marsha p johnson primary source
marsha p johnson primary source
This profile is part of anarticlewritten by Cal Goodin for the National Parks Conservation Association. After the NYPD reopened the case, the police reclassified Johnson's cause of death from "suicide" to undetermined. Contact Us We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. and 18% of those were based on violence perpetrated by police." Marsha went missing in 1992 and six days later police found Marsha's body. Johnson's friend Sasha McCaffrey added, "I would find her in the strangest churches. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Born in 1945 in New Jersey, Marsha P. Johnson was an outspoken African American trans rights/gay rights/AIDS activist, sex worker, and drag queen during the late 20th century. Earlier this year, New York Gov. Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. For anyone wanting to learn more about drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson, this entire documentary is available for free on Youtube! Marsha P. Johnson. Marsha P. Johnson. They reclassified her death as drowning from undetermined causes, but the case remained unsolved. Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again (2018). She graduated high school at 17, then fled to New York City, where she could finally start dressing how she wanted. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Marsha is one of many Black Trans women that have left a powerful stamp on history. [23][24] After Johnson began hanging out with the street hustlers near the Howard Johnson's at 6th Avenue and 8th Street, their life changed. A pair of women seated, two men standing, with nothing really explicitly gay about any of them. Together we did", "Exploding the Myths of Stonewall Gay City News", "Gay History Month- June 28,1969: The REAL History of the Stonewall Riots", "Marsha P Johnson Carols for Ma & Pa Xmas Presents", "Gay rights activists Sylvia Ray Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Barbara Deming, and Kady Vandeurs at City Hall rally for gay rights", "Marsha P. Johnson (19441992) Activist, Drag Mother. [61] When Wicker's lover, David, became terminally ill with AIDS, Johnson became his caregiver. The Journalism in Action website allows students to investigate the role journalism has played in U.S. history and what it . The P purportedly stands for Pay It No Mind, a flippant saying she used to dismiss antagonists. A few other online sources which I used or mentioned were: The 2018 New York Times obituary of Marshawhich was created as part of their Overlooked series. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power." The Marsha P. Johnson Institute is dedicated to supporting Black Trans communities. She'd be wearing velvet and throwing glitter. "I want people to stand beneath the halo and know that they can be like her. American drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson was dedicated to social justice for the gay and transgender communities. In June 1969, when Marsha was 23 years old, police raided a gay bar in New York called The Stonewall Inn. 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. [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. (1945-92). You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Johnson came out and said "my life has been built around sex and gay liberation, being a drag queen" and sex work. 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. Kohler tells a story of sunbathing at the Christopher Street Piers in the West Village when Johnson, naked, began grabbing at Kohler's shirt, shouting, "My father needs those clothes! It does provide some information about Marshas early life not found elsewhere. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. [45], Carter writes that Robin Souza had reported that fellow Stonewall veterans and gay activists such as Morty Manford and Marty Robinson had told Souza that on the first night, Johnson "threw a shot glass at a mirror in the torched bar screaming, 'I got my civil rights'". Johnson is often credited with throwing the first brick at Stonewall. Video, County Antrim pupils record special coronation hymn. An eccentric woman known for her outlandish hats and glamorous jewelry, she was fearless and bold. How many years does it take for people to see that we're all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? Tell students that the text displayed is a statement by directors Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel on their short film Happy Birthday Marsha!, which depicts the life of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson in the hours prior to the Stonewall Rebellion. How Nan Goldin Waged War Against Big Pharma, How the Greensboro Four Began the Sit-In Movement, Biography: You Need to Know: Bayard Rustin, Biography: You Need to Know: Sylvia Rivera, Biography: You Need to Know: Dorothy Pittman Hughes. We are lucky enough to have a fair bit of other video and audio featuring Marsha or people who knew her: Randy Wickers Youtube channelhas a whole lot of videos about US queer history, including some of or about Marsha. Marsha P. Johnson Sylvia Rivera Historical Events Black Cat Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1967 Black Night Brawl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1961 Compton's Cafeteria Raid, San Francisco, 1966 Coopers Do-Nut Raid, Los Angeles 1959 Pepper Hill Club Raid, Baltimore, Maryland in 1955. Choosing a name is a rite of passage for many transgender people, and she tried on a few before settling on Marsha P. Johnson. And we were all like, Oh my God! They just dropped her. [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. Have students read the statement silently or out loud as a class. [6] In 1973, Johnson and Rivera were banned from participating in the gay pride parade by the gay and lesbian committee who were administering the event stating they "weren't gonna allow drag queens" at their marches claiming they were "giving them a bad name". Best Known For: Marsha P. Johnson was an African American transgender woman and revolutionary LGBTQ rights activist. Johnson and Rivera were key players in the 1969 New York riots, which historians say ignited the modern LGBTQ rights movement. They just dropped her right on the floor. Shes said that the town had zero tolerance for LGBTQ people and as a woman assigned male at birth, she left as soon as she could. Marsha was assigned male at birth, but described herself as living life as a woman, and worked tirelessly to support her trans community. To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma. However, none of Johnson's friends or relatives believed Johnson was suicidal. Marsha P. Johnson (Source: USA Today / Originally Netflix . A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar. We intend to reclaim our relationship as BLACK trans people to our movement legacy. Some books which include general information on Marsha are: Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter (2010). And you know what? One of Johnson's most notable direct actions occurred in August 1970, staging a sit-in protest at Weinstein Hall at New York University alongside fellow GLF members after administrators canceled a dance when they found out that it was sponsored by gay organizations. [49] Shortly after that, Johnson and close friend Sylvia Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) organization (initially titled Street Transvestites Actual Revolutionaries). 