photo by steed media service

In 2002, when President George W. Bush asked former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso if his country had blacks, the blatant ignorance of Americans in regard to African history was on display. Moments like those make educator Jacquelyn Johnson cringe. “Had he looked on the map or read a book, he would have known that there [are} black countries in the world beside Africa,” says Johnson. “He didn’t know that because nobody told him and he didn’t care to know.”

Currently, the Middle Tennessee State graduate is a professor of African American studies and political science at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago. With immeasurable passion for her work that carries over into the classroom, it’s almost impossible to think that at one time teaching was the last thing on Johnson’s mind.

“When I was growing up, I swore I would never be an educator, but people kept asking me to teach,” she says. “When you hear someone say they don’t know something, you get pure joy out of being able to share what you know. It’s not just sharing content ... I want to share the ability, the capability, and the belief in yourself that you can learn.”

Like her heroes John Henrik Clarke and Asata Shakur, Johnson believes that once African Americans start thinking outside of the box, their grasp for understanding the world around them will increase. “I think that’s huge because if you don’t think about things, and ... sit down and make microwave judgments, you can’t predict what’s going to happen and when it does happen, you don’t know [what hit you],” she says. - gavin philip godfrey

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