marsha p johnson speech transcripthealthy options at kobe steakhouse
Into America is produced by Isabel Angel, Allison Bailey, Aaron Dalton, Max Jacobs, Barbara Raab, Claire Tighe, Aisha Turner, and Preeti Varathan. Willis: Of course. When we're talking to white people about white supremacy, we could say, "Read how to be an antiracist," right? 2021.www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/Sylvia-Rivera. Her father was absent and her mother died by suicide when Rivera was 3 years old. Johnson, an African American self-identified drag queen and activist, was also battling exclusion in a And it's just a reminder that we've been here and it's a reminder we're gonna be here. You really can't have either one without the other. Who Is Trans TikTok Influencer Dylan Mulvaney? In another, she climbed a lamppost and dropped a heavy purse onto a police car, shattering the windshield. Marsha enjoyed expressing herself through her appearance. Rivera was born in New York City in 1951 to a father from Puerto Rico and a mother from Venezuela. I will say this was a joy. Today, a look at how racism and transphobia have pushed Black trans women to the fringe of the gay rights movement and the movement for Black lives, and what's being done to change that. Were all in this rat race together! Marsha P. Johnson, I may be crazy, but that dont make me wrong. Marsha P. Johnson, I dont think you should be ashamed of anybody you know that has AIDS. How are you gonna support transforming our families, having those hard conversations with our elders? In one account, she started the uprising by throwing a shot glass at a mirror. Her activism led her to become one of the most influential figures in the gay liberation movement. Within the past week, 22-year-old Mercy Mac was killed in Dallas and Brayla Stone was found dead in Arkansas. Im a strong believer in that and thats why I try to do that for everyone I know has the virus. Marsha P. Johnson, You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights. Marsha P. Johnson, As long as gay people dont have their rights all across America, theres no reason for celebration. Marsha P. Johnson, Nobody promised you tomorrow. Marsha P. Johnson, I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen. Marsha P. Johnson, I always just do drag. WebMARSHA P JOHNSON SAVES BOY Randolfe Wicker 633 views 10 years ago Trans Women of Color and the Stonewall Riots Rachel Simon 1.7K views 7 years ago As one of few women and Asian musicians in the jazz world, Akiyoshi infused Japanese culture, sounds, and instruments into her music. She sometimes lived with friends. The movement did not appreciate the extent to which transgender youth needed help and support. You know, I thought that we were at a point where we were past a lot of his misgivings or misconceptions about transness. Lee: I think people have a pretty decent grasp of lesbian, gay, bi. On multiple occasions, clients pulled guns on Marsha. WebMarsha was an eccentric woman who was known for her exotic hats and jewelry which stood out to the public and attracted attention to her. The new monuments and dedicated state park mark powerful steps toward recognizing and amplifying the voices of people who have changed history in their fight for equality, but much remains to be done. They were pushed out of the fight for suffrage in this country. LIVE! She was the fifth of seven children born to Malcolm Michaels Sr. and Alberta Claiborne. She believed no one should hustle or live on the streets, but she knew no other way to survive. Not long after arriving in New York, 17-year-old Marsha met 11-year-old Sylvia Rivera. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. Explore our collection of the best LGBTQ+ Pride quotes. Even when she found work waiting tables or performing in drag shows, she still made most of her money as a sex worker. Nicols Enrquez de Vargas (artist), Portrait of Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz, ca. A person who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman. To make ends meet, she became a sex worker often getting arrested, losing count after the 100th incident. Overwhelmingly, Black people are around other Black people, right? Today, historians and former friends of Marsha describe her as a trans woman. She started Transy House, modeled off STAR House, in 1997 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. When you hear J.K. Rowling saying that, what's your response to that? Assigned male at birth, Johnson grew upin an African American, working-class family. And then our families, right? Willis: No, I think that we have to find pockets of joy. Throughout Greenwich Village, she was known as Saint Marsha. Locals admired her ability to truly be herself. In 1975, artist Andy Warhol crossed paths with Marsha and photographed her for his Ladies and Gentleman series. On every level, Black cis folks are not doing enough to show up in new and expansive ways around gender and it's a problem. But when people are close to you and they're side, maybe they're family or people that you really respect and they don't get it, does that sting a little bit? Cihak and Zima (photographer), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, ca. Sylvia was a Puerto Rican trans woman who was also new to New York. And it also of course extends to folks who are nonbinary or gender nonconforming who straddle all of these struggles. 