Pam Grier

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

I loved me some Pam Grier back in the day and still do. I grew up in an era when Blaxploitation era films were flooding the movie theaters after a long melanin free absence of people of color from the silver screen.

I own Coffy and a few other Pam Grier films such as Jackie Brown, and loved her in the L Word.

Pamela Suzette Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC and was a military brat who traveled around the world with her parents. She eventually ended up in Denver and graduated from East High during her teen years after living in England and Germany. The 5'8" Pam competed in a few beauty pageants to earn money for her college tuition.

She moved to Los Angeles and was discovered while working as a switchboard operator at American International Pictures.

She was called the 'Queen of American International Pictures' as Foxy Brown, Coffy, Sheba Baby, Scream Blacula, Scream and The Big Dollhouse racked up big box office numbers and made her a household name. She was one of the sistahs back in the day that boys and the men of the 70's drooled over (and probably still do).

She's a cousin of NFL Hall of Famer Rosey Grier and once dated Hall of Fame baller and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and comedian Richard Pryor.

The cool thing about many of Pam's films back in the day was that many of her characters were good girls who were wronged, and ended up kicking ass and taking names while fighting for justice.

When the Blaxploitation film genre wound down, Pam's career went on hiatus for a while until the late 80s. She started getting supporting film roles and making guest television role appearances on shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

One memorable one for me was when she played a transwoman in the 1996 movie Escape From LA before getting the Jackie Brown role the next year that put her back on the Hollywood 'A' list. She was also a cast member in the highly acclaimed cable series Linc's and of course, you L Word fans recognize her as Kit Porter and from her recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Pam has had her share of hard knocks as well. While filming one picture in the Philippines she contracted a rare tropical disease that left her bald and temporarily blind for a month.

She had a more serious health crisis in 1988 when she was diagnosed with cancer and was given 18 months to live, but she beat it.

As you can see this tough sister is still surviving and thriving today. Although this talented actress has yet to win any of the numerous awards she's been nominated for, she's number one in many of her fans hearts.
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A Transsistah's Secret- Shoe Sizes

Being the shoe fanatic I am, one of the first things I wanted know was what was my feminine shoe size. The basic rule of thumb in the US and Canadian markets is that you add two to your old male shoe size to get the equivalent femme shoe size.

Therefore, if you wore a size 8 in a men's shoe, your equivalent women's shoe size is a 10.

However, while most people have consistent sizes across types of shoes, sometimes depending on the style of shoe and where it's manufactured, you may have to get one that's larger. I noted that I had to go a size larger for shoes made in Brazil, for example, while others were fairly true to my actual shoe size.

So word to the wise is try them on first before you buy them to make sure they're comfortable and they fit.

A Transsistah's Secret-Walking In Pumps

I've mentioned how much I love shoes, especially if they are heels up to 3 inches.

I've been told I do such a good job at it I have had biowomen at various times pull me aside and privately ask me how long I've been doing it and how I learned to walk and stand comfortably in them.

First order of business is to make sure they are comfortable. I don't care if they are cute, the exact color I need for an outfit or on sale, I never buy shoes that are too small or too tight in the toe box for my feet.

Comfort is the name of the game, especially if they are shoes I'm going to be spending extended periods of time wearing, walking or standing in. I'm not shy about getting them a half size to a size larger in search of comfort.

Unfortunately, once you start approaching a size 9 and up there aren't in many women's shoe collections half sizes, so you have to go up to the next shoe size. You also want to start with a lower heel height and work your way up

As for what worked for me, before I even started walking in them I would get used to sitting and standing in them for extended periods of time. I'd get either an old pair of knee highs or hose and simply put them on. You especially need to do this with shoes that you've just purchased so they can mold to your foot.

Most of the time I'd simply just put them on and practice walking and standing in various heel heights. I had stairs in my old apartment and practiced slowly walking up and down them since one of my fave clubs back home had a stairwell I had to negotiate. You also want to practice once you get the hang of walking in a straight line in them on carpeted and non carpeted floors, stopping quickly and turning in them as well.

And yes, I even practiced dancing in them, too.

You want to make sure you're standing as tall and straight as possible. Since I have long legs, I naturally have a longer stride, but ideally you want to take short steps and land on heel first, then ball of foot while trying to relax your legs as much as possible to avoid getting cramps.

While there won't be any great high heel races in my future, over time I've gotten to the point where I can confidently and gracefully walk in them without a problem.

