Monica's 2006 IFGE Trinity Diary

TransGriot Note: On the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Yahoo discussion list I began compiling a diary to chronicle my thoughts as I prepared to head to the IFGE Conference in Philadelphia to pick up the Trinity Award.   I was surprised to note as I perused my archives I didn't have it posted here.    On the fifth anniversary of that historic day I'm sharing with you TransGriot readers what I wrote enroute to me becoming the first African-American trans Houstonian and trans Texan to win the IFGE Trinity Award.

Hey Transfamily!
On Wednesday morning I hit the road enroute to Philly and the IFGE Convention to pick up the Trinity. I'm going to start a diary and give you my impressions of how the week unfolded and post them to
this thread.
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April 2, 2006
1 AM EST

Three more days until I hit the road and begin a journey to Philadelphia and a rendezvous with history. Still tweaking my speech and wonder what mischief AC and Dawn have planned when they do their intro of me.

My butt needs to be in the bed since I'm following Dawn to Richmond, KY for her regional fencing tournament tomorrow and it isn't helping that this is the night we change over to Daylight Savings Time.

But I'm excited. It's been a while since I've been to an IFGE convention and ironically the last time I attended one was to present Dawn for her Trinity. Funny how life comes full circle at times.

Just yawned. Time to shut it down for the night.

April 4
9 AM EDT

Frantic day ahead of me. I'm also in a little bit of a melancholy mood since today is the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Probably the greatest leader our people ever produced. That level of leadership is a tough standard to live up to, but I'm damned sure gonna give it my best shot.

Heading to the nail shop to get a touch up before I finish packing, then working from 4-12 AM. Adding another paragraph to the speech since I feel it needs to end on a upbeat note. I'll post it later tonight so y'all can give me feedback before I bail Thursday morning.

The trip to Richmond, KY on Sunday was interesting. It was my first time on the EKU campus and while waiting for Dawn's first match took a walk around it. Not much activity on campus but then again most of the students weren't back from their weekend yet. Caught some of the tennis match that was being played between EKU and Tennessee State before heading to the gym where they were hosting the regional qualifier.

Dawn did qualify for nationals, but the real excitement was on the way back. As we entered I-64 at Midway noticed some nasty looking clouds trying to organize into a funnel cloud. Needless to say we hauled ass all the way back to Da Ville and got back 45 minutes before the nastier second front came through town.


April 5
11:46 PM EDT

It finally hit me when I got off from work at 5:30 PM that I was finally gonna be on the road enroute to Philly in a few hours.

I'm looking forward to it since I've never been to the city. Philly was on my 'To Visit' list when I was working at CAL but never got around to planning a trip there.

When I got home made some final tweaks to the speech and practiced it just to see how it would sound, how well the words fit together and how well it flowed. Fixed the parts that sounded awkward and added a paragraph or two before I headed to Kinko's with Dawn to print two copies of it. (my printer is down)

Checked out the hotel website and discovered they have a business center. We'll be packing a laptop with us so I can easily continue posting to this online diary.

Been thinking a lot about what we've accomplished as a group in just two years, the conference and my own personal growth since 1998. Will be doing a lot more of it between now and 12 noon on Friday.

April 6

We're on our way. Cloudy day here in Da Ville as we start heading east on 1-64 at 10 AM destination Philadelphia. Eventually outran the cloud cover just outside of Lexington to reveal a beautiful sunny day.

AC, Dawn and I are cracking jokes as we usually do on long road trips as the miles and states quickly pass in our rear view mirror. There are moments when I'm staring out the window thinking about my speech and how it will be received.

We started laughing when we crossed over into Pennsylvania on I-95 and a street sign plastered on an overpass crossing the freeway in Chester read Blueballs Rd (I kid you not)

Finally arrived in Philadelphia at 9:16 PM and got checked into our hotel room. Ours is on the sixth floor with a view of downtown Philly. Surprisingly since we're in rock-throwing distance of the airport it was relatively quiet.

AC and I went to the bar and sat down in the hotel sports bar and had an unusual reaction for us. Neither of us were recognized until Monica Helms came over to our table to hug us. Yvonne Cook-Riley of IFGE congratulated me for winning the Trinity and pulled me aside to talk shop.

