Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson, born Malcolm Michaels, Jr., left Elizabeth, New Jersey, and transformed into “Black Marsha” on the train to New York before moving there permanently in 1966. Life in New York was often harsh, and at times she waitressed or panhandled, but mostly she worked the streets. Black Marsha became Marsha P. Johnson, and when a judge asked what the “P” stood for, she answered, “Pay it no mind,” a phrase that reflected her outlook on life. She was memorably present at the Stonewall Riots in 1969, where legend attributed various actions to her, including climbing a lamppost and dropping a heavy weight that shattered a police car windshield. In the early 1970s, she and her friend Sylvia Rivera co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or S.T.A.R., one of the first transgender rights organizations in the country. Despite her influence and popularity, her life remained difficult, marked by breakdowns, religious visions, health scares, threats from disgruntled johns, and run-ins with the law, alongside a buoyant personality and colorful attire. She also performed regularly with the Hot Peaches Review and was photographed by Andy Warhol for his “Ladies and Gentleman” Polaroid series in 1974. After her body was found in the Hudson River following the 1992 New York Pride Parade, authorities quickly declared her death a suicide without forensic evidence to support that claim, but later private examinations and a reopened investigation changed the cause of death to undetermined, and the circumstances of her death remain unsolved.

Chicago, Illinois · United States