Missing You Governor Ann

Today is the day that the best Texas governor we've had in my lifetime, Ann Richards, passed away.

We progressive Texans miss you more with each passing year.

Happy 50th Birthday Flo Jo

It's hard to believe she's been gone from us for eleven years, but today would have been Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner's 50th birthday. She was born in this date in south Los Angeles in 1959

Back in the day I loved me some Flo Jo.

She was known not only for her flashy form-fitting bodysuits and six-inch fingernails, but had world-record speed. The 100m record she set back in 1988 still hasn't been threatened by the current crop of female sprinters.

Florence Griffith Joyner was a triple gold medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics who captivated the world with her blistering speed, glamorous looks and flamboyant style.

She still holds the world records in the 100m and 200m dashes. She set the 100m mark of 10.49 seconds during the quarter finals of the 1988 US Olympic trials at Indianapolis.


At Seoul, she won the 100m gold medal in a wind-aided 10.54 seconds and won her 200m gold medal in a world record time of 21.34 seconds.

Because she had an unbelievable competitive year, as usual any sistah who excels in the international sports world is accused of cheating. In Flo Jo's case, because of her curvy and muscular build, she was dogged by accusations of steroid use even though she never failed a drug test.

She retired after the Seoul Games to pursue other interests, and died unexpectedly of heart failure at age thirty-eight on September 21, 1998.

Athletes like her only come along once in a generation. She is definitely missed by those of us who loved to watch her run and look good blowing away her competition at the same time.

Rest in peace, sis.

Happy Birthday Jayne Kennedy Overton!

I have much love for this statuesque trailblazing sister who was born on this date in Washington, DC.

Jayne Harrison grew up in the Cleveland area suburb of Wickliffe, OH, and began a string of trailblazing firsts. She was a member of the National Honor Society in high school and was her high school class president three consecutive years. In 1969 she became the first African American vice president of Girls State.

Just a year later, she became the first African American to win the Miss Ohio USA pageant and finished fourth runner up in the 1970 Miss USA Pageant.

She did a USO tour with Bob Hope at the close of the Vietnam War, was a dancer o the Dean Martin Show, and thanks to stints in television, movies, advertising contracts for Jovan and the Tab diet soft drink and numerous Ebony/Jet covers she was one of the more recognizable faces of the 70's.

In 1978 she became the first African-American network female sportscaster when she joined the anchor desk for 'The NFL Today' pregame show on CBS for two years. That CBS stint paved the way for the current wave of Black female sportscasters you see on the airwaves now.

She got remarried in 1985 to current husband Bill Overton and is the mother of three daughters. While she isn't in the limelight as much as she was during the 70's and 80's, I still love me some Jayne Kennedy Overton.

Happy birthday, Jayne. May you have many more.

What Woman Would I Like To Be For A Week?

There was a recent CBS News poll taken that asked its respondents what woman would they most like to trade places with for a week.

The poll was based on a nationwide random sample of 1,097 respondents and conducted by phone between August 27-31.

In that poll First Lady Michelle Obama was the winner, chosen by 26 percent of respondents. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was picked by 16 percent of the poll respondents, followed by actress Angelina Jolie at 13 percent and singer Beyonce selected by 12 percent.

So that begs the question, what woman would I like to trade places with for a week?

That's a damned good question. During the time I have compiled this blog I've written about many of the cis and trans women I admire in various blog posts.

But the First Lady definitely would be at the top of my list. I also like actresses such as Kerry Washington for their combination of beauty, style and brains.

There are various congresswomen and other political women I'd love to be such as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

There's a long list of sistah newscasters and sportscasters locally and nationally such as Angie Fenton, Dawne Gee, Monica Hardin, Gina Gaston back in H-Town, Robin Roberts (not sure if were related), Carole Simpson, Suzanne Malveaux, Sage Steele and MSNBC's Tamryn Hall.

There are the musicians such as Alicia Keys and Beyonce.

My list includes writers such as Kayla Perrin and people such as Diahann Carroll and Nichelle Nichols.

There are also some athletes I wouldn't mind walking in their pumps for a week such as Candace Parker and the Williams sisters.