A Transsistah's Secret-Legs

She's got legs, she knows how to use them.
She never begs, she knows how to choose them.
She's holdin' legs wonderin' how to feel them.
Would you get behind them if you could only find them?
She's my baby, she's my baby,
yeah, it's alright.

ZZ Top Legs

My fellow Texans and legions of singers and writers have waxed poetically about the mystery and beauty of women's legs.

Short of our faces, breasts and our bodies, the next thing a transsistah obsesses about (because she knows that guys and sometimes other women do) are her legs. The last thing she wants is to have NFL linebacker legs or anything that has a mere hint of masculinity.

Fortunately the shape of our legs is something that we have a little control over in terms of exercise to tone and shape them. In addition we get the same benefits from estrogen when it comes to our bodies that biowomen get in creating feminine curves.

After we start taking them, over time hormones do shift fat around and elongate the leg muscles to create a more feminine look to them.

And if you've grown up in the African-American community, you are well aware of the fact that many of our legendary beauties from Lena to Dorothy to Tina to Rihanna have been admired and desired not only for their looks, curvy brown frames, talent and intelligence, but their killer legs as well.

Rihanna not only won Venus Breeze's 2007’s Celebrity Legs of a Goddess, but they also insured her legs with Lloyd's of London for $1 million.

I've observed that guys go especially gaga over those legs if they're wearing hose with them.

Hey ladies, just kicking knowledge to y'all from my time on the other side of the gender fence. If you prefer male companionship, break out the hose. Your love life and the hosiery makers of the planet will thank you for it later.

But back to the original post.

So is it any wonder that after observing the cultural cues and taking all that in, why transwomen, and especially African-American ones would be anxious about how their legs look?

It's also a concern if you're involved in the pageant or ballroom communities in which the closest you come to looking as feminine as possible enhances your chances of winning.

I got the genetic luck of the draw with my legs as well. I can't tell y'all how many hours of teasing I endured in my junior high gym classes about my 'girl's legs' or after we started doing coed gym in tenth grade how many comments I got from my female classmates stating that I needed to trade my legs for theirs.

So I was comforted in the knowledge that HRT would already enhance what I had. Being 6'2" and mostly legs at that, it takes me hours just to shave them. It's an exercise testing my Taurean patience just to get it done, and I do it deliberately and carefully in order to avoid the tendency of rushing it and nicking myself in the process.

Personally I'd like to zap them with the laser and be done with it, but since I'm not rolling in that kind of dough yet, it's the razor, Nair, waxing, depilatories or whatever new product becomes available to get them looking their best.

A Transsistah's Secret-Tucking

If you've ever attended or watched video of a transgender pageant or ball, you've probably watched contestants strut their stuff in skimpy bathing suits or wear tight jeans and look good doing it.

You also probably wondered as you watched them strut back and forth across the stage how do pre-op transwomen and female illusionists hide the neoclitoris?

Well, it's a technique that we call tucking. The methods to accomplish 'hiding the candy' as the Lady Chablis called it are as varied as the transpeople who use them.

One which sounds painful is basically pushing the family jewels into the cavity they descended from. The testicles shrink as you keep swallowing estrogen or taking the shots, so it's not as hard as it sounds.

You basically spread your legs and carefully push the the testicles toward the cavity. Once you get them in the cavity the scrotal sac will be empty, and you can wrap that loose skin around the penile shaft and then pull it all back between your legs using either tape or an extra set of panties to hold everything in place. Gravity will get them back into their natural position when you free the penis.

Yes, peeps do shave the area to make sure that they don't give themselves an impromptu Brazilian wax. Most people also use surgical tape these days instead of duct tape since duct tape can pull skin off as you remove it.

Others will use a gaff to tuck the neoclit away while others just simply pull it back as far as it will go and wear a girdle or an extra pair of panties to ensure that everything stays in place.

Sometimes it doesn't always stay in place and the neoclit wiggles free. With the interior testicular method you have to be very careful when you sit down, otherwise you get the sensation of someone kicking you in the groin.

Feminine fashions are designed to accentuate the body. Jeans are designed to be form fitting and tight, and the last thing you want is a frontal bulge while wearing them, especially if you are in certain social situations. Tucking will continue to be a necessary evil for pre-ops until they can get to the point they can afford either SRS or an orchiectomy to remove the family jewels.

A Transsistah's Secret-Makeup

One of the things I've gotten a lot of compliments about over the years and I take pride in is how I apply my makeup. Sometimes I get asked how I do it.

