Allen Johnson (activist)
| Allen Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Allen Johnson |
| Occupation | Clergyman, activist |
| Organization |
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement, Peace movement |
Allen Johnson was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, an activist in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and he was also a minister of religion. Johnson is the grandfather of Georgetown law professor Vida Johnson.
Johnson was the son of the Reverend L. E. Johnson. L. E. Johnson, was the head pastor at Pratt Memorial United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. After heading the church for four years, L. E. Johnson became district superintendent of the Jackson District. Johnson was an officer in the United States Army.
In 1963, Johnson, like his father once had, became the head pastor at Pratt Memorial United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Johnson helped the church with fundraising and organization. Johnson organized an inspirational choir, a youth choir and a children's choir. With the fruits of Johnson's fundraising efforts, funds were used to pay off the church and parsonage indebtedness.
In 1963, after Medgar Evers was assassinated by white supremacists for his civil rights leadership, an estimated five thousand people marched from the Masonic Temple on Lynch Street to the Collins Funeral Home on North Farish Street in Jackson. Johnson, Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders led the procession.
In 1966, Johnson hosted the Tenth Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the Masonic Temple in Jackson. The theme of the conference was human rights - the continuing struggle. Those in attendance, among others, included: Edward Kennedy, James Bevel, Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Fred Shuttlesworth, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
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