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. I just recently had a really hard conversation with my brother. Throughout the 1970s, she frequently tangled with gay rights leaders who were hesitant to include transgender people in their advocacy work. series. Sylvia Rivera, National Park Service,https://www.nps.gov/people/sylvia-rivera.htm. When they could no longer pay, they were evicted. But I don't know if we'll even completely know we're in a revolution probably until maybe it's almost over, right? (CHEERING). Rivera also fought against the exclusion of transgender people from the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York. She questioned where transgender people fit in. By following year, the first gay pride parades took place, and Johnson and Rivera founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to house, feed and clothe young transgender people. Why do you think Marshas life has started to gain more attention in recent years? Willis: First of all, anytime a celebrity tweets, I'm like, "How you got time for this?" She used she/her pronouns. Marsha was part of a growing community of LGBTQ youth who sought acceptance in New York City. But in the 1950s and 1960s, LGBTQ peoples rights were strictly limited. For example, dancing with a person of the same sex as well as cross-dressing were illegal. In 2021, New York City will unveil a monument to Rivera and Johnson. Marsha described Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. No quote encapsulates .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Marsha P. Johnson more than Pay It No Mind. After all, thats what she said her middle initial stood for. Willis: I don't think so. Since then, Marsha has become an icon of the transgender community. 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. MLA Rothberg, Emma. STAR House then moved to a dilapidated building, which they tried to fix up, but the group was evicted after eight months. Initially ruled a suicide, many friends questioned that conclusion and suspected foul play. That is just another element of patriarchy. About, Sylvia Rivera Law Project,https://srlp.org/about/. ", On Mental Health: I may be crazy, but that don't make me wrong., On Distrust: I got robbed once. The story of a company founded by four US Womens National Team soccer players seeking to challenge norms and inspire lasting progress. Johnson: We just were saying, "No more police brutality," and, oh, "We had enough of police harassment in the Village and other places." Well never share your email with anyone else, Susan Devaney, Marsha P Johnsons Activism Matters Now More than Ever,. The church was so full that the crowd spilled into the street. Acronym for Auto Immune Deficiency Disorder. You should stand as close to them as you can and help them out as much as you can. She was an advocate for drag queens, people of color, and transgender people, fighting for their right to be seen and heard.. And that's also something that Black cisgender and straight people need to understand as well. She took on the name "Black Marsha," and eventually added on her famous middle initial and took her last name from a Howard Johnson restaurant she frequented. Looking for more quotes? I've also been planting and reminding myself through gardening indoors, I guess, that regardless of what happens, growth is still possible. Our executive producer is Ellen Frankman. Rivera frequently experienced homelessness and had problems with substance abuse. Photo by Leonard Fink, Courtesy LGBT Community Center National History Archive, Leonard Fink, Courtesy of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. Yet this was not the first time Rivera was directly involved in activism. Marsha described herself as a gay person, a transvestite, and a drag queen. How can food be used as a form of cultural memory & resistance? Then when you get pregnant or something, they don't even want to know you., On Paying It Forward: Ill always be known [for] reaching out to young people who have no one to help them out, so I help them out with a place to stay or some food to eat or some change for their pocket. You know, at every level there's a systemic transphobia that is not being addressed. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to wina Nobel Peace Prize. Willis: I absolutely do think that there is a confluence and overlap of LGBTQ+ liberation and Black liberation. Since the term transgender wasnt used during her time, she identified as gay, transvestite and as a drag queen, using the pronouns she/her. The police officers ruled her death a suicide. It feels like a different time. We went out and hustled the streets. . The Gay Activist Alliance (GAA), which formed in response to Stonewall, frequently rejected the role transgender peoplethe majority of whom were people of colorhad played in the uprising. Are we seeing a little bit of that now? MLA Rothberg, Emma. Trans women, particularly women of color, were regular targets of hate crimes. 