As it is, I'm catching my breath - I'm now in long-term solitary confinement which happens often to transgender prisoners. It's easier to "manage" us when we're isolated and locked down 23 hours a day. But soon I'll be heading back to general population at another new facility - and back on the front line fighting (sometimes literally!) for my and my peer sisters rights.
Who am I? I am a 52 year old trans womyn, been an activist since age 13, and around the same time, got my original gender identity disorder diagnosed in 1979 - spinning through the ABCs of groups and causes - especially green and human rights fronts.
At 18, I was able to begin hormone therapy and lived as a womyn for 8 years until I was sent to prison and stuck behind the "freeze frame" rule. I had to hide my gender for 20 years. In 2015 my doctors revised their gender dysphoria policy, and after yet another 18 months fighting I was able to resume (re)transition physically. While I'm happy to return to my proper form, it's very challenging and dangerous to be a trans womyn in a men's prison.
These prison systems are dangerous regardless of your public identity. In 2011, I was jumped by three gang members and raped. Thus began my involvement in PREA advocacy, which includes not only prison sexual violence (PSV) survivors, but also trans prisoners, which despite being an extreme minority in the penal system, are disproportionately victimized by PSV. On the bright side, recovering from rape instilled within me the strength and steadfastness to re-emerge as openly transgender, and pursue (re)transition shortly after. Now I am under review for placement in a female facility. I'm pending evaluation for sex reassignment surgery but my doctor is delaying. Time will tell, but I'm relentless. I'm 25 years into a 25 to Life bid, and just got denied at my first parole board so my work in the prison system isn't done yet.
While on the street, the harassment and attempted sexual abuse I experienced was due to being female, not trans. I was a cute and willowy girl in my late teens and twenties so I get how womyn are treated in a patriarchal system. Now more so, I'm at odds with general patriarchy which is clearly outraged by my, and my trans peers, very existence. It's been interesting, yet terrifying to see the shift in power as whatever residual male privilege I had evaporated and was invalidated by my advanced transition to female - until the mainstream (hetero) males don't even recognize me as being the same species. This artificial "trans" identity traps me in a stasis between birth assigned "male" and yet not accepting or validating me as female. Outside, I never had a trans identity. I was just a womyn as I am today to myself, my peers, and my male fiance.
For trans persons, the trans is just a process, an A to Z, not an identity. Yeah, we may shout out trans pride or queer pride but most just want to transition, integrate into society/culture as our true gender and be (in effect) invisible. Then to continue and get on with our lives. Personally, I have other stuff to do. I'm an activist and poetess. I am not making a career out of being trans. ---- Geri Erwin
DON’S JOKES
Why does bread love to be made? Because it likes to be kneaded. Wife: Let’s go to the antique shop I’m feeling very Victorian. Husband: Forget it. I am feeling very baroque! Ole and Lena went to a drive-in movie. Ole says, “Say, Lena, want to sit in the back of the car? Lena says, “Nah, I’d rather sit in the front with you.” Ole was visiting the Vatican and went to see the Sistine Chapel. The tour guide told him that it took four years to paint the ceiling. Ole said ,”Yeah, I had a landlord like that myself.” Sven heard that Ole’s son went to college. He asked Ole what he plans on being when he graduates. Ole said, “I imagine about 35 or 40 years.” How do you stop Wikileaks? With Wikidepends. Whenever I hear about a “peace-keeping force” I wonder: if they are so interested in peace, why do they use force?
For safety sake, I try not to go to the ATM at night. I also try not to go with my 4 year old, who screams, “We’ve got money! We’ve got money! .” What do you call someone who can’t stick with a diet? A desserter. The police were called to a day care where a 3 year old was resisting a rest. Bathmats: small rugs children like to stand next to. Patient: I’m worried about this birthmark. Doctor: Birthmark, you say. How long have you had it? If the earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy named over 60 companies who did not pay federal taxes in 2018 despite many making billions in profits.
President Trump blocked a congressional effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians and sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. ---Just Foreign Policy The U.S. spends more on creating weapons of mass destruction than we do on foreign aid, diplomacy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program combined!---Code Pink
Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, who has been detained in Ecuador. His arrest came hours after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was dragged by British police from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. The injustice continues.----Digital Freedom
Attorney General William Barr recently issued an order that could keep thousands of asylum seekers locked up indefinitely-----Democracy Now, 4/17/19 People have donated $1 billion in 2 days to reconstruct the Notre Dame Cathedral church in Pairs, but they find it hard to donate money to help the refugees still living in tents in Calais, France.