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. Thats how legendary Stonewall leader Marsha P. Johnson came to be known in Greenwich Village due to her benevolence, kindness and generosity. Read about our approach to external linking. Many eyewitnesses have identified Marsha as one of the main instigators of the uprising and thus, some have recognized her as the vanguard of the gay liberation movement in the United States. [44] This dual personality of Johnson's has been described as "a schizophrenic personality at work". 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. Marsha P. Johnson grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with her mother. Johnson began going to the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, in the late 1960s. This page also includes a transcript and a lot of links to further resources about Marsha and Randy. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power. In honour of their upcoming 50th anniversary, well be talking about the Stonewall Riots. "The Unsung Heroines of Stonewall" National Parks Conservation Association Blog, October 1, 2020. After the funeral, a series of demonstrations and marches to the police precinct took place, to demand justice for Johnson. June is Pride Month, where people all over the world come together to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness for inequalities that still stand today. Birth Date: 24 Aug 1945. That night, she had invited a bunch of her friends, including Rivera, to a party. [45] The alleged "shot glass" incident has also been heavily disputed. [55] While the House was not focused on performance, Johnson was a "drag mother" of STAR House, in the longstanding tradition of "Houses" as chosen family in the Black and Latino LGBT community. argued that an individual should have the final say over what medical A neighbor also said Johnson would pray, prostrate on the floor in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary, in the church across from Randy Wicker's apartment (where Johnson lived in later years). [13] Prior to Carter's book, it was claimed Johnson had "thrown a brick" at a police officer, an account that was never verified. Rivera, Sylvia, "Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution" in, Shepard, Benjamin Heim and Ronald Hayduk (2002). Marsha picketing Bellevue Hospital to protest their treatment of queer people c.1970, holding a sign reading Power to the people. Andrew Cuomo dedicated a seven-acre waterfront park in Brooklyn to Marsha P. Johnson, the first state park dedicated to an LGBTQ historic figure and a transgender woman of color. Search the online collections [35] In 1973, Johnson performed the role of "The Gypsy Queen" in the Angels' production, "The Enchanted Miracle", about the Comet Kohoutek. The two most extensive sources on Marsha are both documentaries: Pay It No Mind- Michael Kasinos 2012 documentary. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson - David France's 2017 documentary. [80] Randy Wicker later said that Johnson may have hallucinated and walked into the river, or may have jumped into the river to escape harassers, but stated that Johnson was never suicidal. (A drag queen is a man who dresses as a woman to entertain others.) [41] Only weeks later, Johnson would also turn up dead under similar circumstances. Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries by Leslie Feinberg (2006). Marsha P. Johnson at the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, a protest inspired by the events that took place at the Stonewall Inn. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our. During a tempestuous Christian childhood, around the age of five, Johnson began to dress as a girl. [45] When this happened, Johnson would often get in fights and wind up hospitalized and sedated, and friends would have to organize and raise money to bail Johnson out of jail or try to secure release from places like Bellevue. And he said, 'You know, you might wind up with nothing.' From the website: "The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) protects and defends the human rights of BLACK transgender people. There Johnson began frequenting bars and nightclubs dressed as a female called Black Marsha. [5] Police initially ruled the death a suicide,[37] but Johnson's friends and other members of the local community insisted Johnson was not suicidal and noted that the back of Johnson's head had a massive wound. While the first two nights of rioting were the most intense, the clashes with police would result in a series of spontaneous demonstrations and marches through the gay neighborhoods of Greenwich Village for roughly a week afterwards. (A drag queen is a man who dresses as a woman to entertain others.) Marsha P. Johnson was born on August 24, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I cant explore the biases of all of them in a blog post, but in the case of history in general, and something as contentious as Stonewall in particular, I encourage you to consult multiple sources and think critically about what theirsource is, what theyre saying and why. Our episode on drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson is coming out tomorrow! (2017). There is power speaking the names of victims aloud. .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. Shed spend her meager earnings on meals for others and couldnt walk downtown without multiple people calling her name, wishing her well. famous schizoid writers, toledo hospital map, st cletus fish fry 2021 menu,