Well, a lot of it was simply practice. I've been playing with it since I was 15, and most times all I would do is just put it on and try different looks. By doing that I learned what eye shadow and lipstick colors worked for me and which ones didn't. I learned how to apply the right amount of blush to my cheekbones without looking like a cartoon character.

I paid closer attention to how biowomen who wore makeup looked while they were out and about in the world. I emulated the women (and my transgender sisters in Montrose) whose looks I liked and used as cautionary tales the looks I didn't like. (using black eyeliner pencil to line lips, for example)

I learned how to use a steady hand to apply eyeliner pencils because I personally don't like the look of liquid eyeliners.

That was difficult for me because in junior high I got hit in the left eye with a balled up piece of pottery clay in my 7th grade art class. I still have a reflexive motion as a result of that incident that causes my left eyelid to rapidly shut and water anytime some foreign object gets near it.

The involuntary eye shutting reflex caused me major problems during baseball season the following spring because for a right handed hitter, you are using your left eye to spot the ball. For most of the early part of that season, anytime a pitcher threw me a curve ball, my eye and brain perceived it as a 'Danger' moment, the eyelid fluttered shut and I missed badly while swinging at the pitch.

But back to the subject at hand. The funny thing about it was that I used to shut both eyes while applying my eyeliner pencils, and what that did was allow me to develop a technique in which I can place it where I need it to go without staring in the mirror. Eventually my brain stopped interpreting my eyeliner pencil as a threat and I could open and close an eye to apply it as normal.

I fought to get over the shame and guilt of actually walking up to the makeup counter and buying what I needed for my forays into Montrose. In addition to that, I went through a trial and error period before I finally hit upon the right combination of products that work for this Phenomenal Transwoman.

I was an obsessive perfectionist about my look in my early transition days. I wanted to make sure I didn't step outside the crib looking drag queenish. My goal when I put my other face on was to look like the average biowoman on the street.

I'm a firm believer that you can learn something about any subject from reading books, and makeup application wasn't any different. As a matter of fact, two books that had (and still do) occupy prominent places on my bookshelf are Sam Fine's Fine Beauty and Reggie Wells' Face Painting.

They are both renowned celebrity makeup artists who dealt predominately with African-American celebrities. Reggie Wells was Oprah's Emmy Award winning makeup artist while Sam Fine was Tyra's and a few other sistah supermodels makeup man of choice during the 90's.

Tyra's book Tyra's Beauty Inside and Out was also helpful in not only talking about makeup application, it also focused on working on the inner you as well. One of the lessons I got from her book, in Tyra's typical 'keepin' it real' style is that all makeup does is enhance the exterior.

To emphasize that point, she took a photo of herself without makeup and highlighted all her imperfections, then showed a picture of her with makeup on.

The book's message was something I already knew before I transitioned, but it bears repeating. It's what's going on inside personality wise that makes you beautiful.

But the makeup tips was what i bought the books for, and I surmised if I was going to learn the basics, short of getting help from a biowoman about it, what better teachers than those two men and a supermodel?

I mentioned the trial and error part of my makeup search. When it came to my foundation, it was definitely that. I started off using the Posner that you can easily get in most beauty supply stores and drugstores. The shade was slightly off and I had to spend time correcting it with a darker powder to make it match my skin tone.

I finally decided to try the two makeup giants for African-American women at the time I transitioned, Flori Roberts and Fashion Fair. I started with the Flori Roberts because it was slightly less expensive than the Fashion Fair, and struck paydirt with a cream foundation shade that matched my skin tone perfectly. For several years I bought it until Flori Roberts counters started disappearing from department store makeup areas in the wake of the department store merger and acquisition wave of the 80's and 90's.

Eventually I moved on to Fashion Fair. It took me two tries before I discovered that their Pure Brown Glo shade was my match, and I've used it faithfully ever since. It also has the advantage of being a thick cream foundation, so before I started my electrolysis in the late 90's, that was a major advantage in hiding any five o'clock shadow growth that would occur no matter how closely you shaved.

I use Coty's airspun loose translucent powder that I get from any drugstore, and it's the same place I get my pencils, my lip gloss and my Maybelline mascara. I only do mascara if I'm going out since I have naturally long eyelashes already.

I do like Fashion Fair's lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes as well, although MAC has some nice stuff for women of color, too.

If you're a t-sistah on a budget, Posner's still out there along with the Cover Girl Queen line. Haven't tried any of their stuff yet to see if there's a shade hat works for me just in case they run out of my fave Fashion Fair one. It seems like half of Louisville wears my shade, and I have to make sure I have a backup when Derby and Christmas are approaching.

