Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera at Gay Pride Parade 1973, © Leonard Fink. Courtesy of The LGBT Community Center National History Archive. In 1992, American transgender icon and activist Marsha P. Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River in New York. Although her death was ruled a suicide, friends and acquaintances strongly believed otherwise. As with many deaths and disappearances of transgender women of color at that time, the police did not bother to investigate further despite public protests. The case remains unsolved. In The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, documentary filmmaker David France depicts the persistent prejudice against the transgender community—then and now. The film follows the journey of Victoria Cruz, an activist from New York City’s Anti-Violence Project, who has taken on the task of investigating what really happened to Johnson to bring her justice. Scenes of Cruz calling retired cops and interviewing Johnson’s friends are interspersed with archival footage. France had met Johnson in passing and remembers her as a vibrant fixture in New York’s West Village. When Johnson died, France was working as a journalist and asked to examine her case but was unable to do so because, as he says, “AIDS is what consumed me that year.” (He lost his partner to AIDS in 1991.) In a press statement, France, whose last film, How to Survive a Plague, was nominated for an Oscar, said of his work: “I’m trying to tell the stories of people whose stories don’t ordinarily get told, of people whose lives embody that central American myth: that anybody, no matter how you’re born, can find power and prominence.” Please click here for further information about the documentary. TwitterFacebookPinterest Please click here for further information about the documentary. Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 19 Going Incognito We all secretly wonder what mischief we’d make if invisible: When our identity is hidden, everything seems possible. Arts & Culture Issue 19 The Best Policy Sometimes we talk to each other without feeling heard. Honesty—a most intimate interaction—can be just as thrilling as its more devious inverse. Arts & Culture Issue 19 A Sense of Suspense With unhinged imaginations and mountains of cliff-hangers, the filmmakers behind the sci-fi podcast Limetown have all the makings of a scary story. Arts & Culture Issue 19 Like Clockwork In this new column about time, we learn how slipping off our watches makes us feel like deadline-damning renegades. Arts & Culture Music Issue 19 On a Grander Scale Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna now may live on the opposite side of the globe, but she’s determined to evolve while staying true to her roots. Arts & Culture Issue 19 Neighborhood: Fire Stations The firefighting profession has evolved over time from Ancient Rome’s rudimentary bucket brigades to today’s sleek life-saving departments.
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