On average, freight railroads move a ton of cargo for around 479 miles on a gallon of fuel, which is about 11 times more energy-efficient than trucks on a ton-mile basis. The lower energy consumption leads to lower greenhouse emissions. Hydrogen fuel cell applications are already used in Germany. ---EcoWatch Known as the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon rainforest “inhales” carbon dioxide and “exhales” oxygen, helping to stabilize the global climate by safely storing up to 140 billion metric tons of carbon. ---Amazon Defenders
The US has stepped up pressure on Cuba as a way of attacking both Cuba and Venezuela. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced that they will now allow lawsuits in US courts of “people and entities” involved with “expropriated US property.” By expropriated property they mean property nationalized by Cuba after the 1959 revolution. After the revolution, as one company after another stopped producing goods and services, or worked to sabotage the economy to make the revolution fail, Cuba nationalized them to keep up production, for the people of Cuba, not for profit.---UNAC (United National Anti-war Coalition)
Tesla and other electric cars are great for the environment. However, they pale in comparison to electric buses. According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), electric buses will save an astounding 270,000 barrels of diesel demand in 2019—every single day. The vast majority of electric buses are found in China, where many mega-cities are closing in on 100 percent electric-powered public transport. Today, there are reportedly close to 400,000 electric buses in operation, 99 percent of them in China.---Singularity Hub
The Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military aid in Asia, the country’s embassy in Manila has announced. said that from January 1, 2017, to the present, the US had funded military equipment worth more than five billion pesos, or $95 million. ---Portside
Nearly 100,000 Pentagon Whistleblower Complaints Have Been Silenced about the $21 Trillion LOST at the Pentagon - which almost equals the national debt, The Pentagon sucks up 55% of all the discretionary tax money. “The military is a gigantic organized human murder machine, and even if you “support” every action our military has ever taken, you can still acknowledge it’s an organized human murder machine.” ---Lee Camp in Truthdig, 3/19/19
There are 64,000 black women and girls still missing in the U.S. -----Black News.org
Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Donald Trump wants to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming U.S. resources at the southern border.---CLG News, 3/30/19
There are only three countries in the world America hasn't invaded or have never seen a U.S. military presence: Andorra, Bhutan, and Liechtenstein. The United States has invaded or fought in 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of 193 – a staggering 98 percent. --- Kelly and Laycock's book
NOTES FROM 21ST ST: In Sri Lanka 300 people were killed and many injured on Easter Sunday. Terrorists set off bombs in churches and at luxury hotels. Such a tragedy! When the news becomes too much for me I go to the woods. I have been there a lot lately. At this time of year, I look for burgeoning buds on bushes and trees, any touch of green. Each successive visit allows me to see new signs of growth. The dainty Bloodroot flower, the Violet, the Marsh Marigold. They are all signs of hope that spring has truly arrived. Signs of hope from nature that there is an order in life and that it is good. We all grieve for the people who have been killed and injured. I also grieve for the perpetrators who are so filled with hatred. The bombings happened when people were celebrating Easter. Christ’s life of love and forgiveness taught us how to overcome evil. With the strength of Christ’s message of love and the beauty and steadfastness of nature may we go forward in faith. Peace, Roberta
Weds., May 1 ---Day Without Latinxs & Immigrants 11 am to 2 p.m. at the Capitol in Madison WI.
Driver’s licenses for all!
Thurs., May 2 --Jericho Walk at 9 a.m. to protest separation of families and detaining of immigrants at ICE, Knapp & Broadway. Call 414-643-1620 for date and time of Prayer Vigil and other events.
Mon., May 19, Armed Forces Day ---No Money for War and Weapons vigil at Noon at Marine Recruiting Ofice, 11th & Wells Stst. If you oppose war, why do you pay for it? Over 60% of Fed. Taxes go toward doing violence to others.
Tues., May 21 ---- 6:30pm - 7:30pm CASA MARIA POTLUCK! Please join with Casa Maria volunteers, supporters and others to celebrate community, the Easter season and Don Timmerman's birthday! Feel free to bring a dish to pass or just yourself. This is the first of what we hope to be many potlucks. It will be located at Harmony House which is a few houses down from Casa Maria. 1149 N. 21st St.
