Marsha P. Johnson
1945–1992
Activist who fought in the streets, built shelter for the vulnerable, and turned survival into a movement.
TBD
She was at the Stonewall Inn on the night the 1969 uprising began - the spark that launched the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. But almost as soon as that movement took off, she watched it leave people like her behind - trans women of color, written out of a fight they had helped start.
So in 1970, she co-founded STAR, now recognized as America's first trans political organization, and built somewhere the world had refused to give them - a place to belong.
She wore a crown made of flowers in her hair and sequins in the street and took up exactly as much space as she wanted. When people asked what the "P" in her name stood for, she'd say "Pay it no mind" - her whole philosophy - a person's gender expression shouldn't require outside permission or explanation.
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The Artist
Jasmine Dillavou is a Boricua artist, performer and educator based out of Colorado Springs. She has shown work nationwide and works locally to support COS based art activist programs. Dillavou seeks to expand her role as a cultural storyteller, using her artworks to pass intergenerational wisdom and honor the voices of her communities. She believes the artist's job is to shift deficit narratives and disrupt unjust systems by imaging a world where everyone is liberated and celebrated.
