Creatively Speaking (TM) On The Air

Hosted By:

Michelle Materre, The Grande Dame of Black Whole

Today's Episode: A Special Tribute to Carolyn Johnson 

Carolyn Yvonne Johnson, of Brooklyn, NY, passed away on April 24, 2014. She was born in Austin, Texas, on September 11, 1949, and raised in San Antonio, TX, and Las Cruces, NM. Carolyn lived a full life; she was a college professor at Hostos Community College in the nursing department as well as a nurse anesthetist at Kings County Hospital. Her students greatly admired her and attributed their successful journeys through the nursing program to her. At the time of her death, she was working on a doctorate degree in Public Health, with a concentration on adolescent health of Hispanic and African-American teenage girls.

Carolyn's passion was documentary filmmaking. Her tribute to the perseverance of a cultural tradition "Juneteenth Community", took eight years to complete. The testimonials of the current participants in this event, and their poignant recollections of those past, inspired the need to record the dynamics and significance of a century-old continuous expression of culture. Carolyn’s documentary won critical acclaim, and received an award in the category of community video from the Black Filmmakers Hall Of Fame in Oakland, California, on October 7th, 2000.

She loved to travel and spoke three different languages because of her travels and love of different cultures. Her travels took her to places such as Nigeria, Mexico, Martinique, and her favorite spot, Canada.