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. In 1990, Marsha contracted AIDS. I think about our media outlets and how often we don't have spaces like this, Trymaine, where a Black trans woman can come on and be in dialogue with a Black cis man about the state of the world. I think when you're close to people it does hurt in a particular way. All Rights Reserved. I think its about time the gay brothers and sisters got their rights . Unknown photographer, A Typical Boomer Family, ca. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Apr 21, 2023. My name is Todd Bishop. But how are you finding joy in this moment? Always sporting a smile, Johnson was an The Historic New Orleans Collection, acc. I've been around them for years, from working the streets. The store owners called her riffraff and threw her out. To learn more, check out the vocabulary resource guides from. Their tireless efforts continue to resonate as issues surrounding the health, safety, and autonomy of Black, Brown, and Indigenous Trans women are still challenged. She used she/her pronouns. Marshas life dramatically changed when she found herself near the Stonewall Inn in the early hours of June 28, 1969. And just as there's that education, there's also the education on whiteness. Are you Black first? 1893-1894. I mean, I wish I could say yes, but Black cis folks are not doing enough. Johnson was outspoken about the risks of tackling the Mob; her roommate at the time had been lobbying to have officials with alleged Mafia ties removed from the Darling, I want my gay rights now. Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her sixty-year career. As the officers began to arrest people for violating various discriminatory laws, the patrons of the Stonewall fought back. [3]These transgender icons will be the first to get statues in the US Johnsons life changed when she found herself engaging with the resistance at The Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969. It was not easy to live on the margins. She never let her personal setbacks stop her advocacy. The P stood for Pay It No Mind. To her, this was a life motto and a response to questions about her gender. Willis: Right. A monument dedicated to Marsha P Johnson, the late African-American transgender activist and pioneer, will be unveiled in New York in 2021. Willis: I don't know. Here are 14 quotes from Johnson that capture her spirit and endless passion for LGBTQ+ rights: On Coming of Age: I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville until I became a drag queen. I never do it seriously. Marsha P. Johnson, We have to be visible. ' In 2001, she was marching in New York City Pride Parades and living in Transy House. Jarena Lee, 1849. Police are treating her death as a homicide. 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. And it's not just Black trans women. She began performing with the drag group, Hot Peaches. She attracted the attention of many, including the pop artist Andy Warhol who included her in a series of prints in 1975 entitled Ladies and Gentlemen. In an interview Johnson did for a 1972 book, she said her ambition was to see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America. She wanted to see her gay brothers and sisters out of jail and on the streets again. In another interview, she said as long as gay people dont have their rights all across Americathere is no reason for celebration. In 1980, she was invited to ride in the lead car of the Gay Pride Parade in New York City. And that's something other LGBTQ+ folks, particularly white ones, need to understand. After her high school graduation, she moved across the Hudson River to New York City in 1963 with only a bag of clothes and $15. That night, police officers raided the gay bar. And people don't want to say that because I think there's this idea that the biggest enemy is white supremacy, but that is a fallacy. So you can't really say that womanhood is based in the ability to procreate as a woman. Lee: Black trans women in particular have been an important of the gay rights movement since the Stonewall uprising in 1969 in New York City. What opportunities did she find? She gave people clothes and food, even though she had little of her own. 'Cause we're all caught up in it. Looking for ideas on how you can celebrate Pride Month? 