The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P Johnson greets us at the docks where Christopher Street meets the Hudson River. A passerby recognizes Marsha, and remarks how everyone knows Marsha, how Marsha fearlessly dresses in drag, or…
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P Johnson greets us at the docks where Christopher Street meets the Hudson River. A passerby recognizes Marsha, and remarks how everyone knows Marsha, how Marsha fearlessly dresses in drag, or not, as a woman or a man, as it pleases Marsha. The passerby admires Johnson's courage and freedom to be authentic, open and spontaneous. Then we discover Marsha, locally famous but living in poverty, struggling with mental illness, who has fought for the rights of gay, lesbian, and gender nonconforming people ever since the Stonewall Rebellion, has been murdered. The police blithely dismiss it as a suicide, close the case and move on. The Village is in an uproar. A people's memorial begins. A protest march is held. Marchers in the streets demand justice - for Marsha and the others who are being murdered in the LGBT community, who Marsha was also marching for. It seems justice is nowhere to be found. Twenty five years later, enter Victoria Cruz. Tirelessly working for justice for murdered trans women, Victoria meets with Marsha P Johnson's family, friends and fellow activists, and advocates to get this cold case reopened. Cruz interviews retired cops, and those who were the last to see Marsha alive. We learn of Mafia threats, dirty cops, internal rivalries in the many communities Marsha was known in, and the fear many of Johnson's friends still live with today. We backtrack to the years when Johnson was still alive. We see Johnson and close friend Sylvia Rivera as activists, at the first Christopher Street Liberation Rally, and other early Gay Rights actions in New York City. Some of this footage is either rare, or in longer, fuller form than has been seen before. Many interviews with contemporaries are new. Justice is still elusive. We feel the frustration and fatigue of this struggle, and the toll it has taken on those who have survived. We walk the streets with Marsha, and with Victoria, and try to piece together what happened, in honor of the dead, and the living.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Biography,Documentary
Film Details
Marsha P Johnson greets us at the docks where Christopher Street meets the Hudson River. A passerby recognizes Marsha, and remarks how everyone knows Marsha, how Marsha fearlessly dresses in drag, or not, as a woman or a man, as it pleases Marsha. The passerby admires Johnson's courage and freedom to be authentic, open and spontaneous.
Then we discover Marsha, locally famous but living in poverty, struggling with mental illness, who has fought for the rights of gay, lesbian, and gender nonconforming people ever since the Stonewall Rebellion, has been murdered. The police blithely dismiss it as a suicide, close the case and move on. The Village is in an uproar.
A people's memorial begins. A protest march is held. Marchers in the streets demand justice - for Marsha and the others who are being murdered in the LGBT community, who Marsha was also marching for.
It seems justice is nowhere to be found. Twenty five years later, enter Victoria Cruz. Tirelessly working for justice for murdered trans women, Victoria meets with Marsha P Johnson's family, friends and fellow activists, and advocates to get this cold case reopened.
Cruz interviews retired cops, and those who were the last to see Marsha alive. We learn of Mafia threats, dirty cops, internal rivalries in the many communities Marsha was known in, and the fear many of Johnson's friends still live with today. We backtrack to the years when Johnson was still alive.
We see Johnson and close friend Sylvia Rivera as activists, at the first Christopher Street Liberation Rally, and other early Gay Rights actions in New York City. Some of this footage is either rare, or in longer, fuller form than has been seen before. Many interviews with contemporaries are new.
Justice is still elusive. We feel the frustration and fatigue of this struggle, and the toll it has taken on those who have survived. We walk the streets with Marsha, and with Victoria, and try to piece together what happened, in honor of the dead, and the living..