Marsha P. Johnson's Legacy Continues

Marsha P. Johnson's legacy lives on through the efforts of her family, the activism of the Black Trans Lives Matter movement, and the courage of many individuals and organizations working in her spirit. In 2020, Marsha's family established the Marsha P. Johnson Family Foundation and planned and carried out two rallies in Manhattan in support of Black trans lives, one at Christopher Street Pier and the other in Greenwich Village, both significant places in Marsha's life. That same year, the Family Foundation successfully championed the design and placement of a statue of Marsha in her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, near City Hall, the state's first monument honoring a person from the TLGBQ+ community and a Black trans woman. Marsha's spirit also continued to inspire activists as, on June 14, 2020, more than 15,000 people marched in the Brooklyn Liberation march from the Brooklyn Museum to Fort Greene Park in support of the rights, visibility, and lives of Black trans people during a record-breaking year in the rate of murders of trans people, most of them trans people of color. The march stood as one of the largest of its kind, centering Black trans voices, and during the rally protesters wore white in reference to a 1917 march in which the National Association of colored People led some 10,000 demonstrators silently down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to demand an end to police violence against Black people, while many also wore white to protest what they deemed the corporate appropriation of the TLGBQ+ Pride Flag.

New York, New York · United States