marsha p johnson speech transcript

STAR House then moved to a dilapidated building, which they tried to fix up, but the group was evicted after eight months. Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her sixty-year career. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Marsha P. Johnson was an African-American, activist from New Jersey, whose work in the 1960's and 70's had a huge impact on the LGBTQ+ community. is a 2017 fictional short film that imagines the gay and transgender rights pioneers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the hours that led up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. Rivera explained in 1998 that she and Johnson decided it was time to help each other and help our other kids. In 1990, Johnson was diagnosed with H.I.V. May 31, 2022 6:30 AM. But there's still a lot of work to be done. And I didn't get downtown till about 2:00. But when it comes to this kind of allyship, especially when we're talking about Black people, right, what does it take? "Read Stamped from the Beginning," right? In 1970, Johnson and Rivera founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization dedicated to sheltering young transgender individuals who were shunned by their families. The two also began STAR House, a place where transgender youth could stay and feel safe. Why did Marsha move to New York City? During Marshas lifetime, the term transgender was not commonly used. What was Marshas role in the Stonewall uprising, and how did it shape the rest of her life? To honor Johnsons life, public art will be included and interpretive park signage throughout the park will share her story. And that's something other LGBTQ+ folks, particularly white ones, need to understand. So is it proximity, or is there actually a different dynamic happening there? Having difficulty finding employment, Johnson turned to sex work. So, like, what are you doin'? An acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and is an umbrella term for the community of people whose gender and sexual identities exist outside of heteronormative expectations. She slept in hotel rooms, restaurants, and movie theaters. Johnson, an African American self-identified drag queen and activist, was also battling exclusion in a She used she/her pronouns. The P stood for Pay It No Mind. To her, this was a life motto and a response to questions about her gender. She was arrested over 100 times. How can food be used as a form of cultural memory & resistance? You really can't have either one without the other. By Emma Rothberg, NWHM Predoctoral Fellow in Gender Studies, 2020-2022. She was an advocate for drag queens, people of color, and transgender people, fighting for their right to be seen and heard.. We have to be having a holistic conversation on violence that not only talks about state violence but it also talks about the violence in our own homes, in our communities. Lee: We got COVID-19, white supremacy, uprisings. You know, we need the community organizers, and activists, and all those types of stories as well, and we don't often get that. Lee: I want to ask you though. She never let her personal setbacks stop her advocacy. Emma Rothberg, Sylvia Rivera, National Womens History Museum, 2021. Willis: Well, you know what is interesting is we've gotta get out of this space of thinking that transgender people are having some kind of magically different gender experience. You know, and so when I think about the murders of Black trans women at the hands of Black cis men, I'm very particular about how and when and where I have those conversations because inevitably what is happening to us will be used in the service of white supremacy against Blackness writ large. Encourage them to search for articles about the Marsha and Sylvia statue in New York City, Marsha P. Johnson state park in Brooklyn, and more. Engraving. If I can't even get the people closest to me to understand what's going on, how am I gonna get the masses to get it?" She was assigned male at birth. Lee: This is from a 1989 interview with journalist Eric Marcus. Marsha P. Johnson. National Womens History Museum, 2022. And I think for me as an activist, I take it also to be like, "Is what I'm doing even working? Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights. Marsha P. Johnson. National Womens History Museum. She was the fifth of seven children born to Malcolm Michaels Sr. and Alberta Claiborne. Lee: Are we seeing that? Screen excerpts from this film so that students can hear directly from Marsha and the people in her life. Chicago Rothberg, Emma. My revolutionary blood was going back then. Acronym for Auto Immune Deficiency Disorder. She was often abused by clients and arrested by the police. Are you Black first? At her funeral, hundreds of people showed up at the church; it was so crowded that people stood on the street. Johnson is also now the subject of many documentaries. Her partner, Julia Murray, was with her at the time of her death. We lose a lot of nuance there. And that is also violence. Or is it your gender identity first? So, I mean, there are so many ways in which the argument against trans women being women also erases swaths of cisgender women who don't have those particular experiences. series. And the idea of womanhood, is it worth having to explain to people what it means to live in this identity? Wells, Anna Julia Cooper were sidelined as Black women. You know, I thought that we were at a point where we were past a lot of his misgivings or misconceptions about transness. The weight is heavy, and there's a lot to be concerned, sad, angry about. Even when she found work waiting tables or performing in drag shows, she still made most of her money as a sex worker. Well, I know how to handle them. Jen Carlson, Activists Install Marsha P. Johnson Monument in Christopher Park, Gothamist, August 25, 2021. reinc: The story of a company founded by four US Womens National Team soccer players seeking to challenge norms and inspire lasting progress. Please try again. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, ca. Trans women, particularly women of color, were regular targets of hate crimes. However, Johnson also found a community in the city, especially after meeting Latina drag queen Sylvia Rivera. And so I don't want to leave places, you know, coming in as the first Black trans woman to do X, Y, and Z and then have not built any pathways for more Black trans people to come into the space, to carry the banner when I leave and inevitably go do other work. I think some people try to. 'Cause we're all caught up in it. Date accessed. Marsha P. Johnson was born on August 24, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Rivera ran away from home at age 11 and became a victim of sexual exploitation around 42nd Street. Police then reclassified the case as a drowning from undetermined cause, but the LGBTQ+ community was furious that the police refused to investigate further and that many press outlets did not cover her death. Reyes, Raul A., A Forgotten Latina Trailblazer: LGBT Activist Sylvia Rivera, NBC News, October 6, 2015,https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/forgotten-latina-trailblazer-lgbt-activist-sylvia-rivera-n438586. I feel like what fuels a lot of the violence that may happen from Black men towards Black women comes from an innate feeling of not being man enough for whatever reason. Is there a confluence there? How have Indigenous people exercised sovereignty and self-determination in the modern world? Sylvia Rivera, National Park Service,https://www.nps.gov/people/sylvia-rivera.htm. It was a time when same-sex dancing in public wasnt allowed, bars were banned from serving alcoholic drinks to gay people and cross-dressing could lead to a sexual deviancy arrest. Marsha P. Johnson was a proud and outspoken member of the LGBTQ+ community before it was popular to be so. But the impact of STAR had already been felt by many. A person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. In 1973, Rivera participated in the Gay Pride Parade but was not allowed to speak, despite the amount of work and advocacy she had done. And the circumstances around his case admittedly are very murky. Are we seeing a little bit of that now? In the wake of the raid, Johnson and Rivera led a series of protests. AMERICAN IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP; ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE, Major support for Women & the American Story provided by, Lead support for New-York Historicals teacher programs provided by, In 1975, artist Andy Warhol crossed paths with Marsha and photographed her for his. Johnson, an African American self-identified drag queen and activist, was also battling exclusion in a movement for gay rights that did not embrace her gender expression. As the fifth of seven children of a General Motors assembly line worker and a housekeeper, Johnson was about five years old when she began wearing dresses, but was often harassed by other children. Lee: What do you think it would take to get that kind of allegiance, especially among Black folks, right? Subscribers get each new issue of the Goodnewspaper mailed to their home, get exclusive discounts for do-good brands, fill the world with more good news, and more. And we need the in-between. What and who does she represent and why is this important? Rivera said in a 1995 interview with The New York Times of participating in this parade, the movement had put me on the shelf, but they took me down and dusted me offStill, it was beautiful. Together, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera continue to inspire the fight for justice that has not been won. While the genesis of the Stonewall Inn uprising remains shrouded in myth, theres no doubt Johnson was a key figure leading the events of June 28, 1969 some even credit her with throwing the shot glass heard around the world that started the rebellion. Johnson became known as much for her activism as for her attention-grabbing wardrobe, often complete with red plastic heels, colorful wigs and flowers and fruit in her hair. Marsha and Sylvia later formed the Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR). Invite students to. Apr 21, 2023. The final bill passed in 2002 and prevents discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, credit, and the exercise of civil rights.. STAR House was of personal importance to Johnson and Rivera as they had both spent much of their youth experiencing homelessness and destitution. In 2020, New York State named a waterfront park in Brooklyn after Marsha. Dissident News has received the exclusive full transcript for the entirety of the RFK announcement speech. I think about just two days after George was murdered, Tony McDade was murdered in Tallahassee, Florida, a Black transgender man. Hey, Luke. Lee: Raquel, thank you so much for your time. In the early morning hours, police raided the bar and began arresting the patrons, most of whom were gay men. Marsha P. Johnson never self-identified with the term transgender, but the term was also not in broad use while she was alive. Assigned male at birth, Johnson grew upin an African American, working-class family. In 1970, Sylvia came to Marsha with an idea. 1890. How have Indigenous people exercised sovereignty and self-determination in the modern world? Marsha P Johnson, born 24 August, 1945, holds a special place within the LGBTQ+ community for her larger-than-life spirit and trans rights activism. We kept the building going. Marsha enjoyed expressing herself through her appearance. She started Transy House, modeled off STAR House, in 1997 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. When a Warhol screen-print of Marsha went on display in a Greenwich Village store, Marsha took some friends to see it.