Like many Houstonians all over the planet and people who lived there once upon a time, I was saddened to hear about the death Sunday of one of our iconic personalities in Marvin Zindler.
I had the pleasure of watching him on KTRK-TV from the time he first joined the station in 1973. Marvin was there only a few months when he took on the legendary bordello in LaGrange, TX called 'The Chicken Ranch' and got it shut down.
While Marvin's style was flashy, with his natty suits, trademark blue glasses, silver toupee and multiple plastic surgeries, he got results. He created the consumer fraud division in the Harris County Sheriff's Department prior to joining KTRK-TV at the urging of long-time anchor Dave Ward. He pioneered consumer advocacy reporting. Restaurants in Houston brag about getting Marvin's Clean Kitchen Award. They know that if they make Marvin's Friday Rat and Roach Report their business will suffer.
While Marvin was the son of a wealthy local clothing store owner, he'd experienced prejudice first hand while accompanying his Adrican-American nurse who raised him around town. He was forced to sit in the same 'colored' areas as she was and that experience led him to fight discrimination wherever he found it. He constanly reminded us 'it's hell to be poor' and was a lifetime member of the NAACP.
For 33 years Marvin not only fought 'slime in the ice machine,' he fought real life slime in terms of shady businessmen, uncaring bureaucrats, getting crime ridden areas and neighborhood eyesores cleaned up and fighting for people wronged by the judicial system. Just uttering the words in Houston "I'll call Marvin" was enough sometimes to make these folks quake in their boots.
Through Marvin's Angels he helped people get needed medical treatment as well. There were many times he made forays not only in the Houston area but various places around the world to bring children and others who needed medical treatment to Houston to get it at Texas Medical Center hospitals free of charge.
Marvin had a heart as big as Texas, and loved his job. Even to his death, he was helping people. From his hospital bed he interviewed his doctor about the pancreatic cancer that took his life at age 85.
A one of a kind person has been called home. It's going to be sad the next time I go home, tune it to Channel 13 and not see him or hear his trademark sign off, Marrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyeeeeeeeewitness News.
Sung to the tune of 'She Blinded Me With Science’ by Thomas Dolby’
It's ignorance in motion The science hating GOP They’re causing a commotion Hating peeps that are GLBT But the GOP hates science "The GOP hates science!" Because they failed biology
Stem cell research won’t occur ‘Cause the GOP hates science-science!"
"Science!"
Kissing up to the fundies "The GOP hates science-science!"
"Science!" "Science!"
Mmm - but it's ignorance in motion The science hating GOP They’re causing a commotion Hating peeps that are GLBT The GOP hates science "The GOP hates science!" Because they also failed geometry
Global warming’s a myth you see "The GOP hates science - science!" "Science!" Mmm Mmm, Mmm Mmm- Rig voting booth machinery "The GOP hates science - science!" "Science!"
It's ignorance in motion Fox News constantly lies to me They’re causing a commotion Messed with our nation’s harmony The GOP hates science "The GOP hates science!" Hate SRS technology
"Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're a transsexual!"
Hey -I don't believe it! They’re on CNN! Talking that 'intelligent design' BS again! All the anti-gay research And junk science books Based on Biblical contortions
But- It's ignorance in motion The science hating GOP They’re causing a commotion Hating peeps that are GLBT Oh - but the GOP hates science "The GOP hates Science!" The GOP hates -
I'm approaching six years of living in Kentucky. Moving here was the first time I'd lived more than 50 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico or in a city not on I-10. Even though Louisville and Kentucky has its charms and things I like about it, there are a lot of things I miss about home besides my family.
Fortunately one of the things I missed, Blue Bell ice cream is now sold up here and I have happily gotten reaquainted with it.
So without further ado, the twenty-five things I miss about Houston.
1A-The drive to New Orleans Before Katrina, New Orleans was THE getaway spot for many Houstonians. It was only a five hour drive or one hour plane ride away. I lived on the West Bank in Marrero for two years as a toddler and my godsister still lives there so it was doubly special to me. I loved driving that scenic stretch of I-10 that cuts through the Atchafalaya Swamp between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
1-Major league sports Astros baseball, Texans football, Rockets and Comets basketball. I can drive to Cincinnati, Chicago or St Louis to see the 'Stros, Indianapolis or Chicago to see the Rockets or Comets and Indy to see the Texans. (I refuse to drive to Nashville to go see them while Bud Adams still owns the Tennessee Traitors) While it's fun to cheer my home teams to victory in hostile arenas it's not the same seeing my teams in their road uniforms. While Bats games are enjoyable and the price is right, there's a huge difference between a Triple A game and a MLB one.
