Meet Remarkable Women Finalist, Dr. Alicia Johnson
'The core is that I've made someone better. That I've made whatever organization that I touched that day or any person that I came into contact with that they are made better,' she said.
For almost 30 years, Johnson has built a long resume of making lives better, through her professional career of lifting others up out of poverty and from inequity, her leadership in the community and through her church, Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship Church.
'The first thing that comes to my mind is servant leadership. Dr. Johnson certainly understands what it means to lead and serve. I would describe her as being very thoughtful, passionate, kind and has a very deep concern for her community,' Pastor Charles Roberson said.
In addition to volunteering at her church for the many food drives and holiday give aways, she leads a program that has already helped almost 90 families buy their first home.
Among her many accomplishments in the community, she's the first African American and native Savannahian to be the Executive Director of Step Up Savannah. She's chaired the Mayor of Savannah's Racial Equity and Leadership Task Force and is a lifetime facilitator for Bridges out of Poverty.
Although she's achieved a lot in her career, there's another title that Johnson cherishes, being called Dr. Fancy by her family, especially her grandson.
'They say I'm fancy,' she said. 'I like all the fancy things. So, after achieving my milestone of getting my doctoral degree, my husband got me a vanity plate. The name has stuck and everyone calls me that.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Black America Web
a day ago
- Black America Web
Henrico Proposes $16M Trail To Honor United States Colored Troops
Source: Paul-Briden / Getty Officials in Henrico County, Virginia, are planning to pave a 3.2-mile trail that would serve as a community walking route for residents and double as a historical marker, honoring the United States Colored Troops (USCT) for their courageous service. The Black Union soldiers fought in the Battle of New Market Heights on Sept. 29, 1864, which was part of the larger Battle of Chaffin's Farm, a Union offensive during the Petersburg–Richmond Campaign, according to American Battlefield Trust, an organization helping to push for the historical marker, VPM noted. On that day, African American soldiers from the USCT led a fierce assault on heavily fortified Confederate positions southeast of Richmond, showing extraordinary courage amid intense enemy fire. Despite suffering severe casualties, their determination carried them into the enemy trenches, and in recognition of their valor, 14 USCT soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor—more than from any other single Civil War engagement. Source: Library of Congress / Getty Henrico County officials have proposed dedicating $16 million to the project, both to honor the legacy of the soldiers who fought there and to support local conservation efforts. The proposed walking trail would link Deep Bottom Park—a scenic spot along the James River featuring a boat landing and canoe launch—to New Market Road, as discussed during a meeting last week. Per Axios , officials are also considering whether to place monuments along the trail to honor the USCT soldiers. 'This place, as much as any, this land communicates what real courage is,' said Chuck Laudner, a consultant with the American Battlefield Trust, during a recent meeting where local officials presented their plan proposal for the trail, VPM reported. 'That's why we're here to honor them by highlighting and protecting this battlefield ground — to protect the very place where that legacy was forged.' Ryan Leverging, a project manager behind the forthcoming initiative, said the design is complete and that funding has been secured. While some parts of the project are being covered by local funds, others will depend on grant support. Henrico aims to break ground on the project next year. SEE MORE: Emmett Till National Monument Could Lose Designation John Lewis Statue Replaces Confederate Monument SEE ALSO Henrico Proposes $16M Trail To Honor United States Colored Troops was originally published on
Los Angeles Times
07-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Tom and Ethel Bradley house among Black heritage sites in L.A. designated cultural monuments
When Tom and Ethel Bradley moved with their two young daughters into a modest three-bedroom home in Leimert Park in 1950, Black people were restricted from buying houses in the neighborhood. The Bradleys had to purchase the home through a white buyer likely affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union, recalled their oldest daughter, Lorraine Bradley, who was almost 7 years old at the time. 'It was the very first time that a Black family moved into Leimert Park,' said Lorraine, explaining the immediate historic significance of the home, and adding that her parents were brave people who believed integration was essential to equality. 'My parents understood the implications of that. They were willing to sacrifice themselves in many regards.' For the first year, white children on the street wouldn't play with Lorraine or her 5-year-old sister, but that slowly changed and the family became accepted in the neighborhood. It helped that Tom was a police officer, said Lorraine. Tom and Ethel explained to their children that, 'unless people understood and lived with you, they would only look at you racially and not as a person,' said Lorraine. The 1,282-square-foot home — where the Bradleys lived until 1977, when Tom became the first Black mayor of Los Angeles and moved the family into the 10,000-square-foot Getty House — is among six buildings of deep importance to Black heritage in L.A. that have been designated Historic Cultural Monuments as part of a project led by the Getty in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles' Office of Historic Resources. 'We are thrilled for everyone to recognize the courage that my parents took to move to that neighborhood,' said Lorraine. 