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. And you said, "Let today be the last day that you ever doubt Black trans power.". Marsha had a reputation for being generous and kind. Life Story: Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992), Women & the American Story, New-York Historical Society. I found a little bit of joy having this complex, smart conversation with you. (LAUGH) But is her name and folks who came after her and worked alongside her, are those names forgotten, overlooked by accident, by intent? And I think what is consistent unfortunately is the sidelining of our voices and the sidelining of our experiences and work. My name is still in story. You know, we need the community organizers, and activists, and all those types of stories as well, and we don't often get that. Invite students to. So there's no way to talk about us getting to liberation without talking about Black trans people. Marsha P. Johnson: The way I winded up being at Stonewall that night, I was having a party uptown. She was identified as male at birth. Speaking of white women, (LAUGH) and as we know that white women played a role in white supremacy and have always played a reinforcing role in that and also a role in the patriarchy, right? And so Black women in general have had to fight against this restrictive idea of womanhood that has been contingent on a white bourgeois imagination. Protest Leader: Black trans power matters. The Stonewall Inn uprising was also a turning point in the visibility of the gay rights movement. Lee: You know, I guess it was maybe two weeks ago now at the Black Trans Lives Rally in Brooklyn, we were actually driving home to Brooklyn and it was like I'd never seen (LAUGH) almost that many people. Rivera explained in 1998 that she and Johnson decided it was time to help each other and help our other kids. A person who does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. And we saw just from the turnout for the Rally for Black Trans Lives that there is momentum there also. Marsha was neither the first nor the last trans woman of color to be a victim of violence. Her partner, Julia Murray, was with her at the time of her death. Her friend Johnson brought her to the hospital and helped her get healthy again. In 2020, New York State named a waterfront park in Brooklyn for Johnson. Marsha P. Johnson. National Womens History Museum. When she was wearing these items Hope y'all enjoy the long holiday weekend. Compare the lives of Marsha P. Johnson and, Connect Marshas life story to other LGBTQ individuals within, One of Marshas proudest moments was with Andy Warhol. Johnsons father worked on the General Motors Assembly Line in Linden, NJ and her mother was a housekeeper. Rivera ran away from home at age 11 and became a victim of sexual exploitation around 42nd Street. Image Credit:Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ron Simmons. And they never forget it. The story of a transgender activist who participated in the Stonewall Uprising and fought for equal rights. I actually think we're more powerful when we have numbers. Marsha spent most of her life without a permanent home. Invite students to research recent activism around the extreme violence that trans women of color continue to face. As the gay liberation movement became increasingly white, middle class, and cisgender, STAR reminded everyone that transgender and gender non-conforming people deserved equal rights too. NASA on The Commons, via flickr, Home / Growth and Turmoil, 1948-1977 / Growing Tensions / Life Story: Marsha P. Johnson. Soon, Marsha was attending rallies, sit-ins, and meetings of the newly formed Gay Liberation Front. It's not entirely different from how women and girls of all experiences face not being seen as competent, intelligent, brilliant, and capability of leadership. Thank you for having me. She returned to the city in 1992 after the death of Johnson. The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), New York State Office of the Attorney General,https://ag.ny.gov/civil-rights/sonda-brochure. When a Warhol screen-print of Marsha went on display in a Greenwich Village store, Marsha took some friends to see it. Good news is coming your way! Lee: Speaking of white women, that's a perfect segue. 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. I got a chance to talk with Raquel Willis, a Black transgender activist and the director of communications for the Ms. Foundation, a nonprofit fighting for women's rights. Rivera said of Johnson that she was like a mother to me. The two were actively involved in the Stonewall Inn uprising on June 28, 1969 when patrons of the Stonewall Inna gay bar in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattanrebuffed a police raid and set a new tone for the gay rights movement. She was excited about the work but frustrated at how white gay men and lesbians dominated the conversation. This video was created by the New-York Historical Society Teen Leaders in collaboration with the Untold project. Leonard Fink / LGBT Community Center Archive. I'm not too friendly with them. She slept in hotel rooms, restaurants, and movie theaters. In 1963, Rivera met Marsha P. Johnson and it changed her life. Oops! I also think about our institutions. And sometimes it seems obviously clear that this person was killed because they were trans. Once, she was even shot. Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights.