Documentary Project

 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

Born on Juneteenth

The man who wrote “Jesus, the Liberator” was born on a day of liberation.

 

Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. was born on this day, June 19, 1914.

As his biographer (who also happens to be his granddaughter) the task falls to me to not only tell his life story but to also place his life in historical context, to explain how the circumstances, mores, and norms of his times impacted his life and how, in turn, his life affected the zeitgeist of his era. Moreover, the biographer’s responsibility, according to Nigel Hamilton, is to portray “how that individual’s life connects with more universal aspects of the human condition.”(1) In this instance, I aim to explore how his quest for freedom impacted a larger movement for freedom from oppression in the world.

In the autumn of 1969, Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. stood before the mostly white audience of faculty and students to deliver the keynote address at the Convocation of the Andover Newton Theological School. The title of his address was “Jesus, the Liberator.”(2) Johnson would have found a somewhat sympathetic audience at the seminary, located in Newton, Massachusetts, that desegregated well before southern schools of theological education. But his message was a bold one that argued that there was a fatal flaw in American Christian theology and theological education.

Photo Credit: Vanderbilt University Special Collections

On that cool New England day, Johnson confronted those present, saying that ‘the interpretation of Christian Theology and of Jesus expounded by white American theologians is severely limited.” He likened the experience of black students studying at white seminaries to a diet in which those who consumed the milk and meat found that their souls were still empty. The reason, he argued, was that while black seminarians were required to study white theology, those white theologians had failed to study black experiences. Those early black seminarians passed their courses on Barth, Brunner, Niebuhr, Bonhoeffer, and Tillich only to discover that these esteemed theologians articulated a theology for white people that knew nothing of slavery, segregation, fire hoses, police dogs, tear gas, and racial oppression. They knew nothing of those experiences and moreover, deemed the black experience to be illegitimate and inauthentic. Instead, they fashioned a white Christianity that ignored the liberating message of Jesus. Johnson boldly argued, “The white Christ of the white church establishment is the enemy of the black man.”

By contrast, the black seminarian of Johnson’s day had contemplated the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Frantz Fannon, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Ron Karenga. They were challenging the white racists of their day and helping to dismantle systems of segregation and discrimination. “They have no objection to the combination of such words “black and power,” “black and theology,” “black and church,” “black and Christ,” “black and God.”   Johnson concluded by offering a vision of Jesus, the Liberator:

 

“Liberation was the aim and the goal of the life of Jesus in the world. Liberation expresses the essential thrust of his ministry. The stage of his ministry was the streets. His congregation consisted of those who were written-off by the established church and the state. He ministered to those who needed him, “the nobodies of the world,” the sick, the blind, the lame and the demon possessed.… He offered comfort to the poor who did not fit into the structure of the world. …The people who received help from Jesus are throughout the Gospels on the fringe of society—men who because of fate, guilt and prejudices were considered marked men…”

To be true to the message of Jesus, he called upon his audience “to set free again the powers of the love and liberating ministry of Jesus the liberator.”

In delivering this landmark address, Bishop Johnson became one of the early pioneers in the field of black theology. He would go on to lecture throughout the world, publish numerous articles, and author The Soul of the Black Preacher (1971), Proclamation Theology (1977), Basic Christian Methodist Beliefs (1978), and other works. His address was included in James Gardiner and J. Deotis Roberts, Quest for a Black Theology (1971) as well as James Cone’s first volume of Black Theology: A Documentary History (1979). His writings are also included in anthologies on America Religious History. Black liberation theology permanently changed theological education, and ultimately paved the way for feminist theology, womanist theology, queer theology, disability theology, and other contextual theologies.

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Thus, it seems quite fitting that the man who wrote “Jesus, the Liberator” was born on a day of liberation. June 19, 1865 marked the day that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and notified formerly enslaved African Americans of their freedom. This took place more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect on January 1, 1863. Upon learning of their freedom, the formerly enslaved held jubilant celebrations. They continued those celebrations annually with a holiday that became known as Juneteenth. Although Juneteenth celebrations waned during the first half of the twentieth century, they enjoyed a resurgence during the Civil Rights Movement, especially around the time of the Poor People’s March in 1968.(3) The march took place about a year before Johnson’s historic address at Andover Newton Theological School.

