Marsha P. Johnson was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on August 24, 1945. Her birth name was Malcolm Michaels Jr. She was born to Malcolm Michaels Sr. who worked for General Motors as an assembly line worker, and Alberta Claiborne who was a domestic housekeeper. She grew up as a Christian attending the African Methodist Episcopal Church. At five years old, she started playing around and dressing up in girls’ clothes. Boys in her neighborhood would make fun of her so she stopped wearing dresses. Her parents, particularly her mother, were unsupportive of homosexuality. In 1963, she graduated from Edison High School, which is now named Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy. After graduation, she moved to Greenwich Village, New York City in 1966 and became a drag performer. Her first drag queen name was Black Marsha. She changed her drag queen name to Marsha P. Johnson which was derived from the restaurant Howard Johnson’s. The “P” in Marsha P. Johnson stood for “Pay it no mind.” which is her answer to questions about her gender. And then we lost her she was found floating on the side of the Hudson River a few weeks after the 1992 pride parade.