Interview with Jessica Johnson, July 13, 2022

Partial Transcript: We’ll get started, and I’m going to have to go back…

Segment Synopsis: Breeding briefly introduces Johnson.

Keywords: Black history

Partial Transcript: Well, my mother is Ethel H. Johnson...

Segment Synopsis: Johnson shares her early educational experiences in the home and at school. Johnson loved reading, which helped her develop exemplary language arts skills, and was very social in her youth.

Keywords: 1970s; The Great Brain ; Alps Road Elementary School; Athens General Hospital; Francis McBride; Wesley Johnson, Jr.

Partial Transcript: Now let's travel to Burney-Harris.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson explains that the demographics within Burney-Harris Middle School were more diverse than what she had experienced at Alps Elementary, as there were more students and teachers of color. In 8th grade, Johnson decided to learn to play the clarinet; because of her prior experience with the piano, she learned quickly enough to try out successfully for marching band in 9th grade.

Keywords: 1970s; 1980s; Angela Horton; Christianity; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; musical instruments

Partial Transcript: Okay, so high school - Clarke Central.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson talks about her academics, sharing that she was an honors student and recognitions that she has received from various scholarly organizations. She describes her time in band, the competitions they attended, and winning the state championship in 1985.

Keywords: 1980s; Beta Club; Clarke Central High School; National Honors Society; band camp; football

Partial Transcript: But outside of high school, our social lives were different.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson explains the relationships she had with her white classmates within school and how they differed once they were outside of school. She also recalls the pageants in which she participated during her senior year of high school.

Keywords: 1980s; churches; cotillion; cultural conditioning; implicit segregation; racism; social segregation

Partial Transcript: ...and then, being offered a full scholarship to attend North Carolina Central University...

Segment Synopsis: Johnson studied English at NCCU since the university did not have a communications department at the time. She says that before she could graduate, she had to take a literature and a grammar exam, which she complained about at the time, but she shares how these examinations ultimately helped her. She was in band all four years at NCCU and was part of a sorority.

Keywords: 1980s; Alpha Kappa Alpha; HBCU; media journalism; sports facilities

Partial Transcript: When I got to Ohio State, I got a fellowship.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson began graduate school at Ohio State to prepare herself to be a sports commentator. One of her professors was so impressed with a paper that Johnson wrote, that they asked if she was interested in pursuing a Ph.D. At the time, Ohio State didn’t offer a sports sociology program, so she completed her doctoral degree in education, focused on cultural studies and sports.

Keywords: 1990s; Black athletes; Ohio State University; basketball

Partial Transcript: My AP American History teacher, his name was Mr. Boswick…

Segment Synopsis: Johnson recalls a high school teacher, Mr. Boswick, who would pass grades out from the highest to the lowest. She shares experiences that students had with him and the relationship he had with students.

Keywords: 1980s; chocolate eclairs; history

Partial Transcript: Presently, I’m an English lecturer at Ohio State’s Lima campus.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson describes the classes that she teaches. She teaches composition, pop culture, sports history, and TV diversity classes. She explains how she incorporates current events into her curriculum to get the students to connect with the material. Johnson also discusses her book about Wilburn H. Weddington, Sr, who became the first Black doctor from Paulding County.

Keywords: Salt of the Earth: Georgia Boy ; John Lewis; Ohio State University

Partial Transcript: Well, when I first started writing, it was primarily focused on sports and pop culture.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson recounts her journey in writing for various outlets and how she found her voice. She explains how she came to add her faith into her writing, producing social justice articles that are spiritually sensitive. She shares criticism that she has received in her career, explaining that criticism has become rare in recent years.

Keywords: Columbus Dispatch ; Creators Syndicate ; Christianity; cultural conditioniing; identity politics; newspapers; race relations

Partial Transcript: I grew up in Ebenezer Baptist Church West, and under two pastors.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson shares her approach in the classroom: she doesn’t require her students to write on topics that she necessarily agrees with, but she lives her life in a way that honors God in the hopes that her students will become inspired by that.

Keywords: 1970s; 1980s; Christianity

Partial Transcript: Yes, actually one of my friends sent me an email, and that’s how I got the idea for that story.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson says that her strategy of discussing racism is to allow students and those she is teaching to come to their own conclusions by being provided with the facts.

Keywords: The Lifelong Learning Institute; critical race theory

Partial Transcript: No, I think you’ve pretty much covered everything.

Segment Synopsis: Johnson gives advice to the younger Black generation: she instructs them to obey and honor their parents. Johnson talks about her first time speaking in public at ten-years-old, explaining that future generations should also seek to put God first in their lives.

Keywords: Christianity; generational relations