'Somebody had to, so my dad and mom decided it was them.' The additional sites to receive landmark status are Stylesville Barbershop & Beauty Salon in Pacoima; St. Elmo Village and Jewel's Catch One in Mid-City; the California Eagle newspaper in South L.A.; and New Bethel Baptist Church in Venice. The designations are the culmination of ongoing work done by African American Historic Places, Los Angeles, which was launched by the city and Getty in 2022 with the goal of identifying, memorializing and protecting the city's Black heritage and history. Each site will receive its own plaque. Celebrations are set for later this month at the Bradley residence, St. Elmo Village and Jewel's Catch One. Stylesville is planning a party for a later date. AAHPLA hosted a kickoff event at St. Elmo Village in 2023, but work to create the project began in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd when many cultural organizations, including Getty, began reevaluating the ways they were highlighting and interacting with Black history, art and heritage, said Rita Cofield, associate project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute and AAHPLA project leader. Getty soon decided to implement an initiative focused on African American heritage in L.A. and began looking for partners in the community who could help best identify each unique location. In some cases, unless you have roots in a particular community, you won't have the depth of understanding to realize that even though a particular building looks commonplace — or isn't built in high architectural style — that it's actually extremely important, said Cofield. 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Neimore in 1879 — was home to one of the oldest and longest-running Black-owned and operated newspapers in the country; how St. Elmo Village is still a thriving arts community and center for community activism; how Stylesville barbershop is the oldest Black-owned barbershop in the San Fernando Valley; how Jewel's Catch One was the oldest Black-owned disco in the U.S., as well as one of the city's first gay nightclubs to open its doors to LGBTQ+ people of color; and how the establishment of New Bethel Baptist Church marked the early days of Black migration to the Oakwood neighborhood. Moving forward, AAHPLA will continue to seek out sites that would benefit from landmark status, while also investing in Pacoima, Oakwood and the Central Avenue corridor — famous for its vibrant jazz and music scene — in order to develop better cultural preservation strategies. 'We really want to celebrate intangible heritage too,' said Cofield. 'How do we do that? 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Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Yahoo
Haunted By A Phantom Gap Year
I recently attended a college graduation of a close family member. I hadn't been to a school graduation in a few years, particularly due to…you guessed it… the pandemic lockdown. With fresh eyes, I sat and marveled at the pageantry in this process. What always gets me is the animated excitement that African-American families display. They are truly thrilled about the academic accomplishment of their relative, who almost floats across the stage. This contrasted sharply with the ways that white families generally express for their graduates. From my experience, I determine that Black families have a lower percentage of immediate relatives with a college degree than white families. Statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics back up that assumption. In addition, the average college graduate tends to earn significantly more income over a lifetime career than a person who stopped with a high school degree. 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I remember moments in my college years when I was with my friends at bowling or hanging out that I would need to call home. Out of respect for my mom, I'd call to say that I needed to extend the time I initially stated I would leave the gathering. She never understood because I'd set an expectation earlier. More often than not, she'd demand that I return home. Considering that I was driving the family car and still lived at home, mom had an outsized influence on my young adult life. Thus, I had high hopes when I moved away to start my career. I could finally regulate the flow of my social life independently. I was single and ready to mingle! I felt like I was the king of my world, but I soon discovered that the world would get much slower. Many people who I tried to engage in plans for nights out had 'been there, done that." When I finally met folks who didn't mind traveling four hours roundtrip to Chicago or even for an overnight trip, time would prove that many of those travel friends were only there for a season. We still speak later in life, but moments shared together have become few and far between. This brings me to the topic of the 'gap year.' This was a foreign concept to me until I heard that one of the members of the most prominent African-American family in the US was taking one. Malia Obama had decided to defer her entrance into college to enjoy a year off after her high school graduation. Details of this gap year concept center around her traveling and exploring the world as a young adult with the energy to do it and minus responsibilities such as children or property. I was astounded by this opportunity she took. This turn of events blew a fuse in the minds of many African-Americans pursuing the standard path for higher education. The 'hows' of funding Malia's gap year were understandable since the Obama family was so successful. Still, she was interrupting a pattern that was an ingrained tradition for most African-American families. I've felt haunted by the revelation of this 'gap year' option. While I am now well into a career that utilizes my college degree, I have accumulated responsibilities over time that make taking an extended leave prohibitive. American culture has an aversion to resting during the workday…or even resting at all. The 'You sleep, I grind' culture is a prevalent mindset in America for the 18–62ish employee set. As I am moving through achieving this traditional 9–5 work expectation I have been conditioned to meet, the benefits I could've potentially accrued through extended interaction with the wider world may be fading. Here's the thing: will we Americans be financially fit and healthy enough in our senior years to enjoy exploring the world in retirement? 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However, maybe the satisfaction from that alternate, immersive route would've provided the strength of mind to offset others' apprehensions about him taking a year to discover himself in the world. This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Joel A. Johnson's work on Medium. Solve the daily Crossword