Thurs., May 23---No Guns Vigil at Noon at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, at Noon.
There was at least 1 deadly mass shooting a month in 2018. ----AlterNet, 1/29/1
Who am I? I am a 52 year old trans womyn, been an activist since age 13, and around the same time, got my original gender identity disorder diagnosed in 1979 - spinning through the ABCs of groups and causes - especially green and human rights fronts.
At 18, I was able to begin hormone therapy and lived as a womyn for 8 years until I was sent to prison and stuck behind the "freeze frame" rule. I had to hide my gender for 20 years. In 2015 my doctors revised their gender dysphoria policy, and after yet another 18 months fighting I was able to resume (re)transition physically. While I'm happy to return to my proper form, it's very challenging and dangerous to be a trans womyn in a men's prison.
These prison systems are dangerous regardless of your public identity. In 2011, I was jumped by three gang members and raped. Thus began my involvement in PREA advocacy, which includes not only prison sexual violence (PSV) survivors, but also trans prisoners, which despite being an extreme minority in the penal system, are disproportionately victimized by PSV. On the bright side, recovering from rape instilled within me the strength and steadfastness to re-emerge as openly transgender, and pursue (re)transition shortly after. Now I am under review for placement in a female facility. I'm pending evaluation for sex reassignment surgery but my doctor is delaying. Time will tell, but I'm relentless. I'm 25 years into a 25 to Life bid, and just got denied at my first parole board so my work in the prison system isn't done yet.
While on the street, the harassment and attempted sexual abuse I experienced was due to being female, not trans. I was a cute and willowy girl in my late teens and twenties so I get how womyn are treated in a patriarchal system. Now more so, I'm at odds with general patriarchy which is clearly outraged by my, and my trans peers, very existence. It's been interesting, yet terrifying to see the shift in power as whatever residual male privilege I had evaporated and was invalidated by my advanced transition to female - until the mainstream (hetero) males don't even recognize me as being the same species. This artificial "trans" identity traps me in a stasis between birth assigned "male" and yet not accepting or validating me as female. Outside, I never had a trans identity. I was just a womyn as I am today to myself, my peers, and my male fiance.
For trans persons, the trans is just a process, an A to Z, not an identity. Yeah, we may shout out trans pride or queer pride but most just want to transition, integrate into society/culture as our true gender and be (in effect) invisible. Then to continue and get on with our lives. Personally, I have other stuff to do. I'm an activist and poetess. I am not making a career out of being trans. ---- Geri Erwin
DON’S JOKES
Why does bread love to be made? Because it likes to be kneaded. Wife: Let’s go to the antique shop I’m feeling very Victorian. Husband: Forget it. I am feeling very baroque! Ole and Lena went to a drive-in movie. Ole says, “Say, Lena, want to sit in the back of the car? Lena says, “Nah, I’d rather sit in the front with you.” Ole was visiting the Vatican and went to see the Sistine Chapel. The tour guide told him that it took four years to paint the ceiling. Ole said ,”Yeah, I had a landlord like that myself.” Sven heard that Ole’s son went to college. He asked Ole what he plans on being when he graduates. Ole said, “I imagine about 35 or 40 years.” How do you stop Wikileaks? With Wikidepends. Whenever I hear about a “peace-keeping force” I wonder: if they are so interested in peace, why do they use force?
For safety sake, I try not to go to the ATM at night. I also try not to go with my 4 year old, who screams, “We’ve got money! We’ve got money! .” What do you call someone who can’t stick with a diet? A desserter. The police were called to a day care where a 3 year old was resisting a rest. Bathmats: small rugs children like to stand next to. Patient: I’m worried about this birthmark. Doctor: Birthmark, you say. How long have you had it? If the earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy named over 60 companies who did not pay federal taxes in 2018 despite many making billions in profits.
President Trump blocked a congressional effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians and sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. ---Just Foreign Policy The U.S. spends more on creating weapons of mass destruction than we do on foreign aid, diplomacy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program combined!---Code Pink
Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, who has been detained in Ecuador. His arrest came hours after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was dragged by British police from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. The injustice continues.----Digital Freedom
Attorney General William Barr recently issued an order that could keep thousands of asylum seekers locked up indefinitely-----Democracy Now, 4/17/19 People have donated $1 billion in 2 days to reconstruct the Notre Dame Cathedral church in Pairs, but they find it hard to donate money to help the refugees still living in tents in Calais, France.
