Marsha founded STAR House with her best friend Sylvia Rivera in 1972, which was both an organisation and shelter offering support to the LGBQT community and sex-workers. Johnson was a Black American transwoman and activist from New Jersey who had a profound influence on queer culture in the 60s and 70s.Ī pioneer for the LGBQT community – bold, courageous and outspoken – Marsha wore her makeup and dresses with pride, and campaigned valiantly to support better rights for trans people, having experienced social ostracisation and homelessness because of her own identity. This strategy on Rustin’s part – a deliberate means to dissociate Black people from any form of violence that could (and would) be used against them – paved the way for monumental change.Īlthough Rustin was criminalised and judged for his homosexuality throughout his life, by the 1970s had become a public advocate for gay rights. He felt it necessary to keep his name hidden in case it undermined the significance of the piece however, it was Rustin who later convinced King to employ the non-violent approach that’s become so synonymous with his politics. Rustin contributed to a hugely influential essay pamphlet on alternate non-violent approaches, which would shape the emergence of new, peaceful protest tactics going forward. He acted as an advisor, strategist and organiser for various civil rights protests but stayed out of the public domain.
Rustin was a gay civil rights activist and ally of Martin Luther King but was kept in the shadows by the Civil Rights Movement because his orientation was considered ‘too controversial’. She recently spoke out in support of further non-violent forms of protests to anti-racist activists in America. She campaigned for peace until she died and this is echoed in the family by their daughter, Bernice King, an American minister. When they married, she insisted that the promise to ‘obey’ her husband be removed from their vows.Ĭoretta was also a gifted singer who incorporated music into her activist work, and sang freedom songs that told the story of Black struggles. When she met Martin at university she was regarded as being the more politically active and outspoken of the two. She was also highly active in the Woman’s Movement, the second-wave of feminism that begun in the 1960s.Ĭoretta described herself as “never just a wife, nor a widow” although she was labelled this way by the public, and much of her activism was overlooked in the shadow to King. We all know Martin Luther King – leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s – but what about his wife Coretta? Like her husband, she was also a pioneer and leader for the movement, and after his assassination she became even more prominent. She’s an inspirational powerhouse who represents the voice of the next generation, and everything it can achieve. Her work focuses on issues of race, feminism, and the African diaspora. She appeared on the front cover of Time magazine, where she was also cited in the 100 Next List, and established herself as a best-selling author of two books.
In 2021 alone Amanda’s recited to a global audience of millions first with her inauguration day poem, then she became the first ever poet to perform at the US Super Bowl, watched by over 145million. However, she received her laureate several years ago, and has been active since she was 16. Amanda seemingly become an overnight sensation when she was propelled into the spotlight following her poem recital at the Inauguration of Joe Biden. Amanda Gorman is the youth poet laureate and activist who’s taken the world by storm and, despite being such a modern (and young) figure, age just 22, she’s already become an icon for living Black history.