Oh yeah budding t-girls, don't forget that if you put it on, you have to take it off as well. I'm blessed with smooth even toned skin and I take care of it. I'm armed with facial cleansers, soaps, astringents, and facial masques to make sure I get whatever residual makeup is on my face off of it.

On that note, it's time for me to do my facial. Later peeps.

Stop Hatin' On Tyra

Y'all know how much I love Tyra Banks. She was one of my role models when I was trying to sort out what type of sistah I wanted to project to the world. Watching her proudly strut the runways in trailblazing fashion back during the 90's also helped me get over my height hangup when I first began my transition.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of haters on The Net posting their snide comments toward my girl. I also noted that one of the main cheerleaders of the 'Hate on Tyra' crowd is none other than Janice Dickinson's silicone enhanced behind.

While you peeps keep swigging Hateraid from 55 gallon drums, peep the SECOND Emmy award she just picked up for The Tyra Banks Show in the 'Best Talk Show' category.



She's made it clear that she is a supporter of the transgender community, she's a proud African-American woman and outside of my mother, sister and various other women in my family she's an excellent person to emulate.

I also love the fact that the more people keep sleeping on this sistah, dissing her, underestimating her intelligence and drive, the higher she rises.

So y'all keep on hatin'. The Inglewood girl is surviving, thriving and well on her way to becoming the 21st century Oprah Winfrey.

Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Announcement

In honor of the 88th anniversary of the day that women first gained the right to vote, here's some YouTube video of Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968.

She was also the first African-American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for president and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969. She held her Congressional seat until she retired from Congress in 1982 and was succeeded by Major Owens.

Chisholm's campaign inspired a young African-American volunteer by the name of Barbara Lee to remain active in politics and eventually run for and win a congressional seat herself in California.

Tina...Tina ...Tina

As a card carrying member of the Sea of Red and a former Comets season ticket holder, I love me some Tina Thompson.

She had a relatively quiet opening game for her Saturday with only seven points, so you know I was having a blast watching my girl light up the Chinese women for 27 points on 7 of 8 shooting that jumpstarted a 23-0 USA run. Team USA exceeded what the men did yesterday and beat China 108-63.

The guys beat China and Yao Ming 101-70 in what's being called the most watched basketball game ever played.

The rest of the team shot lights out as well. Candace Parker added 12 points, Sylvia Fowles chipped in 16 as Team USA shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded the Chinese 47-30. They are now 2-0 in their pool and extended their Olympic winning streak to 27 games.

My favorite tennis playing siblings are also doing well so far. Venus, the 2000 Sydney Games singles and doubles gold medallist won her opening Olympic match versus Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-2. Baby Sis concluded her rain delayed beatdown of Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 6-3, 6-1 in her frist singles match of the Beijing games as well. The Williams sisters are also competing in doubles as well. James Blake is the only American left on the men's singles side after defeating Aussie Chris Guccione 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in his opening Olympic singles match.

The summer Olympics come only come once every four years, and you can't beat it for excitement and drama.

A Transsistah's Secret--SBH Magazine

One of the things I bitched about (and still do on occasion) is my early transition days. When I sought help from my transgender elders in the early 80's, they either blew me off, were tight-lipped about giving out any information that would facilitate my transition, or guarded it like it was the secret recipe for KFC.

Well, for the benefit of you peeps just getting started, I'm not gonna be as shady to y'all as my predecessors were. I will from time to time blog about some of my secrets that helped me become the Phenomenal Transwoman you see before you in all her glory.

Whether it's short, mid length, long, a weave to her butt, curly, wavy, bone-straight, permed, locked or braided, a Black woman's hair is her crowning glory. It expresses her individuality and style.

It can also be a political statement as well. Whether it was Afro's in the 60's and 70's, blonde hair in the late 80's-early 90's, or braids and locs currently are in the 2K's.

If there's one thing that will get a transsistah read faster than you can say 'nappy weave', it's a jacked up hairstyle. It was one of the things pre-transition that I stressed and obsessed over.

So after I found Sadat Busari, my former hairdresser in H-town, I began to search for the perfect hairstyle that fit me. My search led me directly to the magazine rack to pick up a copy of Sophisticate's Black Hair.

Sophisticate's Black Hair, or SBH for short, is a Chicago-based publication edited by Jocelyn P. Amador. For over two decades it has not only shown us the many creative ways we sistahs wear our hair, it also included informative articles about how to maintain the style after you left the salon, and also how to maintain our hair so it stays strong and healthy.