When AC and I joked to Monica Helms about being anonymous, she replied, "In Monica's case that will only last until 12 PM tomorrow."

April 7

The day has finally arrived. In a few hours I will be joining a short list of folks who won the Trinity. Got up earlier than I normally do about 8 AM and started getting dressed from the noon luncheon at 10 AM. Met Jordana in the hotel lobby and we ran our mouths until 12 Noon.

They were late getting the luncheon started and then the big moment arrived. Time to introduce the Trinity Class of 2006. Julie Johnson accepted Miranda Stevens-Miller's award. Next was Nancy Nangeroni to introduce Gordene McKenzie.

Finally it was my turn. Monica Helms introduced me to a standing ovation, then I started my speech. Ended up getting three standing ovations despite the fact I had to leave out a few paragraphs because I was running short on time. After taking a few pictures Dawn and I bounced with Jordana and Dionne for a guided tour of Philly and to grab some cheese steaks. We ended up back at the hotel laughing and talking until a little after midnight about a wide range of subjects.

April 8
The Day After

What a difference a day makes. I walked in unknown by most of the convention attendees. Now every time I turned a corner in the hotel I was getting congratulated by peeps about the speech. Some people have ranked it as one of the best acceptance speeches ever given at a Trinity Awards ceremony. I was still bummed about have to cut some paragraphs from it.

Bounced into a couple of seminars before hanging out with my Texas homegirls Beth Boye and Mechelle Salinas. Ended up talking to Kalina Isato later that night at the bar and having some long conversations with my activist mentor Phyllis Frye. Dawn, Dr. Marisa Richmond and I are now referred to as Numbers One, Two and Three for the order in which we received our respective Trinity's. Dawn made the crack as they took a picture of us the day before.

The convention is rapidly coming to a close and although it's been fun, I'm ready to head back to Da Ville.

April 9

The long journey back home. As we were headed to the car with our luggage ended up in the elevator with more IFGE attendees who congratulated me on the award and the speech. After talking to some hotel staffers ended up in brief conversations with IFGE leaders before we hit the road. Raised a eyebrow as we passed a mountain on a stretch of I-68 in Maryland named Negro Mountain.

As we get closer to home we started reflecting on all the stuff that we've experienced at various transgender events. We talked about the folks that weren't present at IFGE, the ones that are no longer with us period and the things that we hope to accomplish as we build our community.

Finally hit the Louisville city limits about 10 PM and the first thing I did when we got home was grabbed the Trinity, walked into the house and placed the Trinity on the opposite end of the mantel from Dawn's.

I was right. Sure looks good up there.

Live From College Station

Am sitting in the hotel  right  now after a wonderful afternoon and evening with Lowell Kane and the students of Texas A&M's GLBT Center.

I had an interesting on the ride to College Station chat with Rachel on the way up about a wide variety of subjects and on campus a little after 5 PM CST.

I was in plenty of time for the meeting due to start at 6:45 PM and my presentation.   The Center is on the side of the A&M campus in the shadows of Kyle Field and when I arrived several students were busy making Christmas ornaments.

Rachel departed to finish a paper she was working on and after keeping myself busy discussing the jacked up state of the Texas Legislature with two other students Lowell arrived a few moments later from a panel discuyssionhe and two of the Center's students were taking part in.  

Time passed quickly after a tour of the Center and Lowell telling me about some the interesting things that were transpiring on the Texas A&M campus.

Then it was time for Moni to do her Trans 101 from an African-American cultural perspective.   There were some interesting questions asked by the 60 people in the room and when it was over in addition to being thanked by the students for coming, got a chance to discuss the presentation and other subjects over dinner in nearby Bryan.

Once again, thanks to Lowell and the gang at GLBTA for a wonderful afternoon and evening, and looking forward to the next time I have a chance to come up here for the 2011 TTNS.

Moni's Headed To Aggieland

Looking forward to my upcoming appearance on the tradition rich Texas A&M campus to talk about trans issues.   Texas A&M was one of the schools I considered attending back when I was a high school junior and they showed some interest in me as well, but eventually stayed home and became a UH Cougar.

It's also one I'm looking forward to because my activist mentors Sarah DePalma and Phyllis Frye both walked the A&M campus, and Sarah was active as a student there.

