Meet J. Darnell Johnson

When not writing, the 2021 Planting People Growing Justice Writing for Social Justice Award Winner, J. Darnell Johnson works professionally as the Supervisor of Workforce Development at Goodwill Easter seals, the Father Project, he educates and empowers Dads to be better Fathers. Whether it’s portraying Malcom X on his birthday, performing a black history rap, teaching Kwanzaa to elementary school students. J. Darnell has spent a life-long career educating and serving his community.

Featured Book:

Jamal and Me Freedom Summer

A magical tale of compassion and courage based on the true events of Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964.

Nine-year-old Jamal from Minnesota is a jelly-bean-counting whiz kid who wins the school Jelly Bean Counting Contest. His Grandma Lynn wishes Jamal had been around when her mother was alive in Mississippi in the sixties, a time of Black voter suppression.

Ma Dear was never able to vote because she couldn’t pass the test of guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar. Jamal, too, wishes he could have helped his great grandmother.

Featured book:

Jamal and Me Freedom Summer

A magical tale of compassion and courage based on the true events of Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964

Nine-year-old Jamal from Minnesota is a jelly-bean-counting whiz kid who wins the school Jelly Bean Counting Contest. His Grandma Lynn wishes Jamal had been around when her mother was alive in Mississippi in the sixties, a time of Black voter suppression.

Ma Dear was never able to vote because she couldn’t pass the test of guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar. Jamal, too, wishes he could have helped his great grandmother.

Books By J. Darnell Johnson

Here are some of the books authored by J. Darnell Johnson. Click here to see full list.

From The Blogs

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We’ll be posting new blogs soon. Stay tuned

Books Reviews

Here are some of the reviews from the readers of the book:

To say this story (The Opening) was powerful would be a great understatement. I could not put the book down. Ja’s journey was surreal, uplifting, devastating and inspiring. Readers will get a chance to learn about the destructive nature of colonialism within a historical framework (something I cover in the classes I teach).
Storywise
J. Darnell Johnson hit a homerun with his creative use of black history and time travel, and there is a shocking twist at the end. His hyphenated word usage is unparallelled. I hope he writes a sequel!.
Yvette Irving-Johnson
Roots Four Zero is really easy to read. Nice correlation and buildup, I just couldn't stop when I started reading it. Highly recommended
Ralph