Affirm Black Women Portrait Series: Marsha P. Johnson

 
“I may be crazy but that don’t make me wrong.” - Marsha P. Johnson2018, Watercolor and ink on paper, 8” x 10”
 

“I may be crazy but that don’t make me wrong.” - Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. (Pay it no mind.) Johnson was a transgender woman and LGBTQ activist credited for being an instigator in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. Later she cofounded STAR with Sylvia Rivera to provide housing to homeless transgender youth in New York City.

This quote resonates with me personally as a person with a mental illness because it can be a fight to be taken seriously - to be listened to. Marsha P. Johnson also fought a lifelong battle with depression and this quote is a reminder that even when our minds and bodies behave imperfectly we have legitimate feelings and insight.

View the complete Affirm Black Women portrait series here