Living Out Loud with Darian

Caught On Tape

The video, recorded February 12th, shows Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center after an arrest for prostitution. The tape clearly shows a Memphis police officer walk over to Johnson - a transsexual - and hit her in the face several times.

"Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that wasn't my name - that my mother didn't name me a 'faggot' or a 'he-she,' so he got upset and approached me. And that's when it started," Johnson said.

Johnson said the officer was attempting to call her over to be fingerprinted. She said she chose not respond to the derogatory name the officer called her.

Watch the video here.

hi-five to Pam's House Blend


Beaten Straight?

Joyce Beddell, a 61-year-old Reading, Pennsylvania woman was arrested by Reading police for beating her granddaughter with a cane and belt after finding the girl in bed with another female teenager from the neighborhood.

The granddaughter had just finished having sex with another 16-year-old girl and was in an upstairs bedroom. Beddell walked in and found them together.

Beddell's 16-year-old granddaughter suffered serious bruises to her legs and buttocks during the assault. Beddell told police that she had done nothing wrong and said she should have been allowed to discipline her granddaughter as she saw fit.

Thanks to my reader Daniel Robinson



The Other Side Of The Gay Marriage Debate

Activist/Writer Jasmyne Cannick has ruffled more than a few feathers with her latest op-ed in The Advocate, "Jasmyne Cannick Doesn't Give A Fig About Gay Marriage". According to some readers this is Cannick's most "embarrassing", "racist", and "divisive" piece to date. Their words not mine. James Kirchick of The New Republic wrote a hell of a response. Get into both here and here.

While I respect Jasmyne's opinion I definitely don't agree with her as I've stated on this site and elsewhere before. Read my response to her article as printed in the L.A. Times here.

Let's not get it twisted, one person's voice doesn't speak for an entire community. Gay marriage is important to many black gays and lesbians. I'm sure Alicia & Saundra Toby-Heath of New Jersey would agree.





Jada Pinkett Smith To Play Lesbian In "The Women"

This Fall an updated adaptation of the 1939 George Cukor film of the same name, which was based on the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce will be released as a feature film with an all star female cast. In the 2008 version of 'The Women', which is directed by Diane English, the film stars Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Candice Bergen, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield, and Annette Bening.

Jada Pinkett Smith will be playing lesbian character Alex Fisher. Get into the trailer here. The Women is expected to arrive in theaters on October 10th.



Sagging On Wall Street?

Another week, another crazy ass story from The New York Times. This week journalist Bill Cunningham exams "sagging" among black and latino men and compares the fashion trend to the stock market. Yeah...the stock market. Check out the audio and the visually stunning images here. I hope he had a towel nearby after looking at these pictures because from the sound of his voice he was obviously excited.