It's also chock full of clip and snip examples of various hairstyles so that you can take the one you like to your friendly neighborhood stylist and let her hook your hair up to your satisfaction.

Like EBONY, ESSENCE, Jet and Black Enterprise magazines, SBH is an iconic slice of African-American culture. It also has a mission of celebrating Black beauty. It has celebrity photo layouts in every issue in which they share their beauty tips. I was aware of SBH because I loved me some Jayne Kennedy Overton back in the day (and still do), and she was SBH's first cover model back in 1984.

I still have old SBH issues in my possession, and interestingly enough they serve as an African-American cultural time capsule. Not only do I get a kick out of seeing what hairstyles were popular back in the day, many of the celebrity layouts reflected popular cultural icons of the day such as Phylicia Rashad, Jasmine Guy, Robin Givens, Gabrielle Union, and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon just to name a few. It also features up and coming stage, screen and music stars as well.

I never miss their anniversary issue, which features the Top 10 Best Style Women as voted on by SBH readers. BTW, for 2008 its Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Eve, Tyra Banks, Kimora Lee Simmons, Halle Berry, Rihanna, and Queen Latifah.

As it approaches its 25th anniversary, I have much love for Sophisticate's Black Hair magazine. I gleaned a few style ideas from it that Sadat easily tweaked to work for me. I also have to give SBH a shout out for reminding us and the world just how beautiful African-American women really are and not letting us forget it.

Thanks SBH, and may you be around for the next generation of sistahs to read as well.

Donna Rose

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.


I have much love, respect and admiration for Donna Rose. But she probably didn't feel the love when our paths first crossed back at the 2004 Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta.

I was there to facilitate a Transsistahs-Transbrothers event we held during the 2004 SCC and Donna was conducting a seminar. It had just been recently announced that she was joining the HRC board and Monica Helms and Angela Brightfeather caught me after the TSTB event concluded. They asked me to tag along with them to check out the seminar she was conducting.

I remember one of the things I said to her that day was, "Donna, we are proud of you and the fact that one of our own is finally getting on that board. But what I and others who have been burned by HRC want to know is WHEN they screw us again, will you stand with them or with your people?"

Our paths crossed again at the 2006 IFGE Conference in Philadelphia, but that was the year I won my Trinity and after that speech I gave, I had half the convention either congratulating me or wanting to talk to me about various subjects. I also bounced away from the hotel not long after the awards luncheon concluded to hang out with my homegirls Dionne Stallworth and Jordana LeSesne to not only tour the city, but meet with local GLBT leaders in Philly. We didn't actually see each other again until Dawn, AC and I were checking out of the hotel on Sunday morning before we hit the road for the drive back to Louisville and I was engrossed in a conversation with Alison Laing.

Donna's answered the question I asked in 2004 and then some. She's been a sterling example of the ethically moral leadership that Dawn and I have talked about that our community needs. She's a Trinity Award winner like myself, blogger and eloquent spokesperson for our community. While she was on the HRC board she pushed transgender employment issues along with Jamison Green and tried to get them to see that adding transgender people to ENDA helped them as well to no avail. She even took time out of her busy schedule to compete in the 2006 Gay Games held in Chicago and win a gold medal in wrestling.

She's continuing to speak and be a postive role model for all of us and I'm looking forward to the New England Trans Pride March in Northampton, MA this June and having a chance to finally sit down with her, have a substinative chat and extend an invitation for her to hang out with us in the Bluegrass state.

Happy 80th Birthday Sister Maya!

In addition to the sad anniversary we'll be commemorating in terms of the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's assasination, we do have a happy event to celebrate.

Today is Dr. Maya Angelou's 80th birthday.

She's one of my favorite poets, writers and motivational speakers. One of my early posts on TransGriot was taking one of her poems, Phenomenal Woman and rewriting it with a transgender spin.

It has become my mantra and one of the motivating tools I use to inspire me to reach higher and be the best person I can be. It's ironic and kind of neat that a poem I wrote to motivate myself is also becoming an inspiration to some of my transsistahs as well. I'm honored that my homegirl Tona Brown loves this poem and will be using her considerable musical talents to set that piece to music. I'm looking forward to hearing her perform it one day.

But back to Sister Maya. She's not only an inspiration to me, but also Oprah and many women across ethnic backgrounds. Happy 80th birthday to one phenomenal woman!