I would have liked to experience Crystle Stewart's life during the time she was the reigning Miss USA. Yep, even after her embarrassing fall during the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant that probably cost her the crown.

And yes, Maya Angelou, Oprah and Tyra are on my list as well as power sisters such as Desiree Rogers and Valerie Jarrett.

There are also transwomen on my personal list as well that I admire and wouldn't mind being in their pumps for a week as well.

Of course a few models make the cut such as Iman. There are also various female relatives, classmates, friends and co-workers past and present whose beauty, brains and style I admire.

There's even a long list of women who are no longer here such as Coretta Scott King, Phyllis Hyman, Octavia St. Laurent, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Rep. Barbara Jordan who I would have liked to experience their lives for a week as well.

There are so many that I admire for different reasons it's hard to pick just one.

C. Vivian Stringer Enters Basketball Hall Of Fame

Despite all the hype, Michael Jordan isn't the only person getting inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA today.

The Class of 2009 also includes David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and one of my fave women's basketball coaches, C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers.

"To be a part of history and stand there and have your name in the same sentence as all those people who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame is nothing short of earth-shattering to me," Stringer said. "To think about those names and what they've done. They are even greater people than they are athletes if that's possible."

During her 38 year career spanning four decades, Stringer has led three separate teams to the Final Four and is the third winningest coach in women's college basketball.

Her 825-280 career mark puts her behind only Tennessee's Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt of Texas on the career victories list. In addition to being the 11th women's basketball coach inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, she's also a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame;

Her coaching career started in 1973 at Pennsylvania's Cheyney State University. Stringer took over a newly minted program and during her 12 years there guided the school to the Final Four in 1982.

Stringer moved on to Iowa, where she also stayed for 12 seasons. She took the Hawkeyes to the Final Four in 1993 before leaving for her current position at Rutgers.

Sports Illustrated named Stringer in 2003 one of the most 101 Influential Minorities in Sports and she has written an autobiography entitled, "Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph."

Thar tragedy included her daughter Janine contracting spinal meningitis during the year of her 1982 trip to the Final Four with Cheyney State. Her husband Bill died of a heart attack on Thanksgiving Day 1992 at age 47 during the season her Iowa squad made it to the 1993 Final Four.

She's been an inspirational figure for not only the young women she coached, but off the court as well. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in recognition of her remarkable life bestowed an honorary membership on her in 2008.

Her off the court leadership came to the forefront in 2007 in the wake of shock jock Don Imus infamous comments aimed at the team she coached.

She turned it into a teachable moment that captured the nation's attention, jump started a dialogue on the ways that women are disrespected in addition to garnering an apology to the team from Imus.

She'll be introduced at the ceremony by her good friend John Chaney. They met when he was coaching the Cheney State men's program in the late 1970's-early 80's.

"Vivian Stringer is a true gem with exceptional courage who believes success is a marathon and as you climb you should lift others up," said Chaney, "She has been my beacon."

Congratulations, Coach Stringer. Here's hoping you finally get that elusive national championship and continue to be an inspiration to young women everywhere.

Naomi Sims Passes Away

I was saddened to hear the news that pioneering African-American supermodel Naomi Sims passed away in Newark, NJ at age 61 after a battle with breast cancer.

Mississippi born Naomi broke into the modeling business in the 1960's and paved the way for other supermodels to follow in her footsteps such as Beverly Johnson, Pat Cleveland and countless others.

In November 1968 she became the first Black model to grace the cover of Ladies Home Journal. She was also among the first to be represented by the Wilhelmina agency and went on to model for designers such as Halston during her career.

In addition, two photographs of her are featured in the The Model As Muse exhibit currently on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Her photos also graced the covers of Life and ESSENCE magazines as she became an icon of the 'Black Is Beautiful' movement.

Naomi was also a successful and savvy businesswoman. After leaving the modeling business in 1973, she published five beauty books and in 1976 launched a multi-million dollar wig line aimed at African-American women bearing her name. A decade later she launched a successful cosmetics line.

She opened doors for future models of color, and her family, the fashion industry and others will definitely miss her.

