J. Darnell Johnson: Jamal and Me
While Jamal and Jordan undoubtedly go through traumatic events, they end up in a safe environment, specific to their needs and history as Black youth. Unfortunately, Jamal and Jordan are a lot luckier than most kids that are forced to enter the system. Can you give some background/context/history on your piece?
Each year, around the country, disproportionate numbers of African American children are removed from their home due to no cause of their own. As you say, this can be very traumatic and have an impact on them for the rest of their lives. I wanted to write a story that highlighted the tragedy of being removed from your home but to not make it the story about how bad their temporary home was on top of everything that the children were dealing with. I, however, did want to highlight their struggle and longing to return home to family. Not all out of home placements are bad. It however does highlight that despite how nice the people in the shelter treat you, there’s no place like home, even if there are bad things happening at your home...it’s home!
How do you connect with your piece in Story to Story?
I had worked in both Central Intake of Hennepin county and an Emergency Shelter for over 9 years. I directed the first African American culture-specific shelter in the state of Minnesota. I saw firsthand the ups and downs, the tears and cheers, the happiness and the sadness, the trials and the triumphs, the jealousy when someone is leaving before you and the hugs and thank yous from children.
Can you tell us about your journey as a writer?
My motto as a writer is write to please yourself but never write without teaching others. Writing is an artistic expression of one’s thoughts and there is a lot to learn about yourself when one reads my work. The more you learn about yourself the easier it is to understand others. I want to give a voice to characters and situations, to voices that are not normally heard and normalize them as another experience; it's just that most have not heard unless I write it. Someone has to.
Is there anything that’s key to your writing process?
I have to be able to hear and see the voices and places before I begin to write. Then I create a storyboard of characters, locations, scenes, chapters, beginning, middle and ending. A story that has tension but in the end, there is happiness. I have to be able to see heroes and villains, shapes and sizes, tastes and smells. Now I am ready to write.
Do you have any advice for children who want to be writers? Especially Black children?
My advice is to read, read, read. Read more than you write, but make sure you write everyday even if it is about mundane things. Let your imagination take you places that are not real. A place where it has meaning and is woven into a beautifully written story that makes people feel a certain way and see things maybe a little differently than they even anticipated themselves.
Do you have any book projects we should look out for?
Yes, I am writing another children's book about Jamal and Me. It’s a book about voter suppression. I think Jamal and Me will become a series of experiences that most African American children can relate to or open their eyes to be able to relate to. I also have another book coming out soon called, Roots Four Zero. It’s a story about a runaway teenage enslaved girl in search of her roots.
Is there anything else you’d like your readers to know? About you, your work, or life?
I am and always have been concerned for the plight of Black people, in particular Black children who are the future. I have directed two African American children’s programs in Minneapolis, a shelter and group home. Currently I work as the Manager of Umoja Minnesota of Evolve Family Services. Umoja MN is a camp for transracial adoption, foster care and kinship families raising African American children. It is a cultural enrichment program designed to educate parents and children toward better outcomes for African American children.
