- Collection:
- Southern Journey Oral History Collection
- Title:
- North Carolina - Greensboro: Nelson Johnson
- Contributor to Resource:
- Dent, Thomas C.
- Date of Original:
- 1991-01-29
- Subject:
- African Americans
Civil rights demonstrations
Education
Military life - Location:
- United States, North Carolina, Guilford County, Greensboro, 36.07264, -79.79198
- Medium:
- sound recordings
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Tom Dent interviews Nelson Johnson in Greensboro, North Carolina. Johnson talks about his work with community organizing, including the formation of the Greensboro Association of Poor People [GAPP]. He is originally from Halifax County, North Carolina. He came to Greensboro to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University [A&T] after serving in the Air Force. He worked with the Foundation for the Community Development before forming GAPP. They did not work with the traditional Black leadership in the city when creating the organization. The confrontational style of the organization sometimes led to conflicts. He talks about tearing down homes from which people were evicted as a way to get the local government to negotiate with them. The NAACP gave them office space. GAPP had a positive relationship with A&T University. Johnson discusses his family background, which he feels led to his activism. His father was involved in founding a chapter of the NAACP. Johnson was also influenced by his military experience. He served in the Air Force in Massachusetts and Germany. He was in Germany when Malcolm X was killed. Afterward, he worked with a group tutoring Black children, called Youth Educational Services, which was founded by Jesse Jackson. His tutoring led to community organizing.
- Metadata URL:
- https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:53907
- Contributing Institution:
- Amistad Research Center
- Rights:
-