Angie Fenton

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

I first encountered Angie not long after I moved here to Da Ville. I was in love with her feature writing for C-J's Velocity minipaper and began reading it religiously. I was happy for her when the Courier-Journal wisely moved her up to edit their celebrity news column called The Buzz. She also ended up getting some TV time at WAVE 3 in that role as well.

As part of her Velocity duties she was covering the 2003 Derby Bash I attended. Her petite figure was hard to miss in a sexy pink skirted suit and pumps while sporting a stylish pink Derby hat.

Three years later I finally got to meet her in person. Dawn and I were featured in a Louisville Courier-Journal article on trans people she authored. In putting that article together we got to know Angie the person and liked what we saw.

She is a classy, funny, determined and intelligent lady that is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Dawn and I both were enthusiastically happy to call our friend after the C-J article was done and later published.

Like the TransGriot, she moved to Da Ville. She's had her challenges in life but to paraphrase Maya Angelou, and still she rises to overcome them and thrive.

You can't help but admire someone like her. Every time Angie's terminally cute self tells me she wishes she had my height, I reply I'd like to be her for a minute.

This busy lady is a competitive bodybuilder in addition to teaching at a local college and writing The Dish column for a local paper called the Voice-Tribune.

Angie Fenton is definitely one of the women I'd love to be when I grow up.

Happy 60th Birthday, Pam Grier!

I posted last month about how much I loved Pam Grier back in the day and still do. Well, today she celebrates her milestone 60th birthday.









Yes, Pam still has it going on. She was the first sistah to appear on the cover of Ms. magazine back in the day.

Happy birthday, Pam. May you have many more.

Kim Fields

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

Kim Fields just celebrated her Big 4-0 birthday May 12, and I've loved watching her in whatever acting project ever since her Facts of Life days. The NAACP Image Award winning actress and director is a talented singer, writer and spoken word poet as well.



When that show ended I wondered what happened to her. Kim earned a communications and film degree from Malibu's Pepperdine University in 1990, and not long after that popped up on our TV screens as the divalicious Regine Hunter on Living Single.

Kim's been in the spotlight since she appeared on Sesame Street when she was five. She filmed commercials, most notably one for Mrs. Butterworth's syrup back in the day combined with 1978 guest appearances on Good Times. She also recently became a mother on my birthday in 2007 and sorry fellas, is happily married again.

There's a lot to admire about this talented and politically active lady, and may she continue to have much success in her career.

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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Michaelle!

Thought I'd show some love today to the fly sister residing at Rideau Hall, Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean.

She's got it going on as well, and it's going to be interesting to see what transpires when she comes to Washington for a visit later this year. In the meantime, while we're waiting for the details and the dates of the visit, check out the photos.

Diahann Carroll

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

When I was a kid, Must See TV was the show 'Julia' featuring trailblazing Tony and Emmy award winning actress Diahann Carroll.

She was born Carol Diahann Johnson in the Bronx, New York on July 17, 1935 and as an infant moved to Harlem's Washington Heights neighborhood. She attended Music and Arts High School with one of her classmates being actor/artist Billy Dee Williams.

One of her first roles was in the 1954 movie Carmen Jones playing a friend to Dorothy Dandridge's Carmen. In 1962 she became the first African-American actress to win a Tony award for her role of Barbara Woodruff in the musical No Strings and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the 1974 movie Claudine.

Those of you who grew up in the 80's and 90's remember her playing Dominique Deveraux on ABC's Dynasty and its The Colby's spinoff and for the recurring role as Whitley's mother Marion Gilbert on A Different World for which she received an Emmy award nomination in 1989. She also had roles in the 1991 movie The Five Heartbeats and the 1997 movie Eve's Bayou.

Folks who watch Grey's Anatomy will see her as Jane Burke, the demanding mother of Dr. Preston Burke.

She's also a breast cancer survivor and has become a spokesperson and tireless advocate in fighting the disease in our community.

But one of the things that I have always loved about Diahann Carroll is to me, if you look up the words 'class' and 'sophistication' in the dictionary, you'd probably see a picture of her pop up.

She's got it going on, no matter what decade you stick her in. Best of all she just carries herself with class and sophistication at all times. It's been interesting to me since I've admired her for a long time to see her evolve and gracefully age.