Susan L. Taylor

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

One of the first things I did after starting my transition was subscribe to Essence magazine. It was not only cool seeing my name appear on the mailing label for that iconic magazine every month when it hit my mailbox, I got to read the inspiring words of Susan L. Taylor as well.

This woman I admire is responsible for getting me through many of my early doubt filled days that I could actually become the Phenomenal Transwoman I presently am, thanks to her In The Spirit column. She's written three books— In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor, Lessons in Living and Confirmation, and The Spiritual Wisdom that has Shaped Our Lives with a fourth coming out soon.

In April 1994 I picked up her In the Spirit book. I not only have it in a prominent position on my bookshelf, I still refer to it from time to time as well. I also had the sincere pleasure of meeting her back in the late 90's on a flight I was working.

So who is Susan L. Taylor? Like the magazine, she's an icon in the African-American community. She has been at Essence magazine for 37 years. She rose from a freelance fashion and beauty writer in 1971 to serve as editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1981-2000, is the author of three books, in 1999 became the first African-American woman to win the magazine industry's highest honor, the Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America and was in 2002 inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame. In 2006 she became the first recepient of the NAACP President's Award as well.

Taylor has been married for 15 years to writer Khephra Burns. Shana-Nequai, the daughter she raised is now married and runs her own beauty products company in Atlanta. But if you listen to Ms. Taylor, she'll tell you that she's struggled and worked tirelessly for everything she's accomplished, including being comfortable in that flawless skin of hers.

She started her award winning Essence tenure after previously owning and founding her own company, Nequai Cosmetics. She was without a college degree, newly divorced and a mother of a toddler at the time. But she persevered, rose through the ranks, earned a degree from Fordham University, and stepped into magazine giant Marcia Ann Gillespie's pumps when she took over as Essence's editor-in chief.

Under Taylor's guiding hand, Essence blossomed into a market-leading publication and franchise that includes an awards program, a New Orleans-based music festival, a seminar series, book publishing division and an initiative called Essence Cares, which has a goal of trying to get African American adults to mentor black youth.

Cynthia Griffin wrote in her Our Weekly.com article on Ms. Taylor that she's not only a nurturer, just like her In The Spirit column, she noted the long list of Essence editor's who have published their own books.

In a 2004 Black Issues Book Review article she explained why.

". . . and over the years, I’ve worked with brilliant women who also care deeply about black people and have more to say than they can communicate in Essence. My commitment is to try as best I can to support anyone trying to advance our people.

I also believe in wealth building for black folks, and no Essence editor’s salary is enough for her to live comfortably ever after, so I feel it’s important for editors to take the advice we give to our readers—have a gig on the side and invest. I may have occasionally gotten flak for giving editors the time and space needed to write books, but in the end, everybody’s happy because Essence editors’ books also promote the magazine.”

She's retiring this month from the magazine she helmed to work on other projects that include the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans. But thanks to hers and other's efforts, the next generation of African-American girls and women will still have the opportunity of looking at a rack filled with a plethora of women's magzines and seeing one that intelligently reflects their beauty, their heritage, their issues and their culture.

Rep. Julia Carson Passes Away

I was saddened to learn about the death of US Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN) to lung cancer on December 15 at age 69. There was a lively memorial service for her in the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda Friday night and Rep. Carson's funeral was yesterday.




When I moved to Da Ville in 2001, because the congressional rep for this city at the time was the odious Anne Northup (R-KY) and I'd never been without Congressional Black Caucus representation in my life since the group's founding in 1971, I considered Julia Carson my congresswoman even though her district was up I-65 from me in Indianapolis. I shared that tidbit with the staffers in her office when I visited it during the lobby days I participated in back in May.

While I'm happy that John Yarmuth (D-KY) now ably represents the KY 3rd District and I've talked to him on a few occasions about various issues, I still considered Julia my rep as well. I found out later during my visit that she was actually born in Louisville, but grew up in Indy.



She was a remarkable and trailblazing woman that touched many people's lives. As I mentioned, she was born in Louisville in 1938 to an unwed teenage mother, but rose from those circumstances to get elected in 1972 to the Indiana state house. She ran in two dozen local, state and congressional races without ever suffering a defeat.

She became the first Black and first woman to represent Indianapolis and Indiana's 7th District in Congress when she won the first of her seven congressional terms in 1994. She'd announced that she wouldn't run again after she revealed that she had cancer.

"Not only did she make it, but she reached back to help other people to achieve and other people to make it, too," said Jeffrey Johnson, pastor of Eastern Star Church, where her four-hour long funeral service was held and attended by 2000 people. "She was for the poor, she was for the seniors, she was for our soldiers, she was for our country and she was for the community that she came out of."