2-TSU and the Ocean of Soul Marching Band Grew up watching a lot of TSU games in the Astrodome. Spent a lot of time on TSU's campus for various reasons. Listening to the high stepping Ocean of Soul as they did musical battle with the other outstanding bands in the SWAC such as Grambling, Jackson State, Southern and Prairie View was the bomb as well.
3-Texas high school football Arguably the best in the country. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights there's high quality games going on at stadium complexes all over the area from Class 2A to Class 5A. Houston area teams are usually in the mix for state championships. TV stations in the area have 30 minute shows devoted just to covering it and there's a syndicated show that covers Texas high school football on a weekly basis. One of the sure signs that fall was coming for me is when the latest issue of Dave Campbell's Texas Football hits the stands.
4-Frenchy's chicken The Scott Street legend located between the TSU and UH campuses that's grown to five locations. Had many nights I rolled by Frenchy's at 3 AM to grab a three piece and those creole seasoned Frenchy fries or chow down on one of their po boys.
5-Katz's deli Katz's is an Austin institution that opened up a store in Montrose. I went to the Austin location after the 1999 lobby day and fell in love with their sandwiches and the caramel cheesecake. I did the happy dance when they opened up their Houston location in 2000.
6-The nighttime pride parade Because Houston can get rather toasty in late June, the pride parade became a nighttime event. Attendance and popularity skyrocketed as a result.
7-Hermann Park The Houston equvalent to Central Park in NYC. The Zoo, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the statue of Houston's namesake Sam Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater and Hippie Hill, the reflecting pool and a mini railroad train that circles a portion of it are all there on its 445 acres. The Museum District and Montrose are nearby, Rice University borders it on the west and the Texas Medical Center to the south.
8-Montrose Houston's eclectic gayborhood that also has St Thomas University, La Colombe d'Or hotel, the Chinese consulate, the Menil Collection and various bed and breakfast places in the area along with some of my fave restaraunts and shops.
9-The Galleria So many childhood and transition memories there. It's one of my fave malls because of the ice rink, the high end designer shops and its international fame. Did a lot of walking, shopping, eating and window shopping there. My high school prom was at one of the hotels there. I also miss the Harwin Drive discount shopping strip as well.
10-Galveston and fresh seafood It represented the beach in my youth and my transition in adulthood. My gender clinic is located there. Whether I got my seafood in Galveston, one of the restaurants like Gaido's, Pappas or at one of the local mom and pop seafood joints, it was plentiful and the bomb.
11-The amenities of large city living It aggravates me when I have to drive to Cincy or Indianapolis to see my favorite acts or have to wait for traveling plays, movies or shows to come here after they do limited engagements in larger cities elsewhere.
12-Marrrrrrrrrvin Zindler, Eyyyyyyeewitness news Rent the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Melvin P. Thorpe is modeled on Marvin Zindler, KTRK-TV's longtime pioneering crusading consumer affairs reporter who unfortunately died Sunday. Marvin's had more plastic surgery than many of the girls who dance at Rick's. The Friday Rat and Roach report of restaurants that failed city health inspections is punctuated by his 'sliiiiiiiiiiime in the ice machine' line.
13-Mattress Mack's Gallery Furniture commercials Another Houston institution. Mattress Mack ends his commericals by jumping up and down, holding a dollar bill and reciting his tagline 'Gallery Furniture will save you money.'
14-The Ensemble Theater and Black culture Houston's award winning Black theater company. Houston is also the epicenter of Black history and culture in Texas. If there was a African-American trailblazer in Texas, nine times out of ten they had a Houston address.
15-The downtown Houston skyline No matter what angle I looked at it, whether it was from the stands at Minute Maid park, from IAH, my south side 'hood or the southwest side, I got to watch our world famous modernistic skyline grow as the city did.
16-Texas barbecue Whether it was chowing down at Harlon's, Drexler's, Pappas, a street vendor in the parking lot of a nightclub or a neighborhood hole in the wall, it's all good no matter what 'hood I was eating it in.
17-UH Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, rah rah rah! I miss walking around campus, checking out Cougar basketball, football and baseball games and reliving some memories from the time I was there.
18-Houston Splash The Black gay pride weekend that includes a beach party in Galveston and events in Houston that usually happens the first weekend in May.
19-Majic 102 Houston's first R&B FM station that started broadcasting in 1977. Over my teen and young adult years our radios eventually were tuned to it. It's now owned by Cathy Hughes' Radio One.
20-Astroworld Houston's amusement park that was opened by Judge Roy Hofheinz in 1968 and later bought by Six Flags. I was horrified to find out Six Flags not only closed it, but tore it down in early 2006. Another place that has fond memories for me.
21-Shipley's Donuts Krispy Kreme only opened its first Houston location in 2000 and still got their butts kicked by Shipley's. It's a local doughnut chain that also offers stuffed kolaches and fresh coffee. Some of the locations, especially in the 'hood are 24 hour ones.
22-Charlie's Restaurant When I wasn't feeling Denny's or was crossdressed, I used to roll up in this gay owned gay friendly 24 hour Montrose hangout, enjoy the food and the eclectic crowd that gathered there to boot.
23-Niko Niko's A Greek place in Montrose that also serves dynamite seafood and burgers.
24-Driving to Austin and Dallas The state capital was only a two hour drive away and I enjoyed rolling up state highway 71 and seeing the bluebonnets blooming along the highway. Most of my Texas relatives live in Dallas and we used make that four hour drive up I-45 nearly every summer to see them.
25-The Unity Banquet One of the major events of the Houston transgender community. One of my first community award nominations was for the Dee McKellar in 2001 for what else, the most outspoken person in the community. Lost that one to Kat Rose. ;)
When W.E.B DuBois first envisioned the Talented Tenth in his book The Souls of Black Folk it wasn't intended to be interpreted as being exclusionary or elitist. But that's the connotation that has been placed on the concept by many peeps in the African-American community.
DuBois concept was that the Talented Tenth would be given the mission to uplift the race and help it thrive through a combination of economic and political empowerment with a strong moral center as its core.
I believe that The Talented Tenth concept is one that is sorely needed at this juncture in the African-American transcommunity.
Too many of us have been focused on the party, the quick money and obsessively finding a 'husband' to validate our femininity. Not enough thought or time has been spent on community building, addressing the negative image we've been saddled with, where we fit in with our biowomen sistahs or how we evolve into becoming the Phenomenal Transwomen we were born to be.
That needs to end ASAP because as African-Americans, we African-American transpeeps, like the rest of our people are also judged by the WORST segments of our community, not the best.
I cringe when I hear the word 'elitism' being bandied about. It's been beaten to death in the white transgender community. I'm tired of seeing somebody branded as 'elitist' just because they busted their ass to go to school and get that paper. Should we be chomping Hater Tots and playa hatin' our transsistahs because they are college educated, have high self-esteem, are spiritually grounded, have a good job, wear fly clothes, own a house or have a nice car? Hell, naw.
If we desire the same things we should congratulate them, ask them what they did to get it, then replicate the hard work they put in to get theirs.
The main ones throwing that shade are the drag and street trans elements of our community. They heap scorn on people trying to get 'ejumacated' and legitimately paid. Some of the anti-intellectual strain in the African-American transcommunity is disproportionately concentrated in the drag and street transcommunity as well. While I understand why some of them harbor those resentments toward their more successful sisters, I'm not giving them a pass either. Some of them need to check themselves and start doing what it takes to come up to the next level as productive citizens doing their part to uplift the entire race.
At the same time, we have to make sure that our constructive criticism doesn't degenerate into a negative back and forth no-win dissfest. I have to point out that there are numerous drag artists and female illusionists who are highly educated, involved in the community, are proud of their African heritage and conduct themselves with impeccable decorum and class. The reality is there are others who don't and grouse about what peeps aren't doing for them.
But in order to accomplish our mission as members of the Transgender Talented Tenth those of us who have been blessed with the talents must stay focused. We must be on guard against developing selfish attitudes or arrogantly thinking that we are 'better' than our less fortunate transsistahs.
At the same time the blessed person has to remember that if it's requested, we have an obligation to at least try to lift a transsistah up and act as their mentor while doing so. If they rebuff you or don't want to do the self-examination and necessary work to improve their lives, then you have the right to move on and focus on your own life. You also have the option of continuing to search for the transsistah who is not only willing to listen to you, but sincerely desires to replicate your success in her own life.
So does the Transgender Talented Tenth exist? Yes they do. The peeps that it encompasses are not too dissimilar from the vision of DuBois. I consider the Transgender Talented Tenth to be made up of the educated transpeeps in our midst, the ones who are in leadership positions, be it with an organization or a grassroots activist level, business people, artists, the thinking visionaries and those who by living their lives help break down barriers and foster understanding between our community and the world at large. It's also rooted in the old saying to whom much is given, much is required.
We all want to be judged by the best we can produce and I believe like my ancestors that education holds the key to uplifting our people. African-Americans and the world MUST realize that there ARE transpeeps who are intelligent, care about the community as a whole and can do more than just entertain. We can run your businesses, your city, your county, your state and the country as well.
It is the Transgender Talented Tenth who will be the shock troops leading the charge toward slaying the demons of ignorance and misinformation. We have already started the process of demolishing the negative image of African-American transwomen that has built up over the years.
We are the peeps that through our daily interactions with our fellow African-Americans and others will break down those misconceptions. We will be the ones laying the groundwork for uplifting all transpeeps to our rightful place at the African-American family table and the American family table as well.
Many of us remember the famous 1984 Nike commercial in which Charles Barkley stated that 'he wasn't a role model'. It saddens me when I hear stories about transwomen who decline opportunities to act as mentors for young tranpeople.
Well, just as Charles clarified it later in the commercial by stating that parents and teachers are role models, that's true. But role models also extend to ministers, neighbors, people who have qualities that you admire and people who have demonstrated a commitment to being the best they can be while helping others.
One of the things I constantly talk about is the period in the early 80's when I was trying to transition. I sought out a mentor only to be rebuffed, ignored or dissed. The other problem was that in Montrose the girls I observed were either doing the drag thang, the drug thang or working the streets, and I wanted better for my life since I was in school at the time. The other sistahs who transitioned at the time were living stealth lives. That left a gaping positivity gap as AIDS devastated Houston. I swore to myself that if I ever got in the position to mentor someone, they would have my help if they asked. I created the Transistahs-Transbrothers discussion list in 2004 as part of my mentoring efforts.
It's funny, but one of the things I discovered is that mentoring is a two way street. Just as I became a role model for some transpeople, some dear friends have also become role models for me as well. There are various qualities my role models have such as their political savvy, sense of style, intelligence, emphasis on getting and keeping the financial house in order, outspokenness, deep faith in God, determination, willingness to move in search of a better life, musical talents, relentless pursuit of dreams, and surviving challenging life circumstances and thriving.
Those are qualities that I can look up to and incorporate into my own daily life in order to make me a better person.
I AM a role model. It's not like I eagerly sought out that position, it just evolved over time. My big mouth was the one on a 100,000 watt FM radio station talking about transgender and other issues. Since I was one of the few Black trans folks lobbying on Capitol Hill, I became the de facto representative of the African-American transgender community when I did that. I am thought of as a role model and diligently try to conduct myself in that manner, so now I must live up to it.
I must be on point in terms of my personal behavior, sense of style, and integrity. I not only represent myself, I represent all of you. I must be well read and well versed on many subjects because our enemies, the general public and other transpeople discount our intelligence. Some of them think that all we want to do is party, screw, and expose ourselves on shemalewhaever.com. We're far more complex than that simplistic box they try to put us in.
Keep sleeping on me, a Phenomenal Transwoman. A proud card carrying member of the Transgender Talented Tenth. I and every other transsistah and transbrotha is a living embodiment of the power of what is possible in our community, and I relish the challenge of making positive thangs happen.
Back in 2003 I attended my first Derby party as a Louisville resident. This particular derby happened on May 3, the day before my birthday so I got the tickets as an early birthday present from friends.
The Derby Benefit is a fundraising event for the Fairness Campaign, the local GLBT org here. It's a star-studded affair just like all the other Derby parties that take place in Louisville during Derby Week. It draws its share of national celebs as well straight and gay. You also have gay-friendly celebs popping in to give shout-outs to their GLBT fanbase as well.
In addition to the fun of getting glammed up for my first Derby party, I received a double dose of pleasure when I discovered that The Lady Chablis was there in attendance along with Tammy Faye. Anna Nicole Smith was walking in just as me and my friends were leaving around 10 PM. I got the Lady Chablis to autograph my copy of her book Hiding My Candy and after chatting with Chablis for a few minutes, started talking moments later to Tammy Faye.
Aftwr remarking how she wished she was my height (a sentiment also shared by the 5'3" Lady Chablis) we talked about our faith. She said something to me that she later shared with the assembled partygoers when she went up to the mic to speak.
"God loves you, too. Never let anyone tell you that He doesn't."
I thought about that when I heard the news Sunday that Tammy Faye lost this round battling an unrelenting foe in cancer. She's beat it back twice but this time it was not to be.
Tammy Faye came across to me as a warm, funny and caring person. She's more Christian than many peeps who claim they are. She talks the talk and walks the walk. She's a class act that's definitely gonna be missed.
We used to chant this line during Parliament-Funkadelic concerts back in the day. I use it as my signature line on e-mails that I send.
Little did I suspect that the intellectual laziness of some Americans would become so pronounced over the years that there would be a need to actually remind people to do just that.