She's an example to me like Lena Horne and my mom of the timeless beauty of Black women. And that's a legacy of class, style, elegance and sophistication that I work diligently at being worthy of.

Annise Is Running!

The Annise I'm talking about is Annise Parker, who announced last month that she's beginning a history making run for mayor of my beloved hometown. If she wins she'd be the second woman and first open lesbian mayor of H-town, but even more significantly, in the Lone Star State as well.

Didn't think that my hometown was that progressive, huh? Don't believe everythang the GOP tells you about Texas being a so called 'red' state. They bamboozle enough yahoos to vote for them in the rural areas, but Texas cities are progressive turf. In fact my hometown and Harris County voted for Obama in the election.

But back to the post. I've also had the pleasure of seeing her run for and get elected three times to city council in an at large seat and currently serve as Houston's city controller.



For you transpeeps and our allies, yes, she was president of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and not only supports us, she's cognizant of our issues. The Houston transgender community worked our asses off to get her elected during her first run for council.



And as someone who cut her teeth in Houston's activist community, it's nice to see someone I've met at our Unity Banquet in 2001 when she was on city council and admired for some time finally go for her dream of running our hometown. I may be a little biased, but I truly believe she'll be the best person for the job. I'm a little bummed that I'm 1000 miles away from being able to contribute some time to help work on her campaign, but I can donate some money to do so and will when my budget allows it.

It's a long wait until November 3, but hopefully on that day Houstonians will making another historic choice amongst the many I've seen in my lifetime and make her our mayor.

Michaelle Jean-Canada's First Black Governor General

As I mentioned, it's Black History Month in Canada, too. Since I do get hits from north of the border, and one of the Prime Directives of TransGriot is to talk about people and events across the African Diaspora be they transgender and non-transgender, I felt I needed a creative change of pace for this Black History Month.

I wanted to learn about and decided to focus on the Black history that's not only been made north of the border with my Canadian cousins, but being made now.

One such history maker is Michaelle Jean, who on September 27, 2005 made history in the Great White North when she was appointed by then Prime Minister Paul Martin to become the first Black Governor General of Canada.

Unlike our system of government here in the States in which the president functions as the political head of government and the symbolic head of state, those roles are separate in Canada's parliamentary system. The Prime Minister represents the government, Queen Elizabeth II is the sovereign head of state of Canada, with the powers and authority of the sovereign delegated to the Governor General of Canada.

Michaelle Jean is in effect the Canadian head of state. The term is for five years but can be extended for up to seven years.

While her role as the 27th Governor General is mostly symbolic and ceremonial, she is not only the Commander in Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, it also includes among other duties promoting unity and culture within Canada and giving Royal Assent to bills passed by the House of Commons and the Senate, the final step in Canadian lawmaking.

She was the center of major political interest in Canada last December when Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended Parliament to stave off a no confidence vote he was probably going to lose. The fate of his minority government fell to her under her rarely used special personal authority to appoint or dismiss a prime minister or dissolve Parliament.



Michaelle Jean was born in Port au Prince, Haiti in 1957 and as a child her family fled the Papa Doc Duvalier dictatorship in 1968 to settle in Montreal. She earned a BA in Italian and Hispanic languages and literature, a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature at the University of Montreal and studied languages and literature at the University of Perouse, the University of Florence and the Catholic University of Milan. She is fluent in five languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish and Creole.

While matriculating in college, from 1979-1987 she spent seven years working with shelters and transition homes for abused women in Quebec, aid organizations for immigrant women and families, and worked at Employment and Immigration Canada and the Conseil des Communautés culturelles du Québec. She also coordinated a study on women as victims in abusive relationships that was published in 1987.

After joining Radio Canada in 1988, she enjoyed an 18 year career as a award winning journalist, reporter, television news anchor and starting in 2004 host of her own television show entitled Michaelle, which featured in-depth interviews with experts and enthusiasts.

Her history making term as Canada's Governor General expires in 2010 unless it's extended by Prime Minister Harper (or whoever the next Prime Minister is if there's a no confidence vote that ousts him).

At any rate, Michaelle Jean is someone even we folks south of the border can look up to with pride, embrace and emulate as well.