The funeral and state house remembrance attendees came from all over the country and included some of her CBC colleagues, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Sr.,Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Former Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh (D-IN), former Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson and longtime friend and former Gary, IN mayor Richard Hatcher.

The people of Indianapolis, the state of Indiana and the nation lost a giant woman on December 15. Whoever succeeds her in that seat will have a giant pair of shoes to fill. This country would be a much better place if we had more public servants and members of Congress like her. She will definitely be missed.

Monica Barros-Greene

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

One of the Dallas metro area's most esteemed restauranteurs is Monica Barros-Greene.

She owns a well known and highly regarded restaurant in Big D called Monica’s Aca y Alla in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas that innovatively mixes Mexico City and Tex-Mex cuisine.

Oh, did I forget to mention that in 2005 Monica narrowly lost a bid to become the first transgender person elected to the Dallas City Council? She ran for the open District 2 seat on the Dallas City Council, was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News but lost in a runoff to longtime activist Pauline Medrano.

Monica was born in Mexico City. When she was 17, on a whim she decided to travel with two friends to Indiana to win the heart of a Mexican girl who lived there.

At the border, the road trip with her friends couldn't continue because they didn't have the proper visas, so Monica proceeded without them. She arrived in Dallas a little after midnight on January 5, 1974.

But Monica had been struggling with her gender identity, trying on dresses behind locked doors. Her first impression of Dallas at the time was that she wasn't going to stay long. "But life has turns you don't necessarily see ahead," she said.

Her father wanted her to attend business school, but she wasn't amenable to the idea. He issued her an ultimatum: either attend business school or support yourself. She chose the latter, taking a job as a busboy.

After an initial rocky start, she quickly moved up the restaurant ranks and eventually became a manager for some of the hottest restaurants in town. She got married and divorced twice and had two kids with her first wife. In the midst of her second marriage she opened Eduardo's Aca y Calla in February 1992.

Her father died a year later back in Mexico, and that summer she shared her gender secret with her family. On March 4, 1994 she called the restaurant staff together for a meeting and announced that the restaurant would undergo a name change.

The restaurant wasn't the only place undergoing a change. Monica arrived wearing a black plaid miniskirt, white jacket and heels. She left the restaurant management duties to her second wife and moved in with an accountant who was also undergoing a gender change.

The roommate died two days after a successful GRS procedure, but that didn't dampen Monica's determination to undergo what she calls a 'reincarnation in the same lifetime'. With a passport in her new name in hand, on May 7, 1995 she boarded a plane to Brussels, Belgium and had GRS.

Monica has continued to have success post-surgery. She is a member of the international culinary organization Les Dames D'Escoffier and has received the Dallas Leadership Award. In 2002 and 2004 she was recognized by her Dallas area peers as 'Best Restaurateur', was a wine consultant for the Julius Schepps Company and has served as a judge for the Lone Star State Wine Competition and the Dallas Morning News Wine Tasting Competition.

Her narrow loss in the 2005 city council runoff garnered her recognition amongst the Dallas political ranks as a rising star. Former Dallas mayor Laura Miller said about her, "Monica is bright, she is gutsy, she is independent. All very important traits that few politicians at City Hall possess."

Monica has worn many hats in her lifetime. She's familiar with the plight of immigrants. She's a staple of the Dallas hospitality industry. Her story resonates with a wide spectrum of potential voters, GLBT and non-GLBT. And as she proudly points out, "I have become part of the fiber of this community."

Here's hoping that one day she'll add Council member to that list of accomplishments as well.


TransGriot Note: Thanks to KarenSerenity.com for some of the info I used to compile this post.

Lynnell Stephani Long

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

Lynnell Stephani Long is a trailblazer in her own right. I first became aware of her during the summer of 1999 when I was part of the activist team putting together NTAC. She was 'ejumacating' us on intersex issues. I traded e-mail with her for a while before we lost contact with each other.

She's a voice for a community that many African-Americans aren't aware exists, the intersex one.

According to ISNA, the Intersex Society of North America, about one in every 1500 children is born with genitalia ambiguous enough to call in a sex differentiation specialist.

Lynnell was one of those kids. She was born in Chicago on June 11, 1963 with ambiguous genitalia. After being surgically altered by doctors she was raised male most of her life. She went through major drama in her life until she saw ISNA's Cheryl Chase on TV in 1997 and discovered she was intersex. She eventually met Cheryl Chase at a 1999 GenderPac Lobby Day (how did I miss meeting both of them?) and began working with the organization by telling her story about growing up Black and intersex.