That Johnson was born on Juneteenth (1914) is a bit of historical synchronicity. It calls to mind another theme in black religious expression: that despite human interference, we still serve an on-time God. It is a reminder that freedom delayed does not mean freedom denied. But as we experience a renewed interest in Juneteenth this year in 2020, we are also reminded by Johnson’s courageous action that now is always the right time to speak truth to power. Now is always the time to call racism by name, whether in the church, academia, school boards, city councils, corporate board rooms, the halls of Congress, the front of the White House, or the streets across the world. Now is the time to demand that our experiences be considered, our voices be heard, and our demands be met. Now is the time for people of faith to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and to let the oppressed go free. Perhaps today, on Juneteenth 2020, the message of liberation is again being fulfilled in our hearing.

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(1) Hamilton, Nigel. How To Do Biography: A Primer. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.

(2) Johnson, Jr., Joseph A. “Jesus, the Liberator.” Johnson, The Soul of the Black Preacher. Pilgrim Press, 1971. This address was originally delivered at the Autumn 1969 Convocation of Andover Newton Theological School.

(3) National Registry of Juneteenth Organizations and Supporters, “History of Juneteenth,” http://juneteenth.com/history.htm, Accessed June 18, 2020.

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Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver is writing a biography and producing a documentary film about her grandfather, Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., the first African American to graduate from Vanderbilt University, CME Bishop, scholar, theologian, and civil rights advocate. Follow on social media @cjohnsonoliver and @bishopjjhistory. Subscribe to this blog in the right column or at the bottom of this page.

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 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

Vanderbilt Unveils New Bishop Johnson Portrait


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We are excited to announce that Vanderbilt University unveiled a new portrait of Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., along with the portraits of other Vanderbilt trailblazers during Homecoming weekend on October 13, 2018. Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos unveiled four portraits as part of a new “Vanderbilt Trailblazers” portrait series to honor members of the Vanderbilt community who broke barriers at the university and in society at large. The other portraits feature Perry Wallace, the Rev. Walter R. Murray Jr., and the Rev. James Lawson.

Commissioned by Chancellor Zeppos, the portraits were painted by world-renowned artist Simmie Knox, who has painted portraits of Oprah Winfrey, Muhammad Ali, Justice Thurgood Marshall and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the official White House portraits of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. 

The portraits are part of Vanderbilt’s campus-wide effort of “creating welcoming, inclusive and accessible spaces that recognize and celebrate the diversity of the Vanderbilt community.” The portraits are currently on display in the parlor of the Mary McClure Taylor Lobby in Kirkland Hall, Vanderbilt University’s administration building. They will remain in Kirkland Hall until they are dedicated in their permanent locations across campus next year. 

Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. was the first African American to graduate from Vanderbilt University, (Bachelor of Divinity, 1954), the first to receive a PhD (1958), and the first to serve as a full member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center honors his legacy on the Vanderbilt campus. He was also the 34th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, noted scholar and theologian, and the author of The Soul of the Black Preacher and Proclamation Theology. The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project is telling his life story through a biography and documentary film currently in progress.

Also featured, Perry Wallace enrolled at Vanderbilt in 1966, was an engineering student and the first African American varsity basketball player in the Southeastern Conference. Rev. Walter R. Murray Jr. was founder of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni and was a was a founder of the Afro-American Student Association. He was elected a young alumni trustee in 1970, becoming the first African American to serve on the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust. Rev. James Lawson’s civil rights activism in Nashville led to his expulsion from Vanderbilt in 1960. Eventually, Lawson and Vanderbilt reconciled and, in 1996, he received the Divinity School’s first Distinguished Alumni/ae Award. Lawson returned to Vanderbilt to teach as a Distinguished University Professor in 2006.

 

Vanderbilt University Trailblazers Portrait Unveiling - Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. - at Kirkland Hall.(Vanderbilt University/Joe Howell)
Vanderbilt University Trailblazers Portrait Unveiling - Rev. James Lawson - at Kirkland Hall.(Vanderbilt University/Joe Howell)
Vanderbilt University Trailblazers Portrait Unveiling - Perry Wallace - at Kirkland Hall.(Vanderbilt University/Joe Howell)
Vanderbilt University Trailblazers Portrait Unveiling - Walter Murray - at Kirkland Hall.(Vanderbilt University/Joe Howell)
Vanderbilt University Trailblazers Portrait Unveiling at Kirkland Hall.

