by Aleicia Zhu
Black History Month celebrates incredible black figures from both the past and the present. It is The Helix’s tribute to Black History Month, and an effort to incorporate diverse narratives into the STEM curriculum.
Collage of a photo taken by Hank O’ Neal of
Mother Marsha at NYC’s Pride march in 1977. Made by Kendrick Daye [1].
Marsha P. Johnson is one of the greatest figures in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and even her name pays tribute to her cause. As a black trans woman and drag queen, Marsha had dubbed herself Malcolm and BLACK Marsha but later changed it to Marsha P. Johnson—with the ‘P’ standing for ‘Pay it no mind’. It was her clever response to questions regarding her gender [1].
Like BTHS students, Marsha P. Johnson was a New Jersey native. On August 24th, 1945, she was born Malcolm Michaels Jr. in Elizabeth, New Jersey and would later graduate from Thomas A. Edison High School in 1963. Once she graduated, Marsha engaged in a brief stint in the US Navy but would leave for Greenwich Village in New York. There, she would turn to prostitution to survive but also find joy in being a drag queen. Her talents in design and costume-creation would be celebrated by the welcoming community of Greenwich Village, a safe harbor for gay rights and American bohemia [2].
In June 1969, the NYPD violently raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn [3], throwing 200 people—including Marsha P. Johnson—into the streets. At the time, the LGBTQ+ community was treated especially egregiously. Being gay was considered a mental illness, members of the LGBTQ+ were assaulted regularly, and they were generally unwelcom in society. Marsha would resist protest and possibly be the instigator of the Stonewall riots. The event sparked a fight for equality and led to the first gay pride march a month later [4].
After the Stonewall Riots, Marsha established the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Sylvia Rivera to support homeless trans youth, serving as an inspirational drag mother [1, 2]. Marsha P. Johnson did suffer from mental illness (and not of the ‘being LGBTQ+’ variety), but she remained generous to those in her community and to her family [2]. When her life was ended by a murder in 1992, Marsha’s case was initially closed as a suicide. However, trans activist Mariah Lopez and NY politician Tom Duane fought for it to be reopened, which would happen in 2012 [5]. Her cause of death has been reclassified from ‘suicide’ to undetermined [3].
Today, Marsha P. Johnson’s legacy lives on, and the Marsha P. Johnson Institute continues to fight for the rights of BLACK trans people. In 2019, the NYPD head apologized for the police’s action at the Stonewall Inn, stating that "the actions taken by the NYPD were wrong". To recognize what Marsha has done for the LGBTQ+ community, Mayor DeBlasio of New York renamed the East River State Park to The Marsha P. Johnson State Park and announced there will be a statue created in honor of her in 2021 [3].
Sources
About MPJI – Marsha P. Johnson Institute. (2019). Marshap.org. marshap.org/about-mpji/
About Marsha P. Johnson – Marsha P. Johnson Memorial – Elizabeth Native and Transgender Activist for LGBTQ+ Rights. (2012). Ucnj.org. ucnj.org/mpj/about-marsha-p-johnson/
Pride Month: Who was Marsha P. Johnson and why were they so important? - CBBC Newsround. (2020, June 30). Bbc.co.uk. www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52981395
Stonewall: 50 years on from the riots that changed gay rights history - CBBC Newsround. (2019, June 28). Bbc.co.uk. www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48796870
GLSEN LGBTQ+ History Cards - Marsha P Johnson. (2020). GLSEN. www.glsen.org/activity/glsen-lgbtq-history-cards-marsha-p-johnson