On average, freight railroads move a ton of cargo for around 479 miles on a gallon of fuel, which is about 11 times more energy-efficient than trucks on a ton-mile basis. The lower energy consumption leads to lower greenhouse emissions. Hydrogen fuel cell applications are already used in Germany. ---EcoWatch Known as the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon rainforest “inhales” carbon dioxide and “exhales” oxygen, helping to stabilize the global climate by safely storing up to 140 billion metric tons of carbon. ---Amazon Defenders
The US has stepped up pressure on Cuba as a way of attacking both Cuba and Venezuela. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced that they will now allow lawsuits in US courts of “people and entities” involved with “expropriated US property.” By expropriated property they mean property nationalized by Cuba after the 1959 revolution. After the revolution, as one company after another stopped producing goods and services, or worked to sabotage the economy to make the revolution fail, Cuba nationalized them to keep up production, for the people of Cuba, not for profit.---UNAC (United National Anti-war Coalition)
Tesla and other electric cars are great for the environment. However, they pale in comparison to electric buses. According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), electric buses will save an astounding 270,000 barrels of diesel demand in 2019—every single day. The vast majority of electric buses are found in China, where many mega-cities are closing in on 100 percent electric-powered public transport. Today, there are reportedly close to 400,000 electric buses in operation, 99 percent of them in China.---Singularity Hub
The Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military aid in Asia, the country’s embassy in Manila has announced. said that from January 1, 2017, to the present, the US had funded military equipment worth more than five billion pesos, or $95 million. ---Portside
Nearly 100,000 Pentagon Whistleblower Complaints Have Been Silenced about the $21 Trillion LOST at the Pentagon - which almost equals the national debt, The Pentagon sucks up 55% of all the discretionary tax money. “The military is a gigantic organized human murder machine, and even if you “support” every action our military has ever taken, you can still acknowledge it’s an organized human murder machine.” ---Lee Camp in Truthdig, 3/19/19
There are 64,000 black women and girls still missing in the U.S. -----Black News.org
Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Donald Trump wants to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming U.S. resources at the southern border.---CLG News, 3/30/19
There are only three countries in the world America hasn't invaded or have never seen a U.S. military presence: Andorra, Bhutan, and Liechtenstein. The United States has invaded or fought in 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of 193 – a staggering 98 percent. --- Kelly and Laycock's book
NOTES FROM 21ST ST: In Sri Lanka 300 people were killed and many injured on Easter Sunday. Terrorists set off bombs in churches and at luxury hotels. Such a tragedy! When the news becomes too much for me I go to the woods. I have been there a lot lately. At this time of year, I look for burgeoning buds on bushes and trees, any touch of green. Each successive visit allows me to see new signs of growth. The dainty Bloodroot flower, the Violet, the Marsh Marigold. They are all signs of hope that spring has truly arrived. Signs of hope from nature that there is an order in life and that it is good. We all grieve for the people who have been killed and injured. I also grieve for the perpetrators who are so filled with hatred. The bombings happened when people were celebrating Easter. Christ’s life of love and forgiveness taught us how to overcome evil. With the strength of Christ’s message of love and the beauty and steadfastness of nature may we go forward in faith. Peace, Roberta
Weds., May 1 ---Day Without Latinxs & Immigrants 11 am to 2 p.m. at the Capitol in Madison WI.
Driver’s licenses for all!
Thurs., May 2 --Jericho Walk at 9 a.m. to protest separation of families and detaining of immigrants at ICE, Knapp & Broadway. Call 414-643-1620 for date and time of Prayer Vigil and other events.
Mon., May 19, Armed Forces Day ---No Money for War and Weapons vigil at Noon at Marine Recruiting Ofice, 11th & Wells Stst. If you oppose war, why do you pay for it? Over 60% of Fed. Taxes go toward doing violence to others.
Tues., May 21 ---- 6:30pm - 7:30pm CASA MARIA POTLUCK! Please join with Casa Maria volunteers, supporters and others to celebrate community, the Easter season and Don Timmerman's birthday! Feel free to bring a dish to pass or just yourself. This is the first of what we hope to be many potlucks. It will be located at Harmony House which is a few houses down from Casa Maria. 1149 N. 21st St.
Thurs., May 23---No Guns Vigil at Noon at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, at Noon.
There was at least 1 deadly mass shooting a month in 2018. ----AlterNet, 1/29/1