Lavender Menace volunteer Cooper King reviews Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing review copies for this blog and for our Queer Joy Book Club, who will discuss the book together on Sunday 13 July.
“I don’t care if I never have nothing until the day I die, all I want is my freedom.”
What gets remembered about a person? Especially someone who has become an icon like Marsha P. Johnson, more legendary figure than flesh and blood to most?
What I knew about Marsha going in was Stonewall and STAR and her confidence. I leave this book feeling as if she has been put right in front of me. That I’ve almost talked with her, close enough to see the glitter on her face and lips honouring those she’d lost.
Tourmaline’s well researched and feeling biography on Marsha P. Johnson left this reader feeling educated, and with the deep understanding that, had Tourmaline wanted, she could have expanded this book to be at least twice the size. A self-identified “Marsha Archivist”, it only felt natural to feel Marsha “interrupt” her narrative throughout the book, just as she would have in life, interjecting lines in her life as if she were sitting in the front row of a show in the Mineshaft. Her customary “That didn’t happen!” would have a chance to rest with Tourmaline’s rendition, however.
The content itself was rich and full of history expanding beyond Marsha, always drawing us back in so we could really understand how she lived before, and after, the iconic Stonewall incident. Marsha stands up as the dazzling flower-child woman she was, with a complicated relationship with her family and the world around her relatable to many trans people throughout history. But what I really think made this book shine was the descriptions of the people around Marsha. Sylvia and Jamie and Joseph and her mother and even Mary Jones, almost a century earlier, showed us how Marsha came to be the joyful icon we have heard about.
But every tale like Marsha’s is littered with tragedy. I remembered hearing about how she died, and when it came to that point in the book I had almost forgotten. The book had just showed us Marsha taking care of her friends in sickness and in health, and we had just moments to sit with her final wishes before she was gone. Just as suddenly as in real life. Tourmaline doesn’t leave us with that, though. She guides us through the police carelessness, her community around her, what justice looks like for her, and ultimately leaves us with a closing chapter on her legacy. I loved how the closing chapter brought us to the present, showing Marsha’s influence on trans and black activists and celebrities today.
Absolutely worth the read!
Join our Queer Joy Book Club to discuss the book together on Sunday 13 July.
Lavender Links
At Lavender Menace, we love to find connections between new releases and the older titles on our archive shelves. Whenever we review a new book on the blog, we’ll be pairing it with a book from the archive. We might choose Lavender Links based on genre, setting, characters or just the general vibe!
Marsha‘s Lavender Links…
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell & Ned Asta
Why we chose this book: Coincidentally, while reading Marsha, I picked back up my copy of “The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions” (bought after many a night attending the famous GLAMOOR at The Street) and realized Tourmaline was the powerful voice in the introduction. I was going to include it in the recommendations as a testament of the bold queer joy Marsha embodied, but now I will doubly for another chance to hear Tourmaline’s written voice.
Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg
In this fascinating, personal journey through history, Leslie Feinberg uncovers persuasive evidence that there have always been people who crossed the cultural boundaries of gender.
Why we chose this book: Feinberg dedicated this book to Marsha P. Johnson, and Tourmaline also features in the book. Although we don’t currently have this title in the archive, we desperately want it! Could you donate a copy to the archive? If so, email us!
