In this Joespeak! Podcast, Dr. Josie Johnson, longtime civil rights leader, previews her book “Hope in the Struggle,” which gives us nearly a century of her lived perspective on the civil rights movement. Receiving a multigenerational legacy of servant leadership, she talks about walking precincts with her family as a child fighting to get rid of the poll tax. Dr. Johnson gives an account of events leading to the passage of a landmark housing bill in Minnesota, an effort for which she served as chief lobbyist and which served as a national blueprint for fair housing legislation. Dr. Johnson breaks down the commonalities in the movement, then and now, and reminds of the always prominent battleground of voting rights and its current urgency. She connects the dots between her generation and the current one, giving some advice on how to identify and embrace commonalties in the overarching goal to move us toward a more just society. Ultimately, Dr. Johnson reminds us all of the embrace of both the sacrifices and accomplishments of the ancestors that should keep us hoping, marching, and expecting.