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The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. and meeting the continuing demand for his books, sermons, and papers that persists 40 years after his death. Biography and documentary film in progress.

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 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

#OTD May 1, 1953 – Bishop Joseph A. Johnson Became First Black Admitted to Vanderbilt University

“When I talk to groups of students or visitors to campus, I always point out that he was admitted before the Brown decision, so he was truly a pioneer. He was someone who opened up the door for scores of students to come after him, but there had to be a first and he was the first.” –

– Dr. Frank Dobson, Jr., Associate Dean of Students, Social Justice & Identity, Vanderbilt University

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 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

#OTD – April 12, 1984 – Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Dedicated at Vanderbilt University

Panel Discussion on Legacy of Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., held at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University L. to R.: Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver, Dr. Riggins Earl, Bishop Paul Stewart, Dr. Evelyn Parker, and Dean Emilie Townes
L to R: Dwayne Johnson, Patricia Johnson-Powell, Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver, Dr. Riggins Earl, Bishop Paul Stewart, Dr. Evelyn Parker, Dean Emilie Townes, Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick, and Dr. Frank Dobson
Banner Celebrating 30th Anniversary of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University
Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver ready to interview for documentary film about Bishop Johnson
Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver interviewing Vanderbilt Associate Dean Frank Dobson for documentary film at Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center
Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver interviewing Vanderbilt Dean of Students Mark Bandas for documentary film at Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center

On this date 34 years ago, on April 12, 1984, the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center was dedicated at Vanderbilt University to honor Bishop Joseph Andrew Johnson, Jr. the first African American to graduate from the university. Bishop Johnson was also my grandfather, and I remember the day well as family members gathered in large numbers at the Sarratt Student Center a mere five years after my grandfather’s untimely death. In attendance were his widow, Grandmother Grace; his children Joseph III, Charles DeWitt (my father), and Patricia Ann; along with numerous great aunts and uncles, cousins, university dignitaries, church leaders, and many family friends.

Up until that day, I knew him only as “Granddaddy,” but at the age of nine, I was old enough to read the biographical sketch and listen to the program speakers. It was then that I learned about my grandfather’s quadfecta of firsts: that he was the first African-American to attend Vanderbilt University, the first to graduate, receiving the Bachelor of Divinity in 1954, the first to receive a PhD from the university in 1958, and the first African American elected to serve as a full member of the university’s Board of Trusts in 1971. I would later learn that when he enrolled at Vanderbilt, he also became the first African American to attend a private, white university in the south.

He was also the thirty-fourth bishop of the Christian Methodist Church, the first dean and president of Phillips School of Theology, and a New Testament professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. He was a pioneer in the field of black theology and biblical interpretation, authoring five books, including The Soul of the Black Preacher and Proclamation Theology. As a bishop, he became a civil rights advocate and an international speaker at universities and conferences throughout the world.

At the dedication, the book program contained printed remarks from former Vanderbilt University Chancellors, Harvie Brandscomb and Alexander Heard, as well as William S. Vaughn, former president of the Board of Trusts. Heard described my grandfather as a man who was never self-conscious about being the first black member of the Board and never hesitant to speak on topics that interested him. Vaughn described him as a “skillful advocate on behalf of blacks” who spoke “out of the deep currents of his own racial experience.” The speakers all agreed that the dedication of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center was a worthy tribute to his legacy. Brandscomb, who participated in the decision to admit my grandfather in 1953, noted that it was “especially fitting that it should be a center where young men and women are following in his footsteps.”

Today, thirty-four years after the dedication, the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center is a cultural hub on Vanderbilt’s campus, hosting speakers, guest lecturers, student organizations, and academic opportunities focused on African and African American culture. According to its website, the center is “a gathering place, a home away from home for students who study in the BCC, gather there for meetings, and learn about African and African American culture through the center’s programs.” The center’s mission includes cultural and educational programming, student support and development, and community outreach and service. Its roster of renowned speakers includes Angela Davis, Julian Bond, the late Negro Leagues Legend, Buck O’Neil, Afeni Shakur (mother of the late Tupac Shakur); and Dr. Eugene Richardson of the Tuskegee Airmen. In the almost forty years since his death, Bishop Johnson’s legacy continues to live in the generations of Vanderbilt students who attend meetings, cultural events, panel discussions, and seminars at the Black Cultural Center. They do so knowing that the barrier was broken and the door was opened by Johnson’s courageous decision to apply, attend, and persevere at Vanderbilt University.