As the eldest child of a retired educator and a media personality I abhor ignorance. I also abhor disinformation in all forms whether it's inadvertent or deliberate. I have watched in horror over the last 20 years as reason and logic seems to have vacated national policy making, general discourse and politics. In its place we now have a dysfunctional Alice in Wonderland culture.
Or should Orwellian culture be more like it?
How do you explain a man who erased a trillion dollar deficit, helped create a booming economy during the 90's, was respected and admired all over the world and presided over a decade at peace being impeached for lying about oral sex, but a guy who has us bogged down in a Vietnam-style war in Iraq, lied to get us there, outed a CIA operative to get back at her husband and thumbs his nose at the Constitution with aggravatingly annoying regularity isn't?
I don't get it.
Something else that defies logic is how in Hades demonizing gay people came to be called 'Christian' and why African-American ministers who once spoke truth to power now sit in the amen corner with the same white fundamentalist ministers who opposed our civil rights just 40 years ago.
I'm also distressed about some people celebrating ignorance in our culture. Let me 'keep it real' for you peeps. One of the defining values of African-American culture is our pursuit of excellence and education. We were so laser-beam focused on it after emancipation from slavery in 1865 that African-Americans went from a 10% literacy rate mainly concentrated among free Northern Blacks in 1850 to almost 80% by 1880.
But you have some people in our culture who ignorantly equate education and intelligence with 'acting white'. I remember one encounter with a girl in my old neighborhood. She remarked that in her opinion my Queen's English speech pattern was 'speaking white.' I replied to her that 'yo baby' and speaking ebonically, while that's fine when I'm talking trash with my friends in the 'hood wouldn't get me a job in white-dominated corporate America.
It's not just a Black thang either. I've noted the Culture of Ignorance is taking hold with our white brothers and sisters as well, especially those who profess to be fundamentalist Christians. Fundies are using the 'God said it, I believe it, that settles it' bumper sticker line to rationalize their Luddite-like rejection of science. They're homeschooling their kids because the public schools aren't teaching their younglings their 'christian values' of hate and intolerance.
I'm a Christian, but I refuse to turn off my brain when I enter the church sanctuary.
A $27 million dollar monument to ignorance just opened in Petersburg, KY called the Creation Museum. For $19.95 you can watch a high tech show explaining their 'intelligent design' concoction (a renaming of creation science) that the Earth is 6000 years old and that dinosaurs and man lived and worked side by side.
Hey, sounds like the Flintstones minus Fred, Wilma, Betty, Barney, Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles. Yabba dabba don't waste your time and money. I can get more laughs out of watching the Flintstones while saving some gas. If you really want to see a good museum in that area drive a few more miles up I-75 to Cincinnati and check out the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Okay, let me go back to talking about politics. It's time for our country to be run by the 'A' students again instead of the 'C' one who looks and acts like a 'D' one. I don't know about you, but one of the first things I look for in a president is not whether I can have a beer with them, but if they are smart enough and have enough broad based knowledge to handle the job. If they aren't I want them to be honest enough to recognize that they don't and get peeps who are to help him (or her) make those tough decisions in the areas where their knowledge is lacking.
But there I go again thinking logically.
Hurry up and get here November 4, 2008. There's a National Merit Scholar in the race and a Harvard Law grad who'd make an excellent president that I can't wait to vote for.
Intellectual laziness is dangerous in a democracy. It's the grease that provides the slippery descent to a dictatorship. So think people. Challenge the statements and ludicrous assertions that people make. Trust your intuition. Don't accept everything as the gospel truth that the media tells you. Filter it with logic and reason.
That also goes for what Reverend So-and-So tells you as well and be prepared to call out the TransGriot if I slip up. My voracious reading habits are a source of pride for me. I'm blessed with an intellectual curiosity that constantly thirsts to be satisfied with knowledge. It has me asking the who, what, when, where and why questions on a regular basis. My most admired people include intellectuals like Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and Dr. Julianne Malveaux. I try to back up my posts with links for you to check out my comments but even I miss from time to time.
We all benefit from the free exchange of information and knowledge. It helps our country and democracy grow stronger. Reason and logic helps you do your patriotic duty as an American citizen and cast an informed vote.
So just do it. Think! Do it before it becomes illegal to do so.
High school senior Crystal Vera created a lot of buzz when she ran for prom queen. Now the trans girl is ready to tackle the future.
By Michelle Garcia An Advocate.com exclusive posted June 26, 2007
At 19, Crystal Vera has already made history. This May the high school senior at Roosevelt School of the Arts in Fresno, Calif., became the nation's first transgender prom queen.
