Jowelle De Souza-Trini Trans Pioneer

If you haven't heard of Jowelle De Souza, it's past time that you got to know this remarkable lady.   She's a businesswoman who owns a beauty shop in San Fernando that Trinis flock to in addition to being a civil rights warrior and animal rights activist in Trinidad and Tobago.  

In 1993 at age 19 she became the first person in Trinidad to have SRS and is also believed to be the first person in the Caribbean region to do so.

De Souza also became the first trans person to sue the Trinidadian state for a violation of her constitutional rights.

The story begins in March 1997.   A photographer that knew about her trans past was taking pictures of her without her permission and got overly invasive of Jowelle's personal space.   When she pushed him away, she was arrested by the police and charged with assault.

She was taken to a nearby police station by Officer Eric George and taunted for hours about her sexuality.  Despite her appearance and identification clearly pointing in the female gender direction, the male po-po's were intent on strip searching her.  The only thing that stopped the boys from doing so was the intervention of a female officer.

De Souza later stated about it, "There was no legal right to search," she said. "I pushed (the photographer). I didn't assault him with a deadly weapon."

She was eventually released from custody without having to endure a humiliating strip search, but it was on like Donkey Kong.  Most TBLG people in the Caribbean fear police reprisals if they press charges, but not De Souza.    She sought legal representation and ended up getting as her attorney one of Trinidad's most prominent lawyers, Lynette Maharaj, the wife of the then attorney general of Trinidad.   .    


In May 2001 she won her unlawful arrest and harassment case when Eric George, one of the accused officers in the case killed himself and his wife before the case went to trial.   She was awarded a $30,000 cash settlement that she donated to charity.

Since then she has continued her activism on a variety of fronts, been outspoken on civil rights issues, and is considering running for political office in Trinidad and Tobago.

She said in a 2002 interview, “I want to get into that arena and do more for people who are different. I am prepared to take on that. I want to make our presence felt. I have reached where I want to reach now. I want to help other people.”

She is a role model and an inspiration for other transpeople in not only Trinidad, but the entire region.     

20th Anniversary Of Rodney King Beating

March 3 was the twentieth anniversary of the Rodney King beatdown by the LA po-po's that triggered the series of events that led the the 1992 LA Riots.



It also served notice to police forces everywhere that as the Rockwell song foreshadowed, somebody is always watching you.    Even with video cameras everywhere and cell phones being equipped with them, it still hasn't stopped some police officers from behaving badly even with it in the back of their minds that cameras may be rolling.

But it's just another one of those 'time flies' moments

Houston Po-Po's Behaving Badly-Again

When I was growing up in Houston in the 70's, the Houston Police Department had a recruiting slogan that said 'Wear The Badge That Means You Care'.  Their actions however, were anything but caring to the citizens of Houston.       


In light of the Randall Webster, Joe Campos Torres, and Ida Lee Delaney cases, we snarky teenagers of the period changed it to 'wear the badge that means you kill'. 

The long festering drama between African Americans and the Houston po-po's goes back to the infamous reign of Herman Short as its police chief that got even worse after a May 17, 1967 riot on the TSU campus.that resulted in one police officer killed, a student and a po-po wounded and 488 arrested at Lanier Hall.

The Houston African American community is still angry about a December 31, 2008 profiling incident that resulted in the shooting of Robbie Tolan, the son of former major league ballplayer Bobby Tolan.

Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton was charged with aggravated assault after following Mr. Tolan's car home on suspicion of car theft. According to testimony, the license plate on Mr. Tolan's SUV did not match the plates of the car that was reported stolen.

Tolan was ordered to the ground by the officer and shots were fired in the family's driveway when Mr. Tolan rose up from the ground after he saw Sgt. Cotton shoving his mother. 

Cotton was acquitted by a predominately white jury, and the case is now percolating in federal court.

Bellaire has had a long negative history of racial profiling non white drivers transiting the city on Loop 610 and the major stress that bisect it which it denies.


The local community is in highly pissed off mode again over video that was recently released showing four white Houston po-po's severely beating down 15 year old Chad Holley last year while executing his arrest for a suspected burglary.     The four officers involved, Andrew Blomberg, Phil Bryan, Raad Hassan and Drew Ryser were indicted on misdemeanor official suppression charges and terminated.   Bryan and Hassan also were charged with violation of the civil rights of a prisoner, also a misdemeanor.




 The video from a nearby surveillance camera was brought to light by local activist Quannell X after the HPD and Harris County DA Patricia Lykos (R)  tried to keep it squashed  with a protective order

The video has gotten the attention of Rep Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Al Green, local NAACP chapter president D.Z Cofield, and a host of state officials led by Texas state Rep Borris Miles. .

Granted, no one in the Houston African-American community, myself included, condones what Chad Holley  did and was convicted of, that goes without saying.

But the Houston Police Department's officers are invested with a lot of power, have weapons and we have spent tax money to train them how to handle their duties as police officers responsibly.    If they have problems protecting and serving all citizens and respecting the civil rights of non-whites because of the racism, then they shouldn't be entrusted with those powers and need to be weeded out. 

 "This is about rogue cops abusing our children," Miles said.in a recent Houston Chronicle story.

And that is where the community anger about this case is rooted in.   The bottom line is that the African American community is beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of our kids being used for target practice by rogue cops or white po-pos wanting to relive the good old days of segregation and beating down Black suspects.


Stay tuned, the fun is just beginning.

DC Transperson Minding Own Business, Gets Dissed, Then Arrested

There are some days in which even when we transpeeps are minding our own damn business, we find ourselves in 'Twilight Zone' situations.

25 year old Chloe Moore of DC found herself in one of those situations on December 1  

Chloe and a trans friend were walking in the 1500 block of K St. NW around 2 AM EST and crossed paths with off duty officer Raphael Radon and his male and female friend.    Chloe's friend was a smoker, didn't have her lighter on her, noted Radon had a cigarette.and asked for a light.

“We didn’t have a lighter and we see a gentleman who had a cigarette lit,” Moore told the Washington Blade.  “My friend goes and asks for a light and he said, ‘Hey ladies, how you doing?’ And we said we’re doing fine.”

According to Moore, as Radon approached them he discovered they were trans he became hostile, uttered transphobic statements and disparaging remarks at Moore and shoved her.   Knowing what we all know about anti-trans violence aimed at us, in self defense she maced him and ran.  Radon gave chase, caught up with her two blocks later, tackled her,  and then identified himself as a police officer .

Of course Radon's blue buddies charged Moore with simple assault, but DC criminal law attorney Dale Edwin Saunders, described as “highly unusual” the decision by police and the United States Attorney’s office to charge Moore in the case.

“This person would have never been arrested or papered if the complaining witness had been a civilian,” Saunders said. “The defendant had two witnesses corroborating her version of the events.”
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Moore is also filing a complaint against Officer Radon as well.   


The case is still pending, but it's just more empirical evidence that when it comes to transpeople, 'Officer Friendly' ain't so friendly.

TransGriot Update:  The DC Trans Coalition has released a statement condemning Officer Radon's attack on Ms. Moore.