But Bishop Johnson’s impact extends beyond one campus. In the Fall of 2015, when the #BlackonCampus movement sparked protests by African American students at university campuses across the country, many student activists invoked the names and stories of their universities’ first African American students. In doing so, they demonstrated that the campus protests were not new, but were grounded in a decades-long struggle for diversity and equality in higher education. The life story of Bishop Johnson takes place at the heart of this historical struggle and represents generations of freedom fighters who struggled for the right to read, to study, to learn, and eventually to be admitted to the nation’s best institutions. Thus, Bishop Johnson’s life story provides historical context and inspiration for today’s generations of students, advocates, people of faith, and others still engaged in the struggle for justice, equality, and inclusion today.

Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver is writing a biography and filming a documentary about Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. For more information, visit www.bishopjosephjohnson.org.

Follow on social media: @BishopJJHistory and @CJohnsonOliver.

Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver interviewing Vanderbilt Associate Dean Frank Dobson for documentary film at Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center

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 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

Chance Encounter with Family of Bishop C.H. Phillips

photo-jul-23-12-44-27-pm

As we Recap 2016, I am reminded of a moment of what can only be described as divine synchronicity while we were on the road filming the documentary about my grandfather, Bishop Joseph A. Johnson, Jr.

We were in the Atlanta area filming at a family gathering when we decided to take a detour to visit the historic Phillips School of Theology. As one of six seminaries located at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Phillips School of Theology trains women and men for ministry in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The seminary was originally founded in 1944 in Jackson, Tennessee, on the campus of Lane College, by Bishop C.H. Phillips and Bishop J. Arthur Hamlett. The then Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., served as the first dean of the seminary before it moved to Atlanta in 1959. In fact, it was while Dr. Johnson was president of Phillips School of Theology that he successfully applied to become the first African American student to attend Vanderbilt University. Although he already had a doctorate in theology, Dr. Johnson’s stated goal was to attend Vanderbilt to obtain a PhD in New Testament studies in order to teach New Testament at Phillips School of Theology and thus improve the seminary’s chances of receiving accreditation.

This past July, we arrived at Phillips at mid-day, at the height of the sweltering. mid-summer Georgia heat. The sun punished us mercilessly as I gathered my family and our camera man into the building. The school was actually closed due to summer intersession, but the dean had been kind enough to arrange for the building to be opened for our project. Upon entering, we went directly to the room in which my grandfather’s photo hangs on the wall, the first of several deans to lead the seminary. It was then that another family entered the building – a woman accompanied by two men. I observed the woman’s excitement as she immediately pointed to a portrait on the wall and turned to pose next to the portrait while her family took photos. 

Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe “a meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.” Such a meaningful coincidence can provide an “immediate religious experience” as participants are suddenly opened to a connection between the objective and subjective worlds. Jungian synchronicity has been explored by many, and is generally understood as an affirmation that one is on the right path and that the path is being blessed with guidance from that which is beyond the physical, visible world.

Synchronicity might best describe what happened when moments after the building was opened, I, a descendant of Bishop Johnson, came face to face with a descendant of Bishop Phillips. Marie Grandberry, the great, great granddaughter of Bishop Phillips, resides in Milwaukee and had just arrived in Atlanta on a trip to visit family. She arrived on the same weekend that I was visiting from Arlington, Virginia. She and her family decided to stop by to see the seminary named after their ancestor. The only reason they were able to enter the building was because we had made prior arrangements to have it opened.

Upon meeting Mrs. Grandberry, we learned of our shared connection and remarked at the improbability of our encounter. I explained my biography and documentary projects, and then we together pondered that there must have been a strong connection between Bishop Phillips and Dr. Johnson as they worked to start a seminary for African Americans.

