[6] Their response was to march defiantly ahead of the parade. I also recommend this one in particular if youd like a very in-depth look at the claims and evidence involved. "[15], In Pay it No Mind friends Bob Kohler and Agosto Machado talk about Johnson's relationship with Neptune. Be aware that in looking into these sources you will come across some which misgender or deadname trans people. In 1963, Johnson graduated from Edison High School and promptly moved to New York City with $15 and a bag of clothing. As the nascent Gay Rights movement swirled around her, Johnson fought social mores, the police, and her own demons. Search the online collections We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power. It includes an interview with Marsha, which was the source of her definitions of drag queen, transvestite, and transsexual, which I quote in our podcast. Up until her dying breath, she confessed with her mouth that she was married to Jesus, a sign of holiness attributed to the earliest Christian martyrs. She was homeless and prostituted herself to make ends meet. [11], Johnson was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and co-founded the radical activist group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R. If you listened to our podcast on the Stonewall Riots, and youre keen to learn more, heres a list of the sources that I used when researching the episode. Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Rebellion: Crash Course Black American History #41 CrashCourse 59K views 8 months ago L020A Sylvia Rivera, "Y'all Better Quiet Down" Original Authorized. This profile is part of anarticlewritten by Cal Goodin for the National Parks Conservation Association. Marsha P. Johnson was an African-American gay man and drag artist - someone who dresses extravagantly and performs as a woman - from New Jersey, whose activism in the 1960s and 70s had a huge. Marsha was nicknamed the "Saint of Christopher Street" (where the Stonewall Inn is located), because of the generosity they had shown towards people in New York's LGBTQ+ community. "[20], There is some existing footage of Johnson doing full, glamorous, "high drag" on stage, but most of Johnson's performance work was with groups that were more grassroots, comedic, and political. Pride: What is it and why do people celebrate it? She was seen dropping a very heavy object on top of a police car, among other actions. In 2012 the police, under renewed public pressure, reopened the case. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar. Johnson. In addition to soup kitchens, the Church of Saint Veronica hosted gay Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and a food hall serving breakfast and lunch to over 40 AIDS patients at a time. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our. Michael Dillon was born on the 1st of May in England in 1915. All this- her devotions and her deeds- leads one to wonder if Marsha P. Johnson really was take your pick: a holy person, a saint, the patron saint of the LGBTQ Community, or the Jesus of Sheridan Square. STAR provided services including shelter (the first was a trailer truck) to homeless LGBTQ people in New York City, Chicago, California and England for a few years in the early 1970s but eventually disbanded. The particular video which I found useful in getting an understanding of Marsha was this video of people gathered at the memorial created beside the Hudson River in the days after her death. Select from a curated set Primary Source Sets - Each set collects primary sources on a specific frequently-taught topic, along with historical background information and teaching ideas. Johnson and Rivera acted as house mothers, guiding and protecting the young people. Marsha and good friend Sylvia Rivera, who was also an activist , founded STAR - Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries - an organisation to support gay and trans individuals who had been left homeless. "Marsha is the crowned mother of queer protest and LGBTQ resilience and resistance," said creator Yoav Wachs. Initially ruled a suicide, her death has since been ruled a possible homicide. Theres also a lot of material written by Sylvia Rivera, including about her relationship with Marsha and their work with STAR. Some books which include general information on Marsha are: Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter (2010). [image: black-and-white photo of Marsha P Johnson. [18][19] After this, Johnson described the idea of being gay as "some sort of dream", rather than something that seemed possible, and so chose to remain sexually inactive until leaving for New York City at 17. Pay It No Mind - The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson - Thanks to the wisdom of Tony Nunziata, Jimmy Camicia, Richard Morrison, and Larry Show more Show more 55:56 Frameline Voices - Pay. On the second night, however, several eyewitness accounts had her climbing up a light post with a brick in her purse which she promptly let drop on a police squad car below, shattering the window. This was the source of my direct quotes from Randy. Gender: Male. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Never without a flower in her hair, Marsha was also referred to as a saint, even the Patron Saint of the LGBTQ community. "[14] In November 2012, activist Mariah Lopez succeeded in getting the New York police department to reopen the case as a possible homicide. "The Unsung Heroines of Stonewall" National Parks Conservation Association Blog, October 1, 2020. A feature photo of Johnson in this article shows Johnson in a flowing wig and makeup, and a translucent shirt, pants and parka highlighting the ways that, quoting Kate Millett's Sexual Politics, White says, "she is both masculine and feminine at once. All rights reserved. And he said, 'You know, you might wind up with nothing.' Considering the proximity that the Church of Saint Veronica has to the Stonewall Inn, its important to recognize that it was Trans, non-binary, and Queer People of Color who initiated and led the uprising that began on June 28, 1969, and that lasted throughout the following six days and nights, ultimately sparking the birth of the Gay Liberation Movement. Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945 July 6, 1992), also known as Malcolm Michaels Jr.,[3][4] was an American gay liberation[6][7] activist and self-identified drag queen. Johnson worked to provide food, clothing, emotional support and a sense of family for the young drag queens, trans women, gender nonconformists and other gay street kids living on the Christopher Street docks or in their house on the Lower East Side of New York. Though we often glorify Marsha as one of the greatest civil rights leaders of the 20th century, and view through rose-colored glasses her glamorous role as muse to Andy Warhol, we also tend to white-wash her life and willfully forget that she was a prostitute that was often homeless. During the fight he used a homophobic slur, and later bragged to someone at a bar that he had killed a drag queen named Marsha. The + is an inclusive symbol to mean 'and others' to include people of all identities. [50][6] During a gay rights rally at New York City Hall in the early '70s, photographed by Diana Davies, a reporter asked Johnson why the group was demonstrating, Johnson shouted into the microphone, "Darling, I want my gay rights now! When she got to Stonewall, she encountered shouting, fire and chaos. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Johnson commented, "How many people have died for these two little statues to be put in the park to recognize gay people? Blitz, Michael began reading texts on medicine, and endocrinology. On May 30, 2019, it was announced that Johnson and Sylvia Rivera would be honored with monuments at Greenwich Village, near the site of the Stonewall club. American drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson was dedicated to social justice for the gay and transgender communities. Sources:Goodin, Cal. Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Much like the recent Black Lives Matter marches in the United States, news of these protests spread around the world, inspiring others to join protests and rights groups to fight for equality. They just dropped her. It does provide some information about Marshas early life not found elsewhere. "[77] This added to the suspicions of foul play and possible murder. She sought out new interviews with witnesses, friends, other activists, and police who had worked the case or had been on the force at the time of Johnson's death. But many friends argued this ruling at the time, saying attacks on gay and trans people were common. (A drag queen is a man who dresses as a woman to entertain others.) According to Marshas roommate, gay rights activist Randy Wicker, someone stepped forward claiming to be an eyewitness to the murder of Marsha P. Johnson, but his testimony was ignored by investigators. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Douglas, c1972. She didn't leave a note. If theres anything in particular which I mentioned which youd like to know the source for, feel free to ask! Read about our approach to external linking. Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again (2018). Marsha was memorably present at the Stonewall Riots in 1969 where any number of actions have been attributed to her legend - including shimmying up a lamppost to drop a heavy weight that shattered a police car's windshield. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Afeni Shakur. It was an "unrelenting wave of attacks. Johnson came out and said "my life has been built around sex and gay liberation, being a drag queen" and sex work. She also began to perform as a drag queen initially going by the name "Black Marsha . After visiting David and other friends with the virus in the hospital during the AIDS pandemic, Johnson, who was also HIV-positive, became committed to sitting with the sick and dying, as well as doing street activism with AIDS activist groups including ACT UP. I also mentioned some statistics on the current realities of violence and homelessness for trans people in the USA today, especially trans women of colour. Primary sources like this reel-to-reel recording offer crucial insight into LGBTQ history in its historical complexity, providing a window into Johnson and Rivera's ideas about gender and sexuality and political vision at the dawn of gay liberation. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-5fa8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99. [56][57] While the original location of STAR House was evicted in 1971 and the building was destroyed,[54] the household existed in different configurations and at different locations over the years. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. How many years does it take for people to see that we're all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? As I mentioned in the podcast, there has been significant controversy surrounding this documentary, and theres plenty of information about that online. Birth Date: 24 Aug 1945. 580 volunteers each say one of the names from the 580 plaques of the #VillageAIDSMemorial. We're not around right now. Database on-line. [38] Johnson, who was also HIV positive,[39] became an AIDS activist and appeared in The Hot Peaches production The Heat in 1990, singing the song "Love" while wearing an ACT UP, "Silence = Death" button. While I recommend some of these sources for the information they contain, I dont condone this decision. All Rights Reserved. Marsha P. Johnson was a well-known face in New York Citys Greenwich Village, where she lived on the street for many years. Race: Black. It was the source of a lot of my background on life for queer youth on the streets of New York, as well as containing some information about Marsha. Images of Marsha P. Johnson from Andy Warhols 1975 series Ladies and Gentlemen. For instance, Rivera insisted on claiming transvestite solely for use by gay people, writing in the essay "Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution", "Transvestites are homosexual men and women who dress in clothes of the opposite sex. The two worked for gay and transgender rights while also providing housing for LGBTQ youth living on the streets.
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