When the Stars Begin to Fall

Facilitated by Dr. Nashid Madyun, Executive Director of Florida Humanities.

Dr. Theodore R. Johnson is the great-grandson of sharecroppers who, unfathomably, believed in what Johnson calls “the Promise,” that we Americans are created equal and that “each of us will respect and defend the rights and liberty of others.” Willie and Annie Johnson so believed in that promise that they named Dr. Johnson’s grandfather and namesake Theodore Roosevelt Johnson, after our 26th president invited the first black man, Booker T. Washington, to the White House for dinner. Dr. Johnson shares his family’s deep reverence for this American experiment, but also believes our failure to bind together around our highest ideals is an existential threat to our future.

Join us as Dr. Johnson makes an invitation—and a challenge—to all of us, born of lived experience as a black son of the American south and love of this country he took an oath to preserve. Learn more about Dr. Johnson below.

This important conversation is offered in partnership with Florida Humanities and will be facilitated by Dr. Nashid Madyun, their executive director. We’re delighted to welcome streaming partners USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future,  Common Ground Committee, Civic Health Project, YOUnify, Citizen Connect, Center for the Humanities at University of Miami, Tallahassee Democrat, WFSU Public Media, Network for Responsible Public Policy, and Civil Squared.