Her moment of glory attracted massive attention: MTV and Bravo wanted interviews, Fresno's gay pride parade named her as grand marshal (she rode in the parade in her tiara, sash, and sparkly blue gown), and the blogosphere buzzed with news of her win. For the LGBT community, Vera's win was a remarkable statement—and one Vera initially had reservations about making.
“My friends would constantly ask me to run for queen,” she says via phone. “But I just wanted my prom to be fun and my senior year to be relaxed. I didn’t want to be stressed-out. I knew that this would take a lot of work.”
Eventually those friends wore her down. One day Vera walked into the school cafeteria to find a mob of supporters urging her to put her hat in the ring.
“I was so touched by how my classmates accepted me, and that they respected me so much that they would want me to be prom queen,” she remembers. So Vera’s campaign began. She handed out rainbow flyers and chatted up her classmates, the high school equivalent to shaking hands and kissing babies. The Roosevelt School of the Arts, where Vera (still known to some teachers and classmates as Johnny) excelled as a student, cheerleader, and dancer, is a progressive magnet program for fine arts with a student body of 500 students. But before Vera's run for queen, no one knew just how progressive the program was.
In the end, the transgender teenager beat the other contenders, whom she described as equally popular and well-liked as she, by a 5-to-1 margin.
After the prom the whirlwind continued. "The following Monday when I walked into each of my classes, my peers would all get up and clap for me,” she says. “When I went to lunch, the whole cafeteria—I will never forget this—everybody was clapping. It’s just so wonderful to know that times are changing. People are changing. Things like this bring us hope as individuals that things will be better off for us.”
In September, Vera will study fashion design at the California College of the Arts, something she's dreamed about doing since she was 14 years old. Whatever challenges she may face, she'll always be able to draw strength from the memory of her prom.
“A year from now, if I’m going through a hard time," she says, "it will be good to look back and remember that not all people are cruel and rude."
I remember when May Walker became the first Black female officer in the Houston Police Department. It was back in 1975 and HPD still had a negative shoot first and ask questions later reputation in our community.
As May patrolled our neighborhoods and became a well known and comforting presence as a African-American officer in the Houston Police Department, she quickly earned a nickname among myself and the kids in our South Park neighborhood. We called her Christie Love, after the short lived ABC-TV show about ironically, the first female African-American officer to join a big city police force. The other irony was that the late Teresa Graves, who played Christie Love was from Houston as well.
For 24 years as a HPD officer May not only won over people in our community, she fought the entrenched racism and good-ole-boy culture within HPD as well. She opened doors that African-American youth in my neighborhood and beyond would follow. The current multi-ethnic professional force that Houston enjoys is largely because of her efforts. She also earned the respect and admiration of her law enforement peers.
But she was just getting started in terms of making more history. In November 2004 she ran for Harris County Precinct 7 Constable and won with 82% of the vote. When she was sworn in on January 2, 2005 she became the first female constable in Harris County history.
In addition to Constable Walker's long and distinguished law enforcement career, she's an author and is active in a long list of organizations in the Houston area.
Congratulations to Constable Walker and may 'Christie Love' continue to blaze trails for my generation and others to follow.
Stephen "Arch" Erich, Ph.D., LCSW and Josephine Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW are conducting research on issues related to African-American, Hispanic, and others of color transgenders in relation to their Life, Satisfaction and Self Esteem.
We are collecting this information in order to examine Life Satisfaction issues related to the individual's personal life style and also the person's relation to family issues. We are also wanting to see if there is any correlation between Life Satisfaction and Self Esteem. I hope you will participate in the furthering of educating society on issues related to the transgender.
Stephen "Arch" Erich, Ph.D., LCSW has researched gay adoption extensively in the past and has been within the past four years researching issues important to the transgender community. He is the Director of the Social Work Program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Josephine Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW is an activist and researcher within the transgender community. She is the Research Chair for NTAC and has served on the board of directors of many transgender organizations. She is a post-op transsexual. She is currently a doctorial candidate at the University of Houston.
They request that if you wish to participate that you email Arch at erich@uhcl.edu to request the survey questionnaire. If you have any questions you can also call him at (281)283-3388
Please participate and help further the knowledge base on transgender issues.
