This June, in celebration of Pride Month, we are excited to share that $1 from every bottle of our Sanctuary Collection will go to one of the leading advocates for justice and equality for the Black transgender community in the US, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI).
MPJI was formed to to reclaim Marsha P. Johnson — a Black transgender activist and organizer, self-identified drag queen, performer and survivor, and a foundational and front line figure in the LGBTQ liberation movement of the late 1960s — and her relationship as BLACK trans people to her life and legacy.
In 1977, Marsha and fellow activist Silvia Rivera started STAR, Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries, to provide housing to LGBTQ+ kids living on the streets. As Johnson and Rivera were homeless and had to hustle on the streets for sustenance and shelter, the STAR house was an opportunity to keep themselves, other survivors and kids safe and off the street.
Throughout this era, rates of discrimination, violence, murder and police brutality against drag queens and the transgender community was alarming and perpetrators rarely faced repercussions. Transgender people were regularly thrown in jail, and it was against the law to dress in drag. Marsha P. (P for ‘pay it no mind’) Johnson liberated countless people just by expressing herself. Her mission was to spread peace and goodwill.
This month we celebrate Pride. We celebrate acceptance and love. We celebrate the legalization of Gay marriage in the US in 2015. We have so much to celebrate. But there is so much work yet to be done.
A 2020 report by the Human Rights Campaign found that last year saw a record number of violent fatal incidents against transgender and gender non-conforming people since they began tracking these crimes in 2013. The report also found violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, particularly Black transgender women. The intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and unchecked access to guns subject the transgender community to unemployment, homelessness, insufficient access to healthcare and other basic necessities, along with discrimination and violence on a daily basis. The need for change is vital.
The Marsha P. Johnson Institute’s initiatives include offering Artist Fellowships to supplement the income of trans artists, and Community Organizing Fellowships to support the fight against the murders of trans women, unjust local and national laws, and high rates of homelessness, joblessness and suicide in the transgender community.
“We want to create a world in which Black transgender people will not have to fight to exist.”
If you’re able, we invite you to join us in contributing direct donations.
Stay connected with The Marsha P. Johnson Institute:
Instagram @mpjinstitute / @elle_moxley
*The Marsha P. Johnson Institute is not directly involved with the planning of evanhealy’s Sanctuary Collection donation program or production.
Our Promise of Sanctuary
Why we’re donating $1 from every bottle of our Sanctuary Collection
S A N C T U A R Y F O R T H E S K I N
Gentle, deep, therapeutic nourishment from the most nutrient-rich & skin supportive plants on the planet. Formulated as a feast for the skin, and created to provide a calming shroud of comfort and peace for all skin.
C O M M U N I T Y I N A B O T T L E
Honoring Community. We mean this in two ways: First, acknowledging our global partners in creating sanctuary: the community of our ingredient supplier & stewards around the world who make these products possible. And second, acknowledging the community of plants with all their beautiful nutrient density and diversity that make these products so remarkable. Diverse communities of people and plants enrich the world, and cultivate vibrant health.
F U N D S B A C K
To the greater global community
Proceeds gathered from the sales of our Sanctuary Collection will be donated to non-profit organizations that promote sanctuary in all its multifaceted forms. The current monthly organization will always be stated at evanhealy.com/sanctuary
Learn more about our Sanctuary Collection