The 2011 Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit will also be hosted on the A&M campus August 12-13 and looking forward to some Aggie hospitality then.  

Thanks to the gracious invitation from Lowell Kane and the wonderful people at the Texas A&M GLBT Center, I'll be there live and in living color this Thursday at 7 PM CST..

Looking forward to seeing you peeps this Thursday.    Will be doing my Trans 101 presentation and expect I will have a lot of questions to answer from your inquiring minds.

Heading Back To H-town

Had a wonderful weekend up here in Western Massachusetts, but it's time to head back home to Houston via Atlanta.

Sorry CAL family, tickets were booked on Delta and I'm coming back through Hobby, but I am getting frequent flyer miles for my travel.

My thanks to my gracious hosts and the wonderful organizing team for the Northampton Pride march and rally.

I had some personal drama that transpired earlier this week that I'm still dealing with before I left Houston, and this trip and change of scenery was sorely needed.

It was great being back up here in Western Massachusetts for the first time since 2008, and I hope I'll get the opportunity to return again in the near future.

The Grand Marshal Speaks

As many of you TransGriot readers are aware of, at this moment I'm in Northampton, MA exercising my duties as the Grand Marshal for the Northampton Trans Pride March and Rally.

I'm not only honored to be following in Miss Major's and Gunnar Scott's footsteps as the previous Grand Marshals for this event, I'm getting the opportunity to see and hang out with my friends in the area, meet some new one and say what's up to my loyal New England TransGriot readers.

Best of all I get out of Houston for a few days.

I got to BDL a little after 5:30 PM EDT because of the headwinds we were battling on the flight up from the ATL. I did get to Ericka and Trystan's place in time to watch the kickoff of the Coogs successful C-USA home opener against UTEP.

Eat em' up!

If somebody shoots the video of the parade, I'll post it later.

Once again I want to thank my gracious Northampton Trans Pride hosts for the invitation and another opportunity to spend some time partaking of some Western Massachusetts hospitality.

Things have been kind of up and down personally for me lately, and this trip is just what I needed to turn my personal lemon situation into pink lemonade.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...To Northampton

The Air Marshal is living up to her old nickname and hopping a flight from Hobby (sorry IAH) to my eventual final destination of Northampton, MA.

If things are on schedule, I should be airborne and halfway to Atlanta by the time you read this. The old joke in the airline industry and elsewhere is whether you're going to Heaven or Hell, you'll be changing planes in Atlanta will definitely apply to this trip.

Interestingly enough, I'll be transiting the ATL as Southern Comfort is in full swing. It's also my first trip out of Hobby since I ironically took a Delta flight out of the airport in September 2001 to begin the process of moving to Louisville.

I'm connecting through Atlanta Jackson-Hartsfield to my final destination of Hartford's Bradley International Airport.

As always, if I get some computer access and time somewhere and sometime during this weekend, will tell y'all about this latest trip to Western Massachusetts.

If not...I'll keep a diary and tell y'all about it when I get back.

Louisiana Memories

Polar and I as you read this are probably at our planned stopping point of Hammond, LA.

Yep, we're in Jindalland after our day started earlier this morning in Da Ville rolling the moving van southwards on I-65.

We picked Hammond because Interstate 55 intersects with I-12 here, and once we get on I-12 west it's a short run to Red Stick (aka Baton Rouge) and the intersection of I-10.

I-10 west will take me through Louisiana's state capitol, over the Mississippi River, through the Atchafalaya swamp, past Lafayette, Lake Chuck and finally the last 30 miles to the Texas-Louisiana line at the Sabine River.

Louisiana is special because it's another one of the places that is home for me. For two years I lived in Marrero, LA just across the river from New Orleans. I started elementary school there and my godsister and her family still live on the West Bank. I have a few friends still living in Da Swamps who have told me they're happy to hear that I'm back on the Gulf Coast and I'm only a five hour drive away west of them.

When I worked for CAL, one of my first non-rev trips I took when I became pass eligible was to New Orleans. I flew to the city several times during my time there because it was a short flight to the French Quarter and a club on St. Charles Ave I used to hit called Nexus. It was a jazz piano bar downstairs and had a dance floor with DJ upstairs.