J. P. Tittsworth, MSW, LBSW, AA; NTAC Board of Directors, Research Chair; GCSW-SA Senator; SGA Social Work Senator
To the left, To the left To the left, To the left To the left, To the left My politics are a little to the left I love my country just as much My civil rights you please don’t touch Keep talking that right-wing mess, that's fine Your prez can’t walk and talk at the same time Y’all ruined the USA my bad Took too long to realize that we’ve been had
Right-wing talk shows yappin’ telling me How we're all such fools - Talking about How we'll never vote out peeps like you You got me twisted
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute Be better when your opponent wins it- baby
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a better America by tomorrow So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable
So go ahead and get gone Call that lobbyist and see if they’re home Oops, I bet ya thought that I didn't know What did you think I was putting you out for? Cause you was untrue Not doing the job I elected you to do Baby drop them office keys and hurry up before your limo leaves Right wing talk shows yappin’ telling me How we're all such fools - Talking about How we'll never vote out peeps like you You got me twisted
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute Be better when your opponent wins it-baby
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a better America by tomorrow So don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable
So since you can't help everyone I’m voting you out of Washington Because I’m nothing at all to you I’ll shed tears of happiness, boo I’m not a mindless sheep Cause the truth of the matter is Replacing you is so easy
To the left, To the left To the left, To the left
To the left, To the left My politics are a little to the left
To the left To the left
Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute Be better when your opponent wins it - baby
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a better America by tomorrow Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a new congressman/senator any minute Be better when your opponent wins it - baby
You must not know about me You must not know about me I'll have a better America by tomorrow Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable
One of the things that I was apprehensive about after I started transition in 1994 was finding a beauty shop to hook up my hair. I had the task of not only finding a beautician that would be open minded enough to understand what we transwomen have to deal with, but also have a flexible enough schedule to deal with my airline work schedule. I was also concerned about whether or not I would fit in with her current clientele.
I didn't have to go very far. Ironicially it was the one my ex-girlfriend went to. Sadat Busari's shop at the time was right next door in the strip shopping center to my old apartment complex on Bissonnet. I started going to A Cut Above and was a faithful customer of hers until the time I moved to Da Ville in September 2001.
One of the things about African-American male culture is that the barbershop was the center of the universe. It's where guys talked politics, listened as other guys discussed women, bragged about their sporting prowess, sports knowledge and relationships. The seniors gathered at a table in the back and played dominos while waiting for their turn in the barber chair.
I grew up with a female barber. One thing about my hometown is that I had a lot of strong women in my life and Miss Charlene was one of them. She'd been cutting my hair at her Sunnyside area shop on Scott Street since I was 6 years old. She chewed my behind if my grandfather Leo reported to her that my grades slipped. She was the one that taught me how to play dominos and I used to partner with to play against and beat the old heads. I had been accurately pontificating on a wide variety of subjects since I was 10 and my thoughts were respected by the young and old denizens of that shop.
Some of my apprehension was generated because I wondered what the atmosphere was like in a beauty shop and whether I'd fit in. My mom, aunt and sisters always went to my grandmother Lou Ella's house to get their hair hooked up on Saturdays and I was the person who frequently ended up driving them over there once I got my driver's license.
I discovered that it's not too dissimilar to what I'd experienced in my old barbershop. While we didn't play dominos in A Cut Above, I was right in my element when we discussed politics, books we'd read and talked about relationships. It was also a lot of fun for me because I was in discovery mode (and still am) when it came to life as an African-American woman and I reveled in being there.
I discovered that some sistahs could be just as raunchy as the guys were sometimes when it came to discussing sex. One of the customers used to give us details about how she worked her boyfriend over the night before. I was amused to find out later her boyfriend worked for CAL like I did. Since some of the customers knew my T-woman status, I ended up breaking down their relationship problems and giving them advice based on the knowledge gained from living on the other side of the gender fence and knowing how the male thought processes work.
If it was just me and Sadat in the shop, sometimes we trade details on our lives. I learned about her childhood growing up in the Biafra region of Nigeria, dealing with being a wife, mother and business owner and being part of the Nigerian community in Houston. She heard me talk about my family, some of my airport exploits, my desire to see less bickering between African-Americans and our Nigerian cousins and my latest, sometimes humorous discoveries I made about navigating a gender change.
And yeah, Sadat hooked up my hair in the process to the point where I was always getting compliments on it.
Give me your unconditional love the kind of love I deserve the kind I want to return
That's the chorus of the Donna Summer song Unconditional Love. It's one of the things that next to respecting our constitutional rights, a desire to be loved by someone and having loyal friends in our lives that have our backs no matter what is one of the things at the top of our request list when it comes to our families.
Unconditional love. Sounds like a simple, straightforward, logical concept, right?
Not when you have a gender identity issues and you come out to your family about it.
It's irritating to see family members that are chronically unemployed, go to prison or have drug problems get more support than a transgender person who's clean and sober, successful in their careers and never seen the inside of a jail.
