Celebrating Marsha P. Johnson

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Los Angeles-based guest artist Rob Gilliam, celebrates LGBTQ+ rights activist, performer, and self-identified drag queen Marsha P. Johnson, who is widely credited as one of the pioneers of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the United States. On this day in 2019, Marsha was posthumously honored as a grand marshal of the New York City Pride March. 

Marsha P. Johnson was born on August 24th, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After graduating high school in 1963, she moved to New York City’s Greenwich Village, a burgeoning cultural hub for LGBTQ+ people. Here, she legally changed her name to Marsha P. Johnson. Her middle initial—“P.”—allegedly stood for her response to those who questioned her gender: “Pay It No Mind.”

A beloved and charismatic fixture in the LGBTQ+ community, Johnson is credited as one of the key leaders of the 1969 Stonewall uprising— widely regarded as a critical turning point for the international LGBTQ+ rights movement. The following year, she founded the Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. STAR was the first organization in the U.S. to be led by a trans woman of color and was the first to open North America’s first shelter for LGBTQ+ youth. 

In 2019, New York City announced plans to erect statues of Johnson and Rivera in Greenwich Village, which will be one of the world’s first monuments in honor of transgender people. 

Thank you, Marsha P. Johnson, for inspiring people everywhere to stand up for the freedom to be themselves. 

Special thanks to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute for their partnership on this Doodle. Below, founder and Executive Director of The MPJI Elle Hearns shares her thoughts on Marsha’s life and legacy as well as today's Doodle: 

The thought of Marsha P. Johnson and her life still being available to draw upon today says so much about the impact of her love and her work. Her vision and brilliance has been a guide for me as I’ve envisioned the type of organization that our movement needs and that I wanted to build. 

For so long, Marsha’s history has only been heralded by the LGBTQ community. Today’s Doodle will help teach her story to many more around the world, and about the work that has been historically ignored and often purposely left out of history books. Today’s Doodle of Marsha reminds people that Black and LGBTQ+ history is bigger than just a month; it is something to be honored every single day. 

In 2015, I had a vision of creating an entity that would uplift Marsha's work and Black trans women. I felt there was no specific organization that prioritized the needs and skills that I and other Black trans women had or provided a safe space for us. I wanted to interrupt the systemic and structural turbulence that held me back. I wanted to create a space where Black trans women could find refuge, enrich skills, learn from one another, collaborate together, and have job opportunities. The Marsha P. Johnson Institute was created to do just that, to give Black trans women a space to not only survive, but to flourish. Our collective brilliance deserves to exist inside and outside of nonprofit spaces. In that spirit, The MPJI was born. 

As a survivor, I fought hard to be here and I am incredibly proud about the organization that I created. The MPJI has been able to maintain and support Black trans people while also creating space for new Black trans organizing to emerge. Most recently, on Saturday, June 14 an estimated 15,000 people gathered in front of Brooklyn Museum for Brooklyn Liberation. This is a continuation of so much work that has been done and of what Marsha started all those years ago on the first night of the Stonewall uprising. 

This moment is a testament to our movement, and the amount of time and sacrifices Black trans people have made to contribute to something bigger than all of us. I hope the collaboration between The MPJI and Google.org will serve as an opportunity for the world to interrupt its own fixation on transphobia and fear of redistributing wealth to communities that need it most. This is life-long work. Black trans women have always been here and will continue to be.

The MPJI’s collaboration with Google is a bold action. It shows there are entities that trust Black trans leaders and follow the necessary steps in showing their commitment in supporting Black trans liberation. Join us and learn more here.

Google.org is donating $500,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which works to end violence against Black Trans women across the United States and create a world where they are safe, valued, and treated with human dignity. 

This funding, which builds on Google’s recent $2.4 million commitment to support LGBTQ+ community nonprofits around the world, will provide direct cash assistance to Black Trans people through the organization’s COVID-19 relief efforts. The Marsha P. Johnson Institute is fiscally sponsored by the Social Good Fund.

Guest Artist Q&A with Rob Gilliam

Today’s Doodle was illustrated by Los Angeles-based guest artists Rob Gilliam. Below, he shares his thoughts behind the making of this Doodle:

Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally?

A: As a queer person of color I owe Marsha so much. She was the catalyst for our liberation, the driving force behind the movement that has given many of us the rights and freedoms that we previously couldn't even dream of. Marsha created a space for us in western society through her empowering bravery and refusal to be silenced. 

Q: What were your first thoughts when you were approached about the project?

A: I was floored! I consider Marsha a monumental figure within the LGBTQ+ community, so the task of honoring her memory was equal parts humbling and intimidating. The impact of trans women of color has historically been omitted from retellings of queer history, so I knew I had to give Marsha's life the celebration that it truly deserved.

Q: Did you draw inspiration from anything in particular for this Doodle?

A: I was primarily inspired by Marsha's vibrant personality and the iconic New York architecture that her and her colleagues proudly marched through. 

Q: What message do you hope people take away from your Doodle?

A: Marsha knew that the true key to liberation was intersectionality. The original pride movement pulled in participants from across the lines of class and race and sexuality and gender expression and united an entire community. Recent times have been extremely divisive, and it's far too easy to fixate on what separates us as opposed to celebrating the commonalities we share. I think we could all be a little more like Marsha in that respect. Everyone has their own unique, powerful, vibrant identity— and when we embrace these differences, we take a step towards building stronger communities.

Early concepts and sketches of the Doodle