There was one memorable night I hit the place and Charmaine Neville was performing at the jazz bar part of Nexus the same weekend that New Orleans was invaded by Washington Redskins fans. The DJ obliged by playing a lot of go-go that night in his music mix.

If you want to get on my good side bring me a dozen beignets from Cafe DuMonde and you have gained a BFF.

And yes, my other fave NFL team plays in the Superdome. Geaux Saints!

Polar and I probably are going to find something to eat and call it a night because we still have some driving to do before we hit the Houston city limits.

Mississippi!

M-I-crooked letter, crooked letter-I-crooked letter, crooked letter-I-humpback, humpback-I.

That was the old jump rope call and the way I used to remember (and still do) how to spell Mississippi. It comes to mind every time I cross the border into the Magnolia State.

During my childhood I spent more than a few summers piling into my late grandfather's Chevy Impala along with my mother, brother, grandmother, sometimes my uncle and later my toddler sisters hitting I-10 east to make that 7 hour run to Jackson.

My Mississippi roots run deep on my mom's side of the family. My great grandmother lived there before we moved her to Houston due to concerns over her health in the early 80's. We'd take the time while we were in Jackson visiting her to make the run up US 49 to visit my relatives in Yazoo City, Greenwood and Itta Bena as well.

While the state has a less than pleasant historical reputation in terms of contentiously violent race relations and the anti TBLG hostility aimed at Juin Baize and Constance McMillen, the fact remains that some of the roots of my family tree are here.

Besides that, there are some positive things that have come out of Mississippi.

Name one you say? The blues and BB King for starters. This is also the home state of Oprah Winfrey.

Nevertheless, Polar and I are still going to travel as expeditiously as possible to put the state in our rear view mirror until it's tome for my Mississippi relatives to host our next family reunion.

Headed West on I-40 And South On I-55

Still rolling to H-town. Polar and I should be somewhere around Memphis, TN about to cross the border into Mississippi at this point in the journey unless traffic, us getting up late or other issues from last week's floods in Nashville and parts of I-40 in Tennessee have slowed up progress.

Next video up on the Moni Houston musician hit parade, Larry Gatlin.

And before you ask, no I never went to Gilley's.

The Journey Begins Back To Houston

I've packed my stuff including the computer, and I'm headed south on I-65 in a few hours to complete the circle that unexpectedly started in 2001.

I'm headed back home to Houston starting at 6:00 AM EDT.

Thanks to the automated posting feature on this blog, you'll have some fresh content while I'm rolling through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, finally crossing the Sabine River back into the home state and making the 100 plus mile run from the Texas-Louisiana border to Houston.

If I get some computer access along the journey since me and Polar are planning an overnight stop somewhere along the route, I'll tell y'all about this latest road trip that's probably going to be a little more emotional than others I've chronicled.

It's kind of a bittersweet moment. I'm leaving friends and family I made here in Louisville, but I'm returning to lifelong ones I made back and my family, blood relatives and chosen ones in the Lone Star State.

I'm planning on keeping a trip diary and posting it once I get settled in Houston

In the meantime, to keep you occupied, I've got some various Houston artists videos to keep you occupied until I get back to my regular posting schedule.

First up, my Houston homegirl Beyonce.

Dawn's Headed To Cleveland

Dawn's fencing in a tournament that's taking place in Cleveland, but I won't be making the drive up there with her. The saber part of the competition starts at 1 PM Sunday, and I promised my pastor Rev. Sally McClain I'd be the worship leader for our services this weekend and next.

It's one I'm a little disappointed about because it would have been one of the last times I got to do a long distance drive with my homegirl and watch her fence for a while.

But I gave my word to Rev Sally I'd do it, and that's the end of the discussion. Edenside is where I'll be this Sunday morning and the next one.

Back to the discussion at hand.

In Dawn's last tournament in Dallas she finished in the Top 8. She's looking forward to this NAC event and changing the color of her medals to a gold silver or bronze one.

Best of luck sis, and sorry I'm going to have to miss it.

Aargh..Frustrating Travel Day

I've had an enjoyable day and a half in Oneonta, NY hanging out with Dr. Lobdell, her students and various faculty members on campus while doing my Trans 101 presentation. But now it's time to say goodbye and head back to Da Ville.

