Thirty years after her death, Marsha P. Johnson’s legacy of activism continues thanks to an organization bearing her name that works to support Black transgender people.
“What happens oftentimes to Black transgender people is because of the lack of resources economically and structurally, we often are siloed into individual efforts, and we are isolated from each other and also from community,” said Elle Moxley, executive director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. “And so, one of the things that we always set out to do at the Marsha P. Johnson Institute was to really build a network, to build a community of support.”
Since its founding by Moxley in 2019, the Marsha P. Johnson’s network of support has grown to include a national resource guide for members of the Black transgender community released in June, and a COVID-19 relief program that in 2021 distributed approximately $454,000 to more than 900 people in 42 states, according to the Institute’s 2021 impact report.
