Journalist and social activist Jeff Johnson sought to empower the black community at Duke Wednesday night.
Johnson spoke about the ways students can enact change in the world in the Duke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s annual “Back-to-School Engagement” event. Johnson, who previously served as the national director of NAACP’s Youth and College Division, is an MSNBC contributor and the White House correspondent for The Grio, a video news organization that focuses on important issues to the black community.
Johnson discussed several strategies that college students can employ in their daily lives, especially in their student organizations. These strategies focus on creating a strong-bodied group that has a clear “call to action.”
“As you lay out a call to action, it’s challenging because it implies that people aren’t there [already],” Johnson said.
Johnson stressed the need for all leaders to have a vision. He explained that if a movement lacks a vision, then “no one will join.”
He also emphasized a group’s need to prioritize quality over quantity. He stated that some organizations need to stop trying to recruit people who are unlikely to join and start working with the people that they have. He suggested that leaders focus on those who express a desire to help achieve a vision, rather than focus on those who do not share the same end goal.
Speaking specifically to black affinity groups, Johnson cautioned against a desire to overly define what blackness is—especially if such a definition excludes other students.
“The challenge is that when we say someone is not black enough, we lose an opportunity for the person to participate in a social experience,” he added.
Johnson’s call to action also extends to the political sphere, as he drew a parallel to the 2008 presidential election. He said that some voters in 2008 who voted for President Barack Obama had a vision for a country that was a “pipe-dream” because these voters did not have a strategy for ensuring that the new political establishment in Washington listened to their views.
“What is your vote worth if you don’t ask for something?” Johnson said, adding that such an action is equivalent to “giving away your vote.”
People themselves create the hope and change for accomplishing goals on campus and in their hometowns, he added.
“It does not make sense that [much of the country] looks the same now as it did four years ago,” he said.
Senior Imara-Safi Hoyte, president of Duke NAACP, said Duke’s chapter leadership wanted Johnson to come to campus because he is young and experienced.
“[Johnson] really has an amazing history of speaking to young people and inspiring change,” she said.
Freshman Ba’Carri Johnson said the journalist’s presentation had a positive impact on her.
“I feel that the way he presented himself was the way he felt—he didn’t filter himself,” Johnson said. “He has definitely given me ideas about how I might work with my freshman class.”
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