I'm up and hitting the road with Dr. Lobdell at 9 AM to make the enjoyable 60 mile run west on I-88 back to Binghamton. I have an 11:00 AM EDT US Airways flight to catch that will start my journey back to Louisville and get me back here by 2:30 PM.

Or so I thought.

It rained off and on in the Oneonta area Monday along with most of the northeastern US. Little did I suspect it would cause a chain of events that would snowball into a frustrating travel day for moi.

The first clue this might be a trying travel day was arriving at a fog shrouded Edwin Link Airport around 10:10 AM. It was starting to lift from the runways, but I discovered at the check in desk that the fog had delayed my aircraft which was coming from Philadelphia.

Dr. Lobdell offered to stay, but I told her I'd be okay and sent her on her way back to Oneonta after thanking her for everything she'd and everyone else had done to facilitate my successful on campus presentation.

After clearing TSA security and losing my 4 oz. container of cocoa butter, I settled into the lobby area and awaited the arrival of our delayed airplane which was an 11:15 AM ETA.

At 11:15 we not only didn't have a plane at the gate, we find out thanks to a gate announcement that it returned to Philadelphia and canceled there. That set off a stampede for the ticket counter and I ended up tenth in line. I'm also kicking myself at this point because I'd left my cell phone in Louisville.

I'm already mentally going through my options as I await my turn. I know there's only one more flight to Philly from Binghamton and it's going to be grossly overbooked. There are only two other carriers that fly out of that airport and not only are they booked solid, one of them is weight restricted.

By the time I get to the counter I find out I've been rerouted to get to Louisville through Washington National. However, to get to Washington National, I have to catch a flight out of Syracuse first, which is 60 miles north on I-81.

The flight doesn't leave Syracuse until 3:10 PM, so the US Airways personnel call a cab to get me there. I have plenty of time to make the connection after enduring a white knuckle cab ride in a misty rain that increases in intensity as we get closer to Syracuse.

I arrive in Syracuse and have to clear TSA security again, then wait one and a half hours for my bird to arrive from Washington.

After a bumpy 52 minute flight I arrive at DCA and have to sit for another two hours because my flight to Da Ville doesn't leave until 7:40 PM. Since this is the first time I've been to Washington National since 2000, I decided to do some exploring and see what was in the food court.

That's when I discovered there was a Five Guys in the terminal and made a beeline for it. After ordering a bacon cheeseburger and fries from the friendly Ethiopian descended sister working the register, I now know after receiving that greasy brown paper bag containing my food why President Obama and everybody in DC raves about the place.

Five Guys food rocks.

Chowing down on Five Guys along with that wide ranging conversation I had with Dr, Lobdell this morning was the only righteous thing that was happening for me.

The buzzard's luck struck again after we boarded the flight. While waiting to take off a plane several spots in front of us broke down and had to be offloaded and pushed to the maintenance pad. It caused a traffic jam that delayed our takeoff 20 minutes.

I had planned to catch the TARC from the airport home and as I nervously perused the schedule discovered the bus I needed to catch in order to connect downtown was leaving the airport at 9:46 PM. We were originally scheduled to get to Louisville at 9:30 PM, but that would now take a minor miracle and the pilots exceeding Mach numbers to pull into the arrival gate at that time.

As I feared we pulled into the gate at 9:45 PM, and by the time I got off the plane and sprinted for the airport exit it was 9:50 PM, which meant that the bus was already headed off airport grounds and speeding northward towards downtown.

Next bus wasn't leaving until 11:11 PM. I decided to see if the US Airways counter was open so I could get them to spring for the cab ride home since I was now seven hours past the time I was originally supposed to get back to Da Ville.

I discovered that the counter had been closed since 7 PM.

I ride the next bus downtown anticipating that I'll be able to get a cab at the stand near 4th Street Live, but that didn't pan out either.

By this time I'm so thoroughly frustrated I just start walking home from downtown. That took another hour and I finally walk into the house at 1:05 AM.

But at least I got my exercise in, but not the way I planned it.

Let's juts hope my upcoming trip to the ATL goes a bit more smoothly.

Moni's Speaking At SUNY-Oneonta

At this moment the TransGriot is conducting her African American Trans 101 presentation in the Morris Conference Center - Le Cafe.

