LINKRESOURCINGCULTURE.WEEBLY.COM - Key Persons

Bio Michelle S. Johnson is a public scholar in the fields of African American history, literature and cultural production and has taught in Liberal Studies and African American Studies at Grand Valley State University, American Thought and Culture and History at Michigan State University and English at Saginaw Valley State University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Johnson holds a B.A. in Humanities from Michigan State University and a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan. As the co-founder and Executive Director of Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative, Johnson manages multiple initiatives where numerous layers across widely diverse populations intersect. Under her leadership, this Kalamazoo arts and cultural non-profit has come to serve as the go-to organization for emerging artists and cultural producers, best practices in youth development and creative social justice. As a professor, Johnson developed her identity as a public scholar in cultural studies and created programs and classroom environments that provided significant academic skills while retaining and encouraging students to think critically and creatively. During her work as the Freedom Trail coordinator for the State of Michigan, Johnson solidified her public scholarship and leadership and expanded her contribution to assist professional and lay-historians in the preservation, documentation and promotion of Underground Railroad histories. In that position, she oversaw the development of a broad-based archival based curriculum for 3rd, 4th and 8th grade students and served as a visible state and regional spokesperson. She researches, writes and lectures for academic and public settings on aspects of African American culture including Paradise Valley, Idlewild and Motown. Dr. Johnson's scholarship includes an oral history project on the lives of African Americans and Latino/as in Saginaw, Michigan and a community project in Loughman, Florida researching, interpreting and performing the work of Zora Neale Hurston. Johnson served as lead historian and co-author for So This is The Fire and performs in creative interpretations of historical material. Johnson researched and compiled a curriculum series on the Underground Railroad and resistance to slavery for First Congregational Church of Detroit.