Phillips School of Theology was founded ten years before the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in public education and about 20 years before widespread desegregation in higher education. At the time, only one accredited seminary was available to African Americans, namely the United Methodist’s Gammon School of Theology. Opening the door of advanced theological training to African American clergy would have a profound impact on African American churches and communities as they sought to improve conditions, open doors, and fight for racial equality. Bishop Phillips and Dr. Johnson shared this vision and set out to make it a reality on the campus of Lane College.

I could not pass up the opportunity to ask Mrs. Grandberry if she would be willing to be interviewed on camera, although neither of us were dressed or prepared for a formal interview. She graciously agreed, and in our interview, she spoke beautifully of our ancestors efforts at opening the doors of theological education. She and others connected to Phillips School of Theology and ITC will be featured in the documentary about Bishop Johnson.

In addition to the seminary, Bishop Phillips participated in founding numerous churches throughout the CME connection, including Phillips Chapel in Nashville (pastored by a young Rev. Johnson), Phillips Metropolitan in Hartford, and Phillips Metropolitan in Dayton. Bishop Johnson went on to be the first African American to graduate from Vanderbilt University, a New Testament professor at ITC, and a Bishop in the CME Church. According to ITC Professor Dr. Riggins Earl, as a New Testament professor, Bishop Johnson impacted a generation of African American ministers who went on to be leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, teaching them to interpret the New Testament for social justice. Bishop Johnson’s books, The Soul of the Black Preacher and Proclamation Theology continue to be recommended reading for students of black theology and black church history.

It all started with a shared vision, illuminated by a chance encounter, at Phillips School of Theology.

 

The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project wishes to acknowledge funding from the Lily Endowment via the Louisville Institute and from Vanderbilt University. Filming for the documentary will next occur at the Pastor’s Conference of Phillips School of Theology in January, 2017. For more information, contact info@bishopjosephjohnson.org.

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 by Cynthia Johnson-Oliver

Bishop Johnson Documentary Film In Progress

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Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver interviews about Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project

We are pleased to announce that filming is underway for a documentary about the life and legacy of Bishop Joseph Andrew Johnson Jr. Thanks to a grant from the Lily Endowment (via the Louisville Institute) and a matching grant from Vanderbilt University, Bishop Johnson’s life story will now be told in print and on the small screen.

Interview with Anthony Johnson

Rev. Johnson-Oliver interviews Anthony Johnson

The biography and documentary projects are led by Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver, granddaughter of Bishop Johnson and founder of the Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project, which seeks to preserve the oral history, sermons, books, papers, and legacy of Bishop Johnson, and share his inspiring life story with a new generation. She is joined by producer Robin Mazyck and cameraman Denis Pacuraru as partners in the documentary project. Filming thus far has included interviews of Bishop Johnson’s descendants and other family members along with an interview of Bishop Othal Hawthone Lakey, author of The History of the CME Church. In late August, filming will take place at Vanderbilt University and at Capers Memorial CME Church, where Johnson served as pastor while attending Vanderbilt. Future filming will take place in northern Louisiana; Denver, Colorado; Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee; and at Phillips School of Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bishop Johnson was the first African American to graduate from Vanderbilt University, receiving the Bachelor of Divinity in 1954.  He was also the first African American to receive a PhD from the university (1958), and the first to serve as a full member of the university’s Board of Trusts (1971). Johnson was also a bishop in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, a civil rights advocate, and a pioneer in the field of black liberation theology. He is the author of The Soul of the Black Preacher, Proclamation Theology, and other works. In 1984, five years after his death, the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center was dedicated on Vanderbilt’s campus. Most recently, Bishop Johnson was posthumously named a distinguished alumnus of Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2014, and earlier this year, the Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Professor Award  was created in his honor.

For more information and ongoing updates from the Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project, follow the history project blog and Facebook page. Contact Rev. Johnson-Oliver to share your memories about Bishop Johnson or to arrange an interview.

Dr. Joseph A. Johnson III, Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver, and Rev. Rose Johnson-Thompson
Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver and Dr. Joseph A. Johnson III
Cameraman Denis Pacuraru and Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver
Rev. Cynthia Johnson-Oliver interviews Anthony Johnson

The Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project is grateful for funding from the Lily Endowment (via the Louisville Institute), Vanderbilt University, and Friends of the Bishop Joseph Johnson History Project.

 

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