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Lizzo Donates $50,000 to Black & Trans Nonprofit Marsha P. Johnson Institute
Lizzo Donates $50,000 to Black & Trans Nonprofit Marsha P. Johnson Institute
"You deserve this and I hope that this helps you so much as you help protect our Black trans family," Lizzo said.
In honor of Juneteenth and Pride Month, Lizzo is giving back to the queer and Black communities who have long supported her.
In a video posted to her Instagram, the singer announced she had selected five nonprofit organizations for her fourth annual Juneteenth Giveback campaign, which recognizes grassroots organizations and businesses that are Black-led.
This year, Lizzo announced that she will be donating $50,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which describes itself as an organization that "protects and defends the human rights of Black transgender people."
"That's right -- we know how Marsha P. Johnson is," Lizzo said in her video. "We know what Marsha P. Johnson has done for the LGBTQ -- emphasis on the TQ -- community. So, what the Marsha P. Johnson Institute does is protect and defend the human rights of Black transgender people. They do this by organizing community, advocating for the people, creating an intentional healing community, developing transformative leadership, and promoting collective power."
Marsha P. Johnson was an LGBTQ+ rights activist and self-identified drag queen who played a key role in the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Her death in 1992 was hastily ruled a suicide, until protests from other activists led to the reopening of the case as a potential homicide.
"The Marsha P. Johnson Institute was founded in direct response to the nationwide and vastly underreported epidemic of the murders of Black trans women," Lizzo continued. "The violent and preventable nature of these deaths directly connects to the exclusion of Black trans people from social justice issues, namely racial, gender, reproductive justice, as well as gun violence reform."
The other nonprofits Lizzo chose to receive the generous donation include Black Girls Smile, Sphinx Music, University of Houston, and Save Our Sisters United.
"Thank you so much to the people at the Marsha P. Johnson Institute," Lizzo concluded. "You deserve this and I hope that this helps you so much as you help protect our Black trans family."
Learn more about the Marsha P. Johnson Institute at marshap.org.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
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