Tammy, the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Applied Research Center (ARC) has many years experience as a community organizer, trainer and writer versed in race and public policy. Inspired by her family’s dedication to the struggle for civil rights, Johnson cut her activist teeth as president of the Black Student Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and as president of the Wisconsin Statewide Student Association. A Tennessee native, Johnson lived for many years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was Coalition Organizer for Wisconsin Citizen Action, Director of Progressive Milwaukee, and Board Member of the Wisconsin Community Fund. She is a former board member of the National Organizer Alliance.
Johnson has authored and edited several reports on race and equity issues, including four editions of the California Report Card on Racial Equity, and Race, Education and No Child Left Behind: A Guide for Journalists. She has become a widely recognized for her knowledge of racially equitable public policy practices, and has appeared in various broadcast, online and print media outlets on the subject. Johnson has written for and been featured in a number of publications, radio programs and online journals, including AlterNet, The Huffington Post, Leadership and ColorLines magazines.
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Videoby Tammy Johnson on November 4 2008, 9:00AM
My election day actually started at 7:55pm Monday night, when my sister called with a great deal of urgency in her voice. Her friend had been greeted by racial remarks from a poll worker in Louisiana earlier that day. Everyone…
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by Tammy Johnson on October 27 2008, 10:32AM
AP Photo/Matt Slocum Jacquline McClelland poses with a photo of her son Brandon McClelland, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, in Paris, Texas. Brandon, a black man, was on a late-night beer run across state lines to Oklahoma with two white…
Topics: Criminal Justice
by Tammy Johnson on September 29 2008, 10:06AM
As a Black woman, I am well aware that one of the healthcare risks that I face is hypertension. So I try to stop, take a breath and say a prayer when confronted by life’s daily madness. But this…
Topics: Economy
A few angry thoughts on the possible government sponsored murder of Troy Davis
by Tammy Johnson on September 23 2008, 10:05AM
Oh my god. They are going to kill this man. A possible, a probable innocent man. Amy Goodman just asked John Lewis what it means that there is a possibility of this country electing a Black man President while…
Topics: Criminal Justice
September 11: A Day for Compassion and Hope
by Tammy Johnson on September 11 2008, 1:09PM
My heart was filled with hope when I went to bed the evening of September 10. I had just returned from the UN Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. Despite the infighting between Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell about…
Topics: Global Affairs
by Tammy Johnson on August 25 2008, 11:40PM
Back in the day, bringing home a bad report card meant playtime was over! ARC ally, Border Action is sending that same message with their Arizona Human Rights Scorecard: 2008 Legislative Report. The report calls out the Arizona state legislature…
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by Tammy Johnson on June 9 2008, 12:35PM
“The positive fact is that I have noticed, confirmed… the fact that the U.S. society is confronting racism.” It’s a statement that raised my brow. But that is what Doudou Diene, the United Nations special rapporteur on contemporary forms of…
Topics: Global Affairs
Clinton Invokes Kennedy Assasination, Obama Ignores the Obvious
by Tammy Johnson on May 23 2008, 4:41PM
“I find it curious,” says Hillary Rodham Clinton, when asked why some in the Democratic Party are urging her to call it quits. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.” What I find curious about…
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Young, Gifted and Bringing the Fire!
by Tammy Johnson on May 16 2008, 12:00PM
“We brought the fire!” quipped Kenneth Baker, a surprisingly bright-eyed high schooler from the LBC (that’s Long Beach California for those of you not in the know). I had to marvel at Kenneth’s enthusiasm for the legislative visits that…
Topics: Schools & Youth
by Tammy Johnson on May 5 2008, 12:00PM
You know, some things are just wrong. This is one of them. The Los Angeles Country Board has passed an ordinance fining and potentially jailing taco truck owners if they park in one spot for over an hour. When…
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by Tammy Johnson on April 5 2008, 8:04AM
I was on my way to an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death when it hit me. As I pulled out a few dollars to leave the maid in the hotel, I was…
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From Myths to Facts: Race and Education
by Tammy Johnson on March 28 2008, 11:44AM
“The myth: The president can make our schools better. It’s a myth that most citizens seem to believe. So do some candidates.” says Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli of the Weekly Standard, in their article, “The Education…
Topics: Schools & Youth
Response to Comments on Jackson and Obama
by Tammy Johnson on January 17 2008, 1:29PM
After reading comments here on Racewire, on Alternet, and Huffington Post about her post about Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, tjohnson responds. Voting booths and race: I’ll cop to being procedurally wrong in regards to the Iowa Caucus. But I…
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Jackson and Obama: Political Blackness Redefined
by Tammy Johnson on January 11 2008, 12:09PM
This week Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now broadcast featured a discussion with Reverend Jesse Jackson that focused on race and the primary elections. Much of the conversation centered on the Reverend’s support of Barack Obama, and the perceived split of support…
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A Whiff of Justice, a Taste of Civility
by Tammy Johnson on December 12 2007, 9:32AM
“Race sort-of matters,” said the US Supreme Court with a 7-2 vote Monday. “No duh!” replied the US Sentencing Commission with unanimous agreement on Tuesday. It wasn’t that blatant, but just as the year comes to a close, our judicial…
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LAPD Remodels Racial Profiling And Targets Muslims
by Tammy Johnson on November 9 2007, 1:55PM
They are coming for us. The Big Man up top says, “We need to go into the community and get to know people’s names…We need to walk into homes, neighborhoods, places or worship and businesses.” They call us a community…
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Schwarzenegger Signs College Access Bill
by Tammy Johnson on October 16 2007, 12:01PM
Taking a cue from groups across the state working on college access issues, the Applied Research Center authored AB 428, and last Friday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law. Championed by State Assembly member Wilmer Amina Carter (D-…
Topics: Politics
Facing Race: Beyond the Supreme Court
by Tammy Johnson on July 6 2007, 9:40AM
*This first appeared at WIMN’s voices, the group blog of Women in Media & News. Last Thursday’s Supreme Court decision on school desegregation efforts headlined every major paper, newscast and blog across the country. Even if you only gave passing…
Topics: Schools & Youth
And where are our people on this?
by Tammy Johnson on May 24 2007, 9:23AM
So here we are again. With 12 million lives in the balance, many of them Latino, African and Asian, who are the voices being heard on the evening news regarding the latest immigration bill? White folk. You’ve got California…
Topics: Immigration
Supreme Court? Supreme Problem
by Tammy Johnson on April 26 2007, 12:18PM
When I was a community organizer in Milwaukee, crafting the campaign plan was straightforward. Do the groundwork of going door-to-door, to churches and community events to educate people on the issue. Then mobilize them to move our target —testifying at…
Topics: Immigration, News Items, Politics, Schools & Youth
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