As any transperson can tell you, being outside the norms in the Black community can be a pain in the ass, and being an intersex child wasn't easy for her. As she wrote in a 2003 BLACKlines article,

"Growing up in an all-Black community and going to an all-Black high school was rough as hell. While a lot of the other boys walked around nude, proud of the size of their penis, I tried my best to hide. Hiding didn’t stop the questions though. Questions like, “Why is your penis so small? Why do you have breasts? What are you, a boy or a girl?”

She also states that African-Americans need to educate themselves on intersex issues. "There isn’t any one thing an organization like ISNA can do to help the Black community, except make sure information is available. I strongly believe people of color need to educate themselves."

"We need to step outside myths and stereotypes. If a child is born with a small penis, that child may be Intersex. If a girl is born with an enlarged clitoris, chances are she is Intersex. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There is no reason to hide the child or try to get that child fixed unless the child needs medical treatment."

She does her part to educate us by writing columns for various magazines, her website, appearing twice on the Montel Williams Show, doing performance art, and telling her story. She's a member of ISNA's Speakers Bureau and has spoken in the Chicago area and across the United States and Canada on ending intersex genital mutilation.

Lynnell's doing her part to let us know that intersex issues aren't just a 'white thang'.

Carole Simpson

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.


“Everyone has something to contribute in the newsroom, but not if they have no place at the table, or no place at the rim."

"To have a real democracy we need a multitude of voices. If the news historically and currently is exclusively held by a select group of people, the discussion is exclusive. If the news does not reflect the nation’s diversity in on-air staff, in story selection, in management, in employment, we are doomed.”

Carole Simpson, in remarks to newsroom executives at an RTNDF luncheon

I'm a person who craves news and information. You'll find this news junkie the majority of the time when I'm not reading the newspaper or on the Net watching C-SPAN, CNN, ABC, the BBC and my local news.


One of the major reasons I used to watch ABC World News Sunday was to see Emmy Award winner and ABC's Washington senior correspondent Carole Simpson use her distinctive voice to deliver it.

The University of Michigan journalism graduate started her broadcast career as a reporter and weekend anchor at WMAQ-TV in her hometown of Chicago. Before joining NBC News in 1974, she was a journalism instructor at Northwestern University's Medill School. She also spent two years as a journalism instructor and director of the information bureau at Tuskegee University.

At NBC News she covered the US Congress and then vice president George HW Bush before joining ABC News in 1982. She accompanied him on his foreign and domestic trips and covered Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign. In 1990 she anchored the ABC live coverage of Nelson Mandela's release from his 27 year imprisonment. She's also done live coverage of major breaking stories such as the Persian Gulf War, the Tiananmen Square massacre, the fall of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, and the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. She was moderator for the second 1992 Presidential debate in Richmond, VA.

From 1988-2004 she was the anchor for ABC World News Tonight-Sunday, and her reports also appeared on '20/20'. 'Good Morning America', 'Nightline' and other ABC programs. She was also a substitute anchor for the late Peter Jennings on World News Tonight.

In addition to the Emmy, Simpson garnered numerous journalism awards including a 1992 Journalist of the Year one from the National Association of Black Journalists. She has also established numerous college scholarships for women and minorities pursuing careers in broadcast journalism at her alma mater. The RTNDF named its scholarship in her honor. She retired from ABC News just last year.

Not long after she stepped down from her anchor position Simpson embarked on what she says "may potentially be the most important job of my career." She was named a News Ambassador by ABC and given the task of speaking to high school students across the country.

She engages students in discussions about the value of reading, listening and watching the news, the role of a free press in a democratic society, and the importance of becoming an informed citizen in an America facing serious challenges at home and abroad.

She has her work cut out for her in this assignment. But if anyone can pull it off, I have no doubts that Carole Simpson will get her message across to at least some of the kids she talks to. She may even inspire a few of them to follow in her legendary journalistic footsteps.

One person who did follow in her footsteps is her daughter, Dr. Mallika Marshall. She's a practicing physician who is also the medical correspondent for CBS affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston. She appears every Saturday on the CBS 'Early Show,'

One of the other things I love about Carole is that she's never been shy to speak truth to power or to speak her mind. It's one of her values that I diligently work on incorporating in my column and on this blog.

If I get to even half of the level of excellence that Carole Simpson achieved over her career, I'd consider it an honor.