If there's anything that a transperson needs most, it's the support of their family when they're trying to negotiate the drama of dealing with a gender identity issue. If you're reading this and you're the lucky transperson that has the unconditional love and support of your family, congratulations. I ain't mad at ya.
Just remember to say prayers of thanks to God every night from now until the time you pass away for the situation you find yourself in. Some of your fellow transpeeps aren't so lucky. If they aren't rejected out of hand, then the situation that is just as bad is the support and love with conditions attached to it.
You may have parents who continue to call you by the wrong pronoun or the old male name despite the fact you've been transitioned for a decade or more. You find out about family reunions AFTER they've taken place or too late for you to rearrange the work schedule to attend. You may have situations where you're sent an invite to a wedding, but a few days before the event your relatives call you up and request that you don't wear a dress or heels to the event or insultingly ask you if it's possible for you to 'dress like a man'.
The ones that are really irritating are the relatives that say they support you, but start imposing their religious beliefs on you or are bold enough to tell you to your face that you'll never be a woman in their eyes.
If that sounds like you, stop it. Unconditional love means just what it says. We need the validation of having our blood relatives acknowledge the person we've evolved into now, not the kid they remember ten to twenty years ago.
We transpeeps need that connection, that feeling of belonging, that desire to be recognized as a valued respected member of the family in our new gender role. It's something we need to help fortify our self-esteem. It's comforting to know that as we go out and deal with the slings and arrows hurled at us from a not too sympathetic and sometimes hostile world, our families love us unconditionally.
We transpeeps need to believe that come hell or high water our families be they our nuclear or extended ones, have our backs and are not finding excuses to place knives in our backs.
I'm Micah Christian and I'm a recovering fundamentalist.
It started in my youth when my parents began attending Humongous Baptist Church. As they got more involved in church events and were 'born again' they pulled me out of the public schools and enrolled me in the HBC Christian Academy. I used to love science classes, but not after I was taught something called 'creation science' or whatever they call it now.
I was also disturbed about the outright hatred that our senior pastor displays toward gay people. How can you reconcile preaching love for your fellow man while you're spending thousands of dollars of the church's money in supporting a mean-spirited anti-gay constitutional amendment and making their lives miserable?
I also questioned why we spent so much money on an ex-gay ministry that doesn't work. The people that go through it go right back to gay life. It's also interesting some of the stories my gay friends tell me about being approached in gay clubs or elsewhere by some HBC deacons for sex. They also told me about the transgender escort that the associate pastor sees on a regular basis, but every time a television camera is turned toward his face he's condemning GLBT people.
I hate attending church with a basketball arena sized crowd. I was happy at our old church that I was baptized in and I miss it. Unlike HBC, where the minister doesn't even know my name, Reverend Jordan knew me, my parents and my grandparents.
I also hate having Republican politics force fed to me under the cloak of religion and being told that liberals are evil. How can you honestly say that people who push for social justice for all, safe food standards, 40 hour workweek with safe conditions and are trying to make universal health care a reality are unpatriotic and evil?
And why are we at HBC commanded to do whatever it takes to get GLBT people fired from their places of employment? All they are trying to do is make a living like we are. Don't they have that right? What makes us so superior that we take it upon ourselves to cause pain and suffering to fellow human beings when we aren't perfect ourselves? We violate the Ten Commandments more that the people that our pastors condemn from the pulpit every Sunday.
After seeing all that over the years, I finally got tired of Humongous Baptist Church and started attending a new one. It's an open and affirming environment. My minister challenges us to think, study our Bible and be better people, not browbeat others with the word of God or manipulate scripture to justify bigotry and hatred.
It's taken a while, but I finally feel good and at peace about being a Christian.
Like many Houstonians all over the planet and people who lived there once upon a time, I was saddened to hear about the death Sunday of one of our iconic personalities in Marvin Zindler.
While Marvin's style was flashy, with his natty suits, trademark blue glasses, silver toupee and multiple plastic surgeries, he got results. He created the consumer fraud division in the Harris County Sheriff's Department prior to joining KTRK-TV at the urging of long-time anchor Dave Ward. He pioneered consumer advocacy reporting. Restaurants in Houston brag about getting Marvin's Clean Kitchen Award. They know that if they make Marvin's Friday Rat and Roach Report their business will suffer. 
Through Marvin's Angels he helped people get needed medical treatment as well. There were many times he made forays not only in the Houston area but various places around the world to bring children and others who needed medical treatment to Houston to get it at Texas Medical Center hospitals free of charge.
