Hope in the struggle : a memoir / Josie R. Johnson ; with Arleta Little and Carolyn Holbrook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Josie R., 1930- author.

Contributor:

Little, Arleta, contributor.

Holbrook, Carolyn (Carolyn L.), contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Johnson, Josie R., 1930-.

Johnson, Josie R.

African American women civil rights workers--Biography.

African American women civil rights workers.

African Americans.

Social justice.

History.

Minnesota--Minneapolis.

United States.

Social justice--United States--History--20th century.

African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century.

African Americans--Civil rights.

African Americans--Social conditions.

Civil rights workers--United States--Biography.

Civil rights workers.

African Americans--Minnesota--Minneapolis--Biography.

Minneapolis (Minn.)--Biography.

Minneapolis (Minn.).

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

x, 222 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis, Minnesota : University of Minnesota Press, [2019]

Summary:

"Young Black people have repeatedly asked Johnson why she continues to work on social justice issues and how she manages to retain hope. She publishes this book hoping current and future generations will remember the strength of their ancestors, learn from her story, continue the struggle, and gain justice for her people"-- Provided by publisher.

"Why do you continue to work on issues of justice? Young Black people often ask Josie Johnson this question, then, perhaps in the same breath, How do you maintain hope? This book, a lifetime in the making, is Josie's answer. A memoir about shouldering the cause of social justice during the darkest hours and brightest moments for civil rights in America--and, specifically, in Minnesota--Hope in the Struggle shines light on the difference one person can make. For Josie Johnson, this has meant making a difference as a Black woman in one of the nation's whitest states. Josie's story begins in a tight-knit community in Texas, where the unfairness of the segregated South, so antithetical to the values she learned at home, sharpened a sense of justice that guides her to this day. From the age of fourteen, when she went door to door with her father in Houston to campaign against the Poll Tax, to the moment in 2008 when, as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, she cast her vote for Barack Obama for president, she has been at the forefront of the politics of civil rights. Her memoir offers a close-up picture of what that struggle has entailed, whether working as a community organizer for the Minneapolis Urban League or lobbying for fair housing and employment laws, investigating civil rights abuses or co-chairing the Minnesota delegation to the March on Washington, becoming the first African American to serve on the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents or creating the university's Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs with a focus on minority affairs and diversity. An intimate view of civil rights history in the making, Hope in the Struggle is a uniquely inspiring life story for these current dark and divisive times, a testament to how one determined soul can make the world a better place"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Family Values

Fisk University: Racial Pride and Social Uplift

A Growing Family, A Wider World

Minneapolis

The Urban League and Fighting for Fair Housing

The March on Washington

Black Women in the Struggle and Wednesdays in Mississippi

Making Our Way

Teaching Our History

Colorado and New Challenges

Back to School

Home to Minneapolis

Our Patrice

The Eastcliff Gathering

Diversity and the University

A New Appointment, the Same Mission

Retirement.

Other Format:

Online version: Johnson, Josie R., 1930- Hope in the struggle.

ISBN:

9781517904449

1517904447

9781517904456

1517904455

OCLC:

1055828650