No matter how good they say you are, always keep working on your game.
That's a quote from Michael Jordan's 1999 NAACP Image Award acceptance speech, and it segues nicely into the topic of this post.
I have people in the community who think I'm all that and three bags of chips. Some consider me as one of the better activists on the national scene. Some international trans activists I admire have shocked me by saying to me that I'm their role model.
I have people who believe TransGriot is worthy of being considered an 'A' list blog, tell me I'm an excellent writer and a role model to many people inside and outside the TBLG community.
When I hear all those accolades, it would be easy for me to get 'big head syndrome' and start believing the hype.
Fortunately I have a saber wielding friend along with Ursa Maritimus Louisvillius and a host of other people in my friendship and sistahfriend circles who ensure I don't.
I also keep Michael Jordan's quote in mind to keep working on my 'A' game.
I am and continue to work towards being the best sister I can be. I'm constantly assessing my femme presentation, know what works for me hair, clothing, makeup and color wise and what doesn't. I'm looking for clothes and shoes that stylishly fit the image I wish to project to the world. I observe, watch and emulate the positive women I admire and take note of how they interact with the world around them.
Besides, the Phenomenal Transwoman ain't coming out of the house looking tore up from the floor up.
I'm constantly working on perfecting my writing skills. While I've become known for my non-fiction writing, I'm not too bad at fiction writing either. My dream is to publish one of my novel manuscripts one day.As educator Marva Collins once stated, 'Readers are leaders'. So I do spend time on and off line reading as much current events material I can get my hands on, and perusing stuff that piques my intellectual curiosity.
I am a Trinity Award winner. That is the second highest honor that the United States trans community gives to a member of it or an ally. I see it as meaning that I have to step it up another level since I received that award for things I'd done prior to 2006.
I not only expect a higher standard of excellence for myself, I carry the perception sometimes that people expect greater things from me than the average trans activist starting out.
But I welcome that challenge.
If I say or commit to doing something, it's done. I'm doing a speech, it's going to be on point, well written and fitting to the occasion. When I do a presentation, I come armed with the most up to date information on the topic I can find prior to my on campus arrival and my PowerPoint presentations are regularly updated.
I am going to be in professional diva mode when I get there because I may be the lone African-American in the room or the first professional African descended trans person that particular individual, the group or the organization I'm speaking in front of has encountered. Because the numbers of out African American trans activists are few in number, we have the additional considerations of having to represent our people and conduct ourselves in a morally upright and highly ethical manner.
Translation: I have to represent. Those may be 'old school' values to some people, but it's the way I strive to conduct my life.
So yes, in order to continue evolving into the finer specimen of womanhood that trans author Sharon Davis talked about, I definitely have to keep working on my 'A' game.
And by continuing to do so, in the long run it makes me a better person as well.
