Hi and welcome to my podcast, The Company He Keeps! So this is my first episode and my guest is Dr. Josie Johnson, a Minnesota-based civil rights icon and educator. Dr. Johnson is 94 years-old and has been described as the “First Lady of Minnesota Civil Rights” by the Star Tribune. Her successes and accomplishments are too many to name when it comes to civil rights but she was instrumental in the success of a fair housing bill in Minnesota in 1962. Dr. Johnson was also the first African American appointed to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

This conversation is from Jan. 2020. Originally, I was going to use it to write a profile on Dr. Johnson for Yahoo News but that assignment fell through for various reasons. With MLK day coming up and Black history month being next month, I thought this would be great use of the audio! I was so honored to speak to Dr. Johnson in her home in Loring Park and inspired by her lifelong advocacy for equity in housing, education and voting rights.

I feel like I have to be transparent and say I’ve had an idea to do a podcast for awhile now but just was hesitant because the market is so oversaturated and it’s like oh great, one more dude with a podcast! But I think I can do something unique with this show. I’m not versed in editing audio and I’m dropping this audio in its raw form, so just know that! But I hope you like the conversation and you’re inspired by Dr. Johnson’s life and work like I was.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecompanyhekeeps.substack.com