to win their eleventh straight game and snap their eight game playoff losing streak.  

Meanwhile the defending NFL champion Patriots needed that bye week off. After starting 10-0, they limped down the stretch with a 2-4 record after suffering a series of injuries that has crippled their offense and left them with an offense line that has struggled to protect Tom Brady this year..  

But you can't bet against a team that has gone 32-5 at home in the playoff, and the Chiefs are due to lose a game.  Patriots to win this game,

#5 Green Bay Packers (11-6) at #2 Arizona Cardinals (13-3)

After spotting Washington an 11-0 lead, the Packers offense finally woke up from their several week long slumber and looked like their number three NFL ranked selves by scoring on five consecutive possessions ti get control of the game and cruise to their 35-18 wild card round win

But this week they are playing a Cardinals squad that demolished them 38-8 back on December 27 in Glendale, and is itching to prove they are the best team complete team in the league,

They say it's hard to beat the same team twice in the same season. but Arizona will handle their business in the desert once again and move on to the NFC title game.

NFL Divisional Round   Sunday January 17, 2016

#6 Seattle Seahawks (11-6) at #1 Carolina Panthers (15-1)

Sunday starts off with a heavyweight matchup between the fortunate to be here Seahawks and a Panthers team that is on a mission to get to Santa Clara for Super Bowl 50.

The Seahawks are probably happy it won't be -6 degrees like it was for last week's game, but don't let that sixth seed fool you.  The Seahawks are not quite the Legion of Boom, but are still the number one ranked defense in the NFL.  The two time defending NFC champs offense also woke up down the stretch and gets Marshawn Lynch back..

Carolina has their MVP candidate QB Cam Newton rested and ready for this battle between two teams that are basically mirror images of each other.

It will be a tight game, but Seattle will pull off the upset to get to their third straight NFC title game.

#6 Pittsburgh Steelers (11-6) at #1 Denver Broncos (12-4) 

The last time these teams played during the regular season, Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown were enjoying their Heinz Field home cooking.  They stormed back from a 27-13 deficit to force two turnovers and scored 20 unanswered second half points to get a 34-27 comeback victory over a Bronco team being quarterbacked by Brock Osweiler.

But this time the game is in Denver, and Peyton Manning will be the Broncos starter.  Antonio Brown still hasn't cleared concussion protocol after suffering a concussion in the wildcard game against Cincinnati they were fortunate to win 18-16 thanks to the Bengals fourth quarter meltdown, they have a running back by committee situation due to injuries and Roethlisberger is banged up.

You'll also have a Peyton Manning determined to shake off his failed playoff performances of the past and give the fans at Sports Authority Field at Mile High some to cheer about.

Advantage and game to the Broncos.  

Shut Up Fool Awards- Rev Dr MLK Jr 87th Birthday Edition

Today is what would have been the 87th birthday of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. and as we head into the federal holiday on Monday that celebrates his outstanding and all too brief life, it's time to once again examine his words and speeches that are still as relevant to our lives today as they were when the words were penned and uttered.

Dr King famously said, 'Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance, and conscientious stupidity', and the peeps who get called out every Friday for these illustrious TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards are a living testimony to the wisdom of those words.

So let's get right to our usual Friday business of  calling out the sincerely ignorant and conscientiously stupid people in our midst this week.

Honorable mention number one is John Ritzheimer, the Vanilla ISIS terrorist who got pissed off because people have been sending he and his fellow armed malcontents dildoes and 55 gallons of lube instead of the food, money and other stuff they have been begging for online.

Well, boys, how about you give it up and go home like the sheriff and the folks of Burns, OR advised you to?

Honorable mention number two is a group award to the Oscars, for once again on nomination day unveiling a melanin free nomination slate for the second consecutive year despite some amazing 2015 performances from Idris Elba, Will Smith, Michael B. Jordan and movies like Beasts of No Nation, Selma, Creed, and Straight Outta Compton being released.

I guess they have a policy of no Black people get Oscar nominations unless they are playing in a role or producing a movie that demeans African-American people.

Honorable mention number three is the junior senator from Alberta, Ted Cruz, who has had an interesting week trying to tapdance around the fact he wasn't born here and is probably ineligible to run for POTUS, and after slamming 'NYC Values', was revealed to have gotten a $1 million loan for his 2014 senate campaign from Goldman Sachs, where his wife worked.

Honorable mention number four is another group award for all the GOP idiots who have been racistly attacking Gov Haley.   FYI for you GOP fools, Haley's parents were immigrants, but she was born in South Carolina in 1972.

This week's fool is South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.   After she received rave reviews for her SOTU response speech that whacked the Trumpenfuhrer, screwed all that positive publicity up by stating that 'America has never passed laws based on race or religion'.

Girlfriend, you're joking, right?   Obviously you were asleep in American History class because our history is chock full of far too many examples of policy that is based on religion or race.

Let's see, slavery, the near extermination of Native Americans from our nations borders,  the detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, Jim Crow segregation, Plessy v. Ferguson, Dred Scott v Sandford, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Defense of Marriage Act,...

Shall I continue, Gov. Haley?  

Oh BTW, Shut up fool!     

The New Black H-Town Panel Discussion

Thursday was a busy day for me.   I spent a few hours at the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council January meeting that afternoon as their guest speaker talking to the cross section of women in that room about how domestic violence issues impact the trans community.

I spent Thursday evening at 14 Pews NOT watching the latest GOP presidential debate and being part of a panel discussion focused on the Black LGBT community organized by the Infamous Iota chapter of Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity, Inc. and moderated by Brandon Mack and Januari Leo.  

Before we dove into that moderated discussion that featured a cross section of Houston feminine leaders that included newly elected Houston LGBT Caucus president Fran Watson, Shekira Dennis, Christina Gorczynski, and some blogger nobody reads, we spent a few moments getting to socialize and chat about a few things before we started watching at 7 PM the Yoruba Richen documentary The New Black.
Just in case y'all wish to view it, it is currently on Netflix.

The New Black is a movie that should have been required viewing for Houston Unites before they tried and massively failed to defend HERO.

Yeah, still pissed about that HERO defeat and the piss poor Prop 8 2.0 campaign that led to its repeal along with a lot of peeps in Houston Black TBLG World.

But back to the post.

Once that screening was over, after Brandon's remarks, he turned over the program to Januari for the panel discussion that lasted until 9:15 PM because there was just a lot of subjects to unpack.

Thanks again Iota Chapter of Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity, Inc.for the invitation to be a part of this amazing evening, and continued success in fulfilling your ongoing mission to inform and educate our community.

Happy 87th Birthday, Dr King!

Today is what would have been the 87th birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the greatest Americans our people have ever produced, as Tavis Smiley has said..

While our conservative friends like to focus on the Dr King pre-August 1963, the reality is that Dr King had a lot more profound things to say about America beyond the  March on Washington  'I Have A Dream' speech.

Much of what he wrote and said not only during his all too brief life, and especially post August 1963 is just as fresh and relevant in 2016 America as it was at the time when he uttered those words.

And yes, he is a sterling example of speaking truth to power.

This is an excerpt from the 1967 'Beyond Vietnam' speech that he gave at New York's Riverside Church one year before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.   I think it is so appropriate that we read and heed those words in this critical election year for our country.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin—we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with righteous indignation. It will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.

A true revolution of values will lay a hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.

Happy birthday Dr. King.  America is a much better nation because of you, and had you been blessed with longevity, would be an even better nation.   That's up to us to make that dream of yours a reality.