I'd like to thank Dr. Bambi Lobdell, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at SUNY-Oneonta, an all the people who made it possible for me to be up there today to discuss trans issues from an African descended perspective.

It will run until 9 PM EDT.

Hangin' At SUNY-Oneonta

Well good people, finally made it to the SUNY-Oneonta campus after my flight through Philly, a two hour layover, and an enjoyable one hour drive from Binghamton, NY and dinner with Dr. Bambi Lobdell.

I'm coming to you live from the Milne Library on campus now and about to head to one of Dr. Lobdell's classes to talk about a few issues.

Will chat about that experience later. But for now gotta head over there.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...To SUNY-Oneonta

After a busy Saturday in the Ville that started for me at 8 AM EDT and ended at the Fairness/ ACLU of Kentucky dinner that evening, the TransGriot is once again boarding a flight headed northeast to New York via Philadelphia. This time I'm headed to upstate New York instead of Long Island like I was back in November.

I'm actually traveling to Binghamton, NY, the closest airport to the SUNY-Oneonta campus for my presentation on the campus tomorrow night at 7 PM.

I'm looking forward to finally meeting Dr. Lobdell after months of e-mails and phone conversations and all the SUNY-Oneonta students on campus as well.

I'm planning an interesting, entertaining and informative Trans 101 discussion from a chocolate flavored viewpoint. Of course I'll be leaving plenty of time for questions and answers afterward.

If I can get to a computer while I'm up there, will tell you what's going on during my latest road trip. (No peeps, still haven't purchased a laptop yet)

See you in a few hours, Red Dragons!

Heading Back To Da Ville

After a few wonderful days back in H-town, I'm now getting back on the bus and making the return trip to Louisville.

My routing is going to be a little different from the one I took down here. I'm going through Dallas on the initial leg and after arriving there, I change buses for one departing to Memphis at 11:20 PM CST.

I change again to a Nashville bound bus after I arrive in Memphis that leaves at 9:00 AM CST on the 30th.

I make my last bus change for the run up I-65 to Louisville and arrive back in Da Ville at 5:40 PM EST.

I'm Finally Home

Well, after 23 hours, several bus transfers and 9 plus years, I'm finally standing inside the Houston city limits during the Christmas holidays.

My bus just pulled into the Greyhound station here in H-town, and I'm getting a first hand look at how much things have changed since my last trip here.

The METRORail light rail line that runs from UH Downtown through Hermann Park and the Med Center to Reliant Stadium runs right past it.

I'm going to probably take an up and down trip on the line just to give me something to do on one of my days here I'm waiting to hook up with Crys, Ness, the gang at IAH and my family.

Hoping my first time home for Christmas since 2000 will be drama free, but only time will tell.

Going Home For The Holidays

You TransGriot readers know that over the last three months I've been to Philadelphia and Long Island with another trip coming in March to upstate New York.

But this next trip is one I'm really looking forward to.

Thanks to my early Christmas gift from Polar and Dawn, I'm going home for Christmas.

For the first time since 2005 I'll be back in the Houston city limits, and for the first time since 2000 I'll be eating Christmas dinner with my blood family.

This time Greyhound will be doing the 1000 miles of driving down there and back. There's nonstop air service out of Da Vile to Houston but as you probably guessed, the fares were too high.

Either way, it's been a while since I've been back home. The July 2005 trip was for my brother's wedding. I took a few days off from work, rented a car and drove 2000 miles solo round trip through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi before hooking up with I-10 in Louisiana to what turned out to be a less than pleasant three day weekend for me.

There was drama that transpired a few hours after I arrived in H-town that I had to call people out on up to and including my brother, my new sister-in-law and the parental units. That trip also took place a few weeks before Katrina whacked New Orleans as well

But just like my 2005 trip, it's coming at a time when I've been homesick and really needed a change of scenery. I'm hoping the weather is relatively nice during the week I'm there and running around town.

It's also coming at a crossroads time in my life as well.

I'll have 23 hours to do some hard solid thinking about that. I'm just ready to go home, visit my family and friends and see what's transpired in the Bayou City since I left.

And there's some Creole seasoned chicken on Scott Street calling my name as well.