Marsha P. Johnson

"Pay it no mind". It was a phrase that became popular in the '60s and '70s among members of the LGBTQ community. But in 1969, the abuse against the gay community in America could no longer be ignored. Gay bars like the Stonewall Inn became the target of violent police raids. But on one night in June on Manhattan's Christopher Street, gay and trans New Yorkers had had enough of the harassment. They fought back and the Stonewall Uprising began. Marsha P. Johnson is thought by some to be the person who threw the first shot glass. She fought for LGBTQ rights, but her fight is far from over.

ELIZABETH, New Jersey -- A campaign is underway to restore a vandalized mural that honors a transgender activist. The mural of Marsha P. Johnson was created in her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, but someone painted over it in what activists call an act of hate. Malcom Rolling painted the...

Pride Month isn’t just about rainbow-print shoes, parades, or partying until July rolls around. It’s also about paying homage to the queer icons who helped the LGBTQ+ community obtain institutional and political freedoms, often at great cost to themselves and their loved ones. In their new campaign for Awe Inspired, a socially-conscious fine jewelry brand, Pose star and trans activist Indya Moore introduces the Marsha Goddess Necklace—an homage to activist Marsha P. Johnson.

Marsha P. Johnson, a Black transgender activist and drag queen from New York City, played a significant role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Pushing back against hate and police brutality, she helped to kick-start the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, and her fight to freely be herself set a precedent of self-acceptance and tolerance. In 2021, her legacy lives on, through modern-day LGBTQ+ advocates who continue that fight for equality, and through Awe Inspired's latest campaign, which features model and actress Indya Moore in Johnson's iconic flower crown.

All renderings courtesy of NY State Parks/ Starr Whitehouse, unless otherwise noted. A new design was unveiled last week for Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg following backlash regarding the state’s original proposal. During the local community board’s Parks and Waterfront Committee meeting last Thursday, Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners presented a revised plan that incorporates more greenery and plantings to the Brooklyn waterfront site and ditches the rainbow-striped plastic mural that opponents criticized, as first reported by Brooklyn Paper.

Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC. Answering weeks of outcry over the controversial revamp of Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg, greenspace gurus will host a handful of in-person workshops on how to better commemorate the lawn’s namesake LGBTQ icon.

Following public backlash against a plan to cover roughly an acre of concrete slab in Marsha P. Johnson State Park with a plastic mural, the state parks system has scrapped it. The move comes after Johnson’s family, trans activists, and North Brooklyn residents decried the lack of community outreach in the process of designing a space for the first park in state history named for an LGBTQ figure. In a letter this week to Brooklyn Community Board 1 announcing the change, a state parks official said the agency will continue to work on infrastructure upgrades and will begin developing a new design for the Williamsburg green space through a series of community workshops. “There were many voices in the neighborhood who did not believe they had a chance to be heard and it is our first and foremost priority to rectify that immediately,” wrote Leslie Wright, the city’s regional director for the state’s park system.

Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC. A controversial plan to splash the waterfront Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg with an ostentatious mural of rainbow colors — ostensibly in honor of the park’s namesake LGBTQ icon — has been scrapped following an outcry from Johnson’s family and other activists over a lack of public input.

Activists are circulating a petition that reads “Stop the plastic park! Plant flowers instead!” “Plastic Park” is a nickname for the ongoing construction at Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Williamsburg. The park, formerly East River State Park, is being covered in a large, colorful thermoplastic (the paint used for...

Subject: New York Freedom of Information Law Request: EIS for Marsha P. Johnson State Park (Office of the Governor - New York) Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:. All Environmental Impact Statements for Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Brooklyn, New...

Subject: New York Freedom of Information Law Request: EIS for Marsha P. Johnson State Park (New York State Department Of Small Business Services) Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:. All Environmental Impact Statements for Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Brooklyn,...

Subject: New York Freedom of Information Law Request: EIS for Marsha P. Johnson State Park (New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation) Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:. All Environmental Impact Statements for Marsha P. Johnson State Park...

During Black History Month, DiversityInc is honoring a series of Black innovators and history makers such as Marsha P. Johnson who are often overlooked in mainstream media coverage and history books. Check back throughout February to learn more about important figures. Born: August 24, 1945, Elizabeth, New Jersey. Died: July...

Every day during Black History Month, we will honor chapter leaders, advocates, and partners who are shaping Black History now. Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992), born and known as Malcolm Michaels Jr was a Black liberation activist and self-identified drag queen. An unapologetic and outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Johnson was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall rebellion in 1969 at the age of 23. Marsha went by “Black Marsha” before settling on Marsha P. Johnson. The “P” stood for “Pay It No Mind,” which Marsha would say in response to questions about her gender. She was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and co-founded the radical activist group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), with Sylvia Rivera.