March 7, 2024 • 29 mins
When Michael Johnson sat down with us, the atmosphere was charged with the kind of inspiration that could only come from the 2022 In-Business Executive of the Year. In today's conversation, Michael bares his soul, sharing the tapestry of his life's work and the efforts at Boys and Girls Clubs that garnered him such prestigious recognition. Our dialogue traverses the emotional landscape of his Pay it Forward campaign, echoing Michael's own backstory and embodying his commitment to fostering community support. A special surprise awaits him too—a token of our gratitude, envisaged by a local artist, which perfectly captures the essence of his heartfelt initiative.
It's not every day that you meet someone who turns down a career in Washington D.C. to make a difference in their hometown. Michael's narrative is rich with such decisive moments and the learnings gleaned from life in Chicago's public housing. Wisdom, as my mother used to say, can indeed be found in the most unexpected places. We honor the diversity of experiences that shape us, and on this day, we recall the Mayor of St. Louis's tribute to Michael's profound influence, a poignant reminder of the impact one can have on their community.
Lastly, we navigate the stormy seas Michael weathered as CEO during one of the most tumultuous periods in recent history. His near-resignation amid a global pandemic, the personal battles with health and family, and the societal tremors following the George Floyd protests reveal a story of resilience. Yet, through innovative partnerships, Michael's actions spoke volumes—raising funds, supporting local businesses, and even ensuring daily meals for hundreds of children. Join us as we unfold the layers of this extraordinary journey, culminating in the celebration of Vel Phillips with a statue at Capitol Square—another historic achievement born from unwavering advocacy and unity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Michael Johnson from Boys
and Girls Clubs.
Michael Johnson, the 2022in-business executive of the
year, michael Johnson.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, yeah, real honor, man, to get an award like
that, especially from, you know, in-business magazine.
But it's a testament to youknow, we have an amazing staff
here, an amazing group ofvolunteers who help us do our
work here, you know, at Boys andGirls Clubs, and then we have
an amazing board who folks whoare committed to helping
(00:33):
children and families in ourcommunity, and so it's a real
honor to receive that kind ofrecognition.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Dina's got the whole city buzzing the Pay it Forward
campaign.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, man, when I was a kid, growing up in the
projects, I didn't likeChristmas man because my mother
was a beautiful woman.
But my mother had.
She was on very limited income,she had schizophrenia, she was
on social security, she was asingle mother and she did
everything she could to try toprovide for our family.
And even though we lived in theprojects, I used to see my
(01:06):
friends like get these nicelittle bikes and all these toys
and they had Christmas tees andthey had nice designer shoes and
we didn't have that as kids.
And it always bothered me thatwhile I felt like my mother did
so much, I knew we didn't havemuch right.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So I said, if I have a very rare because as a kid,
when you grow up poor, youactually don't know that you're
poor for until way later on.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, I didn't really know until I started working at
13.
I worked for a guy who owned agrocery store across the street
and he had invited me to a citycalled Glenview, Illinois at the
time I think it was one of therichest suburbs outside of
Chicago.
What was the name of the store?
It was called Cajones.
It was owned by Peter Goetjes,who now lives in Kenosha, and I
(02:04):
remember he took me to his housein Glenview and I couldn't
believe.
It's interesting because when Idescribed it to him, he said,
Mike, my house really wasn'tthat nice and I said, Peter, I
got to go back and see thathouse because what I remember
was a swim pool in the backyard,huge, gigantic rooms.
All his kids had individualrooms, they had a gourmet
kitchen and, like I, lived in athree-bedroom apartment with
(02:26):
cockroaches Exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I remember going to that house like, oh my God, this
is filthy rich.
Like that's what it felt liketo me.
When he tells the story, hesaid no, it was a modest half a
million dollar house Now modest,half a million dollars in the
1990s.
It wasn't modest.
It may have been modest forsome upper middle class people,
(02:49):
but it was like it opened myeyes.
It opened my eyes up and so hejust exposed me to something I
had never seen.
It made me dream bigger.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Your Pay it For initiative has inspired the city
and it actually has inspired ushere, so we would actually like
to pay it forward to you today.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, so we have a local artist.
Her name is Danny.
She actually helped us createthis gift that we want to
present to you.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
How did y'all get these?
Y'all want to borrow one.
We do our research, man.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Oh my God, that is dope JoJoTwenty.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Hold on.
Oh my God, that is hold on.
I got to share that.
Oh my God, that is dope.
Wow, oh my God, that is super.
I'm putting some of these in adisplay case and I'm going to
(03:47):
put these in there.
That is oh my gosh, she, I gota text to her real quick that is
.
That is super.
That is super, joe, and youknow, and I love this couple
because they are absolutelyamazing, so I just got to send
this to them real quick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Wow, well, you pay it for in our community so much.
We felt like that.
We really wanted to honor youand give you something for all
the things that you do for thecommunity.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Man, this is, this is dope.
This is well.
I appreciate it Like to me,this is very thoughtful the the
time that you know she spentputting this together.
John and Joe Ellen, they mean alot to me because you know one
of the reasons we're able to doso many things in this community
A lot of times they're one of afew people that can reach out
(04:35):
to who actually are committed toproviding a helping hand to
somebody else.
So it's pretty, pretty, prettycool.
So thank you Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, we got sidetracked.
That's dope, let's get backinto it, okay, okay, let me.
Let me do this Shout out HolyGod's clothing, best clothing in
the world, and we actually havea gift for you, some official.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Holy.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
God's merchandise, and this is the owner of.
Holy God's clothing brand.
His name is Kingston Robinson.
He brought actually a littlebit of merch for you today.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
This is the first time I've come to a podcast
radio show to interview andsomebody's giving us some shoes
and some clothes.
This is the first for me.
Thank you, man.
I appreciate that Much love.
Wow.
What I love about Payette Fordman is I see myself as a bridge
builder, a connector, and one ofthe reasons I talked about like
(05:32):
how I have friends who has PhDs, geds, people who are rich and
poor.
It allowed me to connect someof my wealthy friends and donors
to people who just need help.
So Payette Ford is aboututilizing your resources to pay
it for to other people.
When I leave here today, I'mgoing to go and bless a
custodian with a thousand dollargift.
(05:55):
I'm going to another schooltoday to give a public school
teacher a $500 gift, and this isnot money that I'm taking from
Boys and Girls School.
It's simply utilize my platform, my personal platform, do
social media, to ask people topay it for it.
A couple of weeks ago, we gave athousand dollar tip to a
(06:15):
waitress on Thanksgiving DayLast year.
We did it and I can believe itmade international news.
It was covered in Japan.
It was covered in Tokyo.
It was covered in Canada.
Wow, it was on MSNBC and wejust simply gave a tips to
waiters across the city and tryto utilize resources to help pay
people rent, to help do allthese things just to give a
(06:38):
helping hand to somebody whomight be in a challenging
circumstance.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It hasn't just inspired me personally and my
team, but it's inspired theentire city and the world.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know, thank you, man.
I appreciate it, man, and we'llbe doing this all the way up
until people are watching us.
We'll be doing this all the wayup into Christmas Day.
Wow, so for the last 15 yearsI've worked.
I work until me and my teamuntil about two o'clock on
Christmas and I literally cannotenjoy Christmas unless I know
(07:10):
that we paid it for for otherfamilies and we've done things
from helping to get somebody ahouse to renovating somebody's
house, to get away with carsfurnishing houses.
It's just kind of what we do,and sometimes I get criticized
for it, you know.
But I've learned in this cityyou have to have big alligator
skin, oh yeah, and you just gotto go out there and do it and
(07:30):
some people will talk.
I'm sorry, stop and excuse mePlease.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
What the I'm sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Sorry sponsors, we want to give a special shout out
to JYC Jackson's Yard Care thebest, the best.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I love what that brother is doing to me.
Jyc is amazing.
I remember when he started hisbusiness in the sea, like what
he's taking that to with his bigwarehouse and all the heavy
equipment that he had reallysent.
I think he's the largestAfrican American own landscaper
in Southern.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Wisconsin.
Not only that, the man just wonpeople's choice awards.
Yeah, he did landscaping.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He deserved it and that brother also.
We went down to Houston, texas.
He drove all the way.
We went down there and rescuedsome families doing the floods
down there, and we went downthere with some boats and had a
team down there to bring peopleto Wisconsin and he drove all
the way there, him and his wife,wow To help us deliver things.
Well, maybe that was Joplin,was it?
(08:31):
It was either Joplin or Houston, but I remember being on a road
with him for 16, 17 hours andthey're a real deal and I'd be
remiss if I don't say this.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And always remember you have the right to a
beautiful yard.
Jackson's Yard Care Sounds justlike him.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
He runs some of the wildest commercials you ever
seen.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Oh, I love him, I love him and shout out to
Giovanni Giovanni.
I can't wait till you do aninterview with Giovanni Madness
is the most famous dog, the mostfamous dog, and we have a
little saying in the heat ofbattle he don't miss, yeah, no
doubt about that.
No doubt about that.
How was it working withPresident Obama?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
It was interesting.
My first contribution I everreceived as a large contribution
was from back then.
He was a.
He was either a staterepresentative or a state
senator on the south side ofChicago, so I ran the Boys and
Girls Clubs in a neighborhoodcalled Inglewood.
It was at Inglewood High School, so it was the first Boys and
Girls Club that had ever beeninside of Chicago Public School.
(09:39):
And so that year there was ayoung lady named Ryan who was
killed.
Her last name was Ryan andthey've since named a park after
her and she was.
It was a very brutal murder, andthat year Bill Clinton had came
to Chicago because it was namedthe murder capital in the world
and at that time a lot of kidswere dying on the south side of
(09:59):
Chicago, like people talk about.
You know, crime now in Chicagois bad.
You know, back in the you know80s and 90s there was 2, 2500
people dying there every singleyear.
I think they're hovering aroundsix or 700, which is way too
many.
So I wanted to do this.
There were some kids who gaveme an idea about doing a march
against violence, but theydidn't want to do the
(10:19):
traditional march.
They wanted to have a concertoutside on 63rd Street, hall
Street, and I actually thought,like I was, like the city is not
going to let us down, nothinglike that.
A major street, and then thekids kept pushing me and was
like you know, mr Johnson, ifyou want to make it happen, you
can make it happen.
Now I don't know what kind ofcloud these kids thought I had,
but I did not have that kind ofcloud.
(10:40):
And so somebody told me that Ineed to talk to my state rep and
happen to be staterepresentative Barack Obama.
So I meet him and at the timemy assistant director was a
Muslim woman.
Now, keep in mind I was only, Ithink, 23, 24 years old at the
time and my assistant director,I think she was in her mid 50s.
She was a lot more mature thanI was and so she said you need
(11:02):
to go in there and ask him forsome money and like $100,000.
And I was like that's not eventhe size of our budget.
I'm not going to ask him forthat kind of money, but I'm
going to ask him to like getinvolved and maybe ask his plan
as an event.
So I meet with him and heagrees to it.
We called it the first annualwalk against violence for
Chicago's youth and he shared itwith me, came to the meetings
(11:24):
and then I remember the coupleof meetings I had asked him for
a contribution.
So I asked him for $500.
And even though my assistantdirector was like you should
have been asking for more, heactually checked me and said,
hey, if you're going to ask anelected official for some
resources, no extra $500.
And they turned around and gota $5,000 gift for us.
And so that's how I met him.
(11:45):
And so it's interesting Like Iremember him sitting in meetings
with us and this was in likethe early, like the mid 1990s,
like 94, you know 95.
And then by the time heannounced that he was running
for president, I was working forthe mayor of Philadelphia and
so I had shared with the mayorthat I had worked with him.
It's interesting, in Chicagoeverybody know me by my nickname
(12:07):
, so I hadn't seen the presidentin years.
So I'm standing in line to meethim and then he looks over me
and said Boo-Boo-Loo.
And everybody was like what didhe just say?
I was like I was like that wasmy nickname in Chicago.
So I grew up with the nicknameBoo-Boo-Loo and when I saw him I
couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That's an out of the box exclusive right there,
nobody knew that.
That's exclusive.
Just to let you know.
You got to hear first, so yousee him, you run into him.
He instantly remembers you,yeah.
You guys spent a lot of timetogether.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, it was dope man , it was.
It was.
It was interesting because atthat point I wanted to go to the
White House and I wanted to go,I wanted to go work with him.
And so I got an opportunity togo through a process and I went
to DC, you know, with my family,and this was like right before
I was coming to Madison, and Ijust think God has a way of
(13:05):
plotting your path.
And so DC is extremelyexpensive to live.
I couldn't believe how muchthey wanted for those apartments
, and at the time my wife wasworking in Philadelphia.
I was a deputy commissioner andthe salary wasn't that much
different than what I wasalready making, and so,
(13:25):
unfortunately, I just was not ina position to, you know, make
that move, and I'm actually gladI didn't make that move.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, the city is glad that you didn't.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, a lot of cities actually we're going to get to
that.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You got a quote here that you posted not too long ago
that I really like.
It says I have friends withdegrees, llcs, felonies and GEDs
some rich, some poor and manyare in between.
I've learned from them all.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
No doubt, no doubt.
Yeah, I'm fortunate man.
You know, growing up I grew upin one of the toughest public
housing developments in Chicagoand growing up a Chicago housing
authority, you know, in theAbelahomes on Roosevelt racing
on the 16th floor.
I've met some amazing people inmy life and sometimes people
you know, they put these titleson you.
I use a CEO and I've justlearned, you know, whether you
(14:12):
got a PhD, a GED, whether you'rea felon, whether you have a lot
of hot net worth, I've learnedfrom different experiences, from
different people, and I thinkit's made me a better person
because of the diversity of therelationships that I have.
And even in this community,there are people who are
(14:33):
convicted felons that I know andthat I meet with and I spend
time with.
But there's also people in thiscommunity that's worth two,
three hundred, four, fivehundred million dollars that I
spend time with.
And then there's people who arehighly educated that I spend
time with and people not sohighly formally educated that I
spend time with.
And those experiences withthose people, I think keeps me
(14:55):
grounded and I learn as a resultof spending time with all those
different kinds of folks.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's super important, because my mother
always told me you can learnsomething from a fool.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
You can learn something from a two-year-old.
If you're looking for you can,you can find it.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
When you're talking about in the search of knowledge
, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I mean Malcolm Macs once said that.
One of my favorite quotes iseducation is a lifelong process.
You're never too old or nevertoo smart to continue to learn,
and as you mature into your role, generations and issues around
whether it's kids or communitiesare always evolving, and you
(15:34):
always particularly if you areleading anything need to be
thinking about how yourleadership will evolve.
And people who don't do thatthey see their businesses I'm
going out of business or theymight see there they may not be
as impactful as they once werewhen they ran an organization.
So I just try to learn from thepeople that are around me and I
(15:55):
try my best to also stay humble.
So no matter how much successthat one may perceive that you
have, it can always be takenaway, whether it's your health
or I'm somebody that might havea little bit more influence than
you, and so I just learned tobe resourceful but also to be
humble and to be thankful forwhat God has given you to be
(16:17):
able to help and help in helpingsomebody else.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
February 24th.
Why is that day so significant?
I was at the St Louis Day.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's the Mayor.
St Louis I can't remember whatyear it was I was it's when I
had announced I was leaving theYMCA and Mayor Francis Slay,
who's the Mayor of St Louis atthe time, had issued a
proclamation and named that dayin my honor.
I'll tell you, you know Madisonis.
A lot of people criticizeMadison, but Madison is by far
(16:48):
the best place that I've stayedin terms of from a career
perspective.
Now we have some otherchallenges around culture, other
challenges around how weeducate our babies, but for at
least for me, madison has been agreat place to stay.
St Louis, I feel like I leftprematurely.
Really, I was a vice presidentfor the YMCA.
I had some had no fundraisingexperience when I got there and
(17:10):
was really afraid to take thatjob and was actually shocked
that they made me a VP.
But I was.
I was thankful and I remembergoing into that job scared that
I was going to fail my familyand also fail my colleagues who
was working with me at the time,and so I did everything I could
to meet with people to try tolift up those YMCA's that were
(17:31):
in challenging communities and Ijust couldn't believe how
quickly that community hadembraced my leadership and I got
to a point where I think ourCEO at the time was, I think in
his mid sixties, and he was agood guy, but I was like man, if
he could be a CEO, I could be aCEO Right.
And and I just at the time Ijust didn't have the patience to
(17:52):
like wait.
And so I remember applying forjobs and I was shocked, like, at
the number nonprofitorganizations that were willing
to hire me in a CEO role.
So the first interview I got Itook the job and it was, and I
would say I never seen anythingas a mistake.
But that was the first timethat I learned that sometimes
(18:13):
the grass is not always greeneron the other side and sometimes
you can't chase titles to makeyou happy.
And I learned that.
And so I was thankful for theopportunity in St Louis and very
thankful for the mayor at thetime, because that last day
there I cried and I justremember, like man this is, I
had only been there two yearsand so for the mayor to do that,
(18:37):
there was about 500 people thatshowed up.
Am I going away party into thisday?
I still have a lot of friendsin St Louis, good friends that I
go back and see on a regularbasis, and some of them actually
have come here to work for meand have moved on to other
cities doing other things.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I want to get into the thick of it 2020,.
We almost lost you as the CEOof Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, yeah.
It's a very, very pivotal time,not only for you and your
family, but for all of us.
You almost stepped down.
Yeah, can you take us throughthe process of that?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
decision man.
I did that privately.
I don't know how you know allthis stuff the best.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I don't know how you know that when the pandemic hit
I had written a resignation tothe president of our board at
the time because I couldn'timagine a Boys and Girls Clubs
without kids in our buildingevery day.
And maybe at the time I waslimited in my thinking, just
didn't know how we could survive, right.
(19:40):
And so my board was likeabsolutely not.
So they did not accept yourregular and my board president
at the time was at MadisonCollege.
She was like you figure it out,like just chill.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Was it more of a health concern also, like were
you concerned for your health?
Like as far as like, yourpersonal health, your wife, your
kids?
It was a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, it was crazy.
My wife was like so this wasright before that.
And my wife was like you needto come home and just chill,
right.
And I tried for like two daysand I just couldn't do it and I
didn't.
The George Floyd thing happenedyeah all that stuff was going on
right and so I pretty much waslike, nah, I'm going out there.
(20:24):
And so my board chair was like,just figure it out.
So we decided we were going totry to raise a couple of hundred
thousand dollars to supportnonprofits doing like doing this
period.
And we had a partner with likeMadison 365, american Family
Insurance, United Way and awhole bunch of other folks and
we had to raise over $3 millionand we distributed that out to
(20:46):
about I think, 41 organizationsat the time.
So then the George Floyd thinghit.
Then, you know, at the timeBrandi Grayson is my.
She's amazing.
At the time I did not likeBrandi Grayson.
I was actually on her showtalking about this because she
once called me the torch bearerof white supremacy and we went
(21:06):
back and forth.
She was tough and during thattime there were some people that
was coming at me, there weresome people upset and I probably
, as I reflect on it, you know,when all those businesses were
looted, when it was broke, Ifelt for those businesses
because- so didn't you rallylike 5,000 people to get
downtown to help clean up?
(21:26):
Yeah, so about I think it waslike 5,700 people came down
cleaned up we raised about$200,000.
And then for those businessesto open back up.
And then we ended up marchingwith some of the young people
and I hired some peacekeepersand that's why I got in trouble,
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Some of the young people you said how can you?
You need to walk among your ownpeople.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, you don't need them.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
We're not.
It's not for you.
This energy is not for you.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, they weren't filling the peacekeeper thing
right, and so my concern like itwas funny, because a lady just
today sent me a message onFacebook saying that her
daughter called a felony from anincident like that in another
city and it has ruined her life,oh, wow, and so I was concerned
then.
You know that if kids weregoing to be breaking in stores
(22:11):
that they would eventually becharged with a felony.
So I wanted peacekeepers outthere, not to police the kids
but to help them make informeddecisions, to help distribute
water.
But for whatever reason, somepeople were distorting what our
intentions were, which resultedin some young people doing a
petition to have me fire, and soit was like 3,000 people signed
(22:34):
it.
Wow, there was organizers atthe rally.
It was like signing thispetition and then it come out of
nowhere.
There was a young lady namedKeith Johnson in February did a
counter petition and like 10,000people signed it.
They're like I know we support,you know his leadership.
It was a tough moment because Ihad to figure out how to keep
our employees from not goinghomeless and to make sure they
(22:56):
got paid, but also had on mymind how would we feed our kids
in this community, and so wepartnered with Mass 365 and Feed
Kitchen and ended up feedinghundreds and hundreds of kids
every single day and we launchedfood trucks, you know, across
the city and we raised moneyaround that.
So I was really proud of likewhat we did during the pandemic.
(23:17):
But my wife, you know she wassomething else, you know she I
would come home and she wouldmake me shower in the garage.
She made a, she made amakeshift shower with a water
hose and put up like a curtainand made me shower every day in
the garage before I even had totake off all my clothes and
shower in the garage.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
She wasn't going to no grocery store, she wasn't
doing none of that.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
She sent you Well my wife at the time was wearing a
mask, a face shield, I mean shewas taking she was every time we
went to the grocery store.
She went, but she will make uswipe down all of the groceries
in the garage, the bags, and itwould take us 40 minutes, almost
an hour, to do that every time.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
My wife was pregnant, so she was like about eight
months pregnant when it reallyhit and no, she didn't go
anywhere.
You know she worked from homeand she didn't leave.
So she was like I would go goto work, do all the grocery
shopping, do everything, andthen come home and she's at the
door, spray everything down,wash her hands, leave your shoes
(24:24):
outside, this and that I'mpregnant.
I don't want the baby.
I'm like you know, I get it, Iget it, so I feel your pain.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
But you got to have people like that.
Like I applaud my wife.
She kept us healthy and duringthe pandemic, kept our kids
healthy and we did a lot ofbiking during that time.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
We did a lot of walking on the bike trail.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
No, that's yeah that kept us sane man.
So kudos to your wife formaking that a priority.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So what was your guilty pleasure show during the
pandemic?
I tell you mine.
You know my own survivor.
Yeah, you're a survivor I loved.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I got into a survivor during the pandemic, so I tell
you I watch survivor shows likethat, but I'm maybe it's the
alter ego Michael Johnson.
I really like gangster moviesand gangster shows and so I
watch shows like you know, powerlike, like I watch shows like
BML during the pandemic, youknow, I was watching every
gangster flick that you can, youknow, think of, and because so
(25:24):
many of those stories I couldrelate to, like coming from how
I grew up and you know friendsand family members of mine who
was killed in the streets or doa lot of prison time, but for
whatever reason, I just likewatching, you know, movies like
that.
My aunt was, was interested.
My wife does not like watchingmovies like this, so I have to
go to the basement because shelike those old songs.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
I was about to say she, so she's dictated what's
going on.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
She like those old, soft, like I won't say, because
Lorenz Taylor is a good friendof mine those love Jones type
movies, and I don't know man, Ilike Frankie Lyman.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I like that's my movie.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Now he snapped, he snapped, he snapped in that in
that movie man Over time.
Man, I've you know I'm onLorenz Tate and the Tate family.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
You like the old dog Lorenz Tate?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So I'll tell the story.
I was with Lorenz this summerin Chicago, so I'm on his on
their family foundation boardand he spent a lot of time in it
.
I actually in this room with us, him and his three brothers,
because we're working on aproject in Chicago together.
We were on the West side in theold neighborhood that we grew
up with, and he was like man, Ilove this, I love it and I watch
(26:28):
him.
I said, oh my God.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So that's all I saw it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I saw it in his image as he were like sitting,
because he was very animatedabout like what he was trying to
express to me.
And I looked, I was like theygo oh, dog, and what a nostalgic
experience.
Yeah, yeah, and them brothersare.
They're amazing, man.
They're trying to do somethingphenomenal on the West side of
(26:52):
Chicago and I just recently Ididn't know them as kids.
I stayed on one side of theWest side and they stayed on the
other side.
So I just happened to meet themthrough a project.
They came, we invited them fora grand opening.
A mutual friend of ours knewthem and then when they came
here and saw like what we weredoing here, lorenz was in the
basement and he was like man,can we talk to you for a minute?
(27:13):
And he was like man, brother, Ijust can't believe what y'all
did with this facility.
We want to do something similarand can we connect?
So I ended up meeting with themin Chicago at a hotel and then
we met again on the West side.
Then they came here.
We had a retreat.
His foundation and his team allcame here for a retreat and
we've been friends.
You know every since.
Man, those are some really,really good dudes, so fast
(27:36):
forward a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Some of the things that you were able to accomplish
during the pandemic was justamazing.
One notable thing is the statue, miss Phillips, that you got
downtown on the Capitol Squarethe first black woman to ever be
elected into the stateleadership role.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
A group of students that said there was no
representation at the stateCapitol and that you know, mr
Johnson, if you really want tohelp us, you will make sure that
there's representation at thestate Capitol and at the time I
was like I'm not an electedofficial.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Right, what do y'all think that I actually do?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And so I'll be honest with you, I didn't know how to
respond to it.
I just said, okay, and let melook into it Right.
So I called the governor'soffice the following morning and
I wanted to just confirm.
I said, you know, is there anyrepresentation of people of
color?
And his chief of staff hadconfirmed that it wasn't.
And so I started talking topeople throughout the state and
Vail Phillips' name kept comingup.
(28:32):
So I called us.
I said what would it cost tohave a statue built?
And he originally told me itwould be about $400,000.
But you had to get support fromboth the Democrats and the
Republicans.
So I had to get some help.
We went and met with SpeakerVolks, we went and met with
other Republicans, we went andmet with the governor, we went
and met with Sheila Stubbs and abunch of other you know
Democrats to make sure that wehad support from both sides of
(28:55):
the aisle.
And we did.
It was unanimously voted.
And as a result of that, becausethat doesn't happen Not in this
day and time, vail Phillipswill be the first black woman in
the United States to have asingular statue at a Capitol in
the United States, and it'sreally those young people that
made that happen.
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Michael Johnson from Boys
and Girls Clubs.
Michael Johnson, the 2022in-business executive of the
year, michael Johnson.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, yeah, real honor, man, to get an award like
that, especially from, you know, in-business magazine.
But it's a testament to youknow, we have an amazing staff
here, an amazing group ofvolunteers who help us do our
work here, you know, at Boys andGirls Clubs, and then we have
an amazing board who folks whoare committed to helping
(00:33):
children and families in ourcommunity, and so it's a real
honor to receive that kind ofrecognition.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Dina's got the whole city buzzing the Pay it Forward
campaign.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, man, when I was a kid, growing up in the
projects, I didn't likeChristmas man because my mother
was a beautiful woman.
But my mother had.
She was on very limited income,she had schizophrenia, she was
on social security, she was asingle mother and she did
everything she could to try toprovide for our family.
And even though we lived in theprojects, I used to see my
(01:06):
friends like get these nicelittle bikes and all these toys
and they had Christmas tees andthey had nice designer shoes and
we didn't have that as kids.
And it always bothered me thatwhile I felt like my mother did
so much, I knew we didn't havemuch right.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So I said, if I have a very rare because as a kid,
when you grow up poor, youactually don't know that you're
poor for until way later on.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, I didn't really know until I started working at
13.
I worked for a guy who owned agrocery store across the street
and he had invited me to a citycalled Glenview, Illinois at the
time I think it was one of therichest suburbs outside of
Chicago.
What was the name of the store?
It was called Cajones.
It was owned by Peter Goetjes,who now lives in Kenosha, and I
(02:04):
remember he took me to his housein Glenview and I couldn't
believe.
It's interesting because when Idescribed it to him, he said,
Mike, my house really wasn'tthat nice and I said, Peter, I
got to go back and see thathouse because what I remember
was a swim pool in the backyard,huge, gigantic rooms.
All his kids had individualrooms, they had a gourmet
kitchen and, like I, lived in athree-bedroom apartment with
(02:26):
cockroaches Exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I remember going to that house like, oh my God, this
is filthy rich.
Like that's what it felt liketo me.
When he tells the story, hesaid no, it was a modest half a
million dollar house Now modest,half a million dollars in the
1990s.
It wasn't modest.
It may have been modest forsome upper middle class people,
(02:49):
but it was like it opened myeyes.
It opened my eyes up and so hejust exposed me to something I
had never seen.
It made me dream bigger.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Your Pay it For initiative has inspired the city
and it actually has inspired ushere, so we would actually like
to pay it forward to you today.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, so we have a local artist.
Her name is Danny.
She actually helped us createthis gift that we want to
present to you.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
How did y'all get these?
Y'all want to borrow one.
We do our research, man.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Oh my God, that is dope JoJoTwenty.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Hold on.
Oh my God, that is hold on.
I got to share that.
Oh my God, that is dope.
Wow, oh my God, that is super.
I'm putting some of these in adisplay case and I'm going to
(03:47):
put these in there.
That is oh my gosh, she, I gota text to her real quick that is
.
That is super.
That is super, joe, and youknow, and I love this couple
because they are absolutelyamazing, so I just got to send
this to them real quick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Wow, well, you pay it for in our community so much.
We felt like that.
We really wanted to honor youand give you something for all
the things that you do for thecommunity.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Man, this is, this is dope.
This is well.
I appreciate it Like to me,this is very thoughtful the the
time that you know she spentputting this together.
John and Joe Ellen, they mean alot to me because you know one
of the reasons we're able to doso many things in this community
A lot of times they're one of afew people that can reach out
(04:35):
to who actually are committed toproviding a helping hand to
somebody else.
So it's pretty, pretty, prettycool.
So thank you Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, we got sidetracked.
That's dope, let's get backinto it, okay, okay, let me.
Let me do this Shout out HolyGod's clothing, best clothing in
the world, and we actually havea gift for you, some official.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Holy.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
God's merchandise, and this is the owner of.
Holy God's clothing brand.
His name is Kingston Robinson.
He brought actually a littlebit of merch for you today.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
This is the first time I've come to a podcast
radio show to interview andsomebody's giving us some shoes
and some clothes.
This is the first for me.
Thank you, man.
I appreciate that Much love.
Wow.
What I love about Payette Fordman is I see myself as a bridge
builder, a connector, and one ofthe reasons I talked about like
(05:32):
how I have friends who has PhDs, geds, people who are rich and
poor.
It allowed me to connect someof my wealthy friends and donors
to people who just need help.
So Payette Ford is aboututilizing your resources to pay
it for to other people.
When I leave here today, I'mgoing to go and bless a
custodian with a thousand dollargift.
(05:55):
I'm going to another schooltoday to give a public school
teacher a $500 gift, and this isnot money that I'm taking from
Boys and Girls School.
It's simply utilize my platform, my personal platform, do
social media, to ask people topay it for it.
A couple of weeks ago, we gave athousand dollar tip to a
(06:15):
waitress on Thanksgiving DayLast year.
We did it and I can believe itmade international news.
It was covered in Japan.
It was covered in Tokyo.
It was covered in Canada.
Wow, it was on MSNBC and wejust simply gave a tips to
waiters across the city and tryto utilize resources to help pay
people rent, to help do allthese things just to give a
(06:38):
helping hand to somebody whomight be in a challenging
circumstance.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It hasn't just inspired me personally and my
team, but it's inspired theentire city and the world.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know, thank you, man.
I appreciate it, man, and we'llbe doing this all the way up
until people are watching us.
We'll be doing this all the wayup into Christmas Day.
Wow, so for the last 15 yearsI've worked.
I work until me and my teamuntil about two o'clock on
Christmas and I literally cannotenjoy Christmas unless I know
(07:10):
that we paid it for for otherfamilies and we've done things
from helping to get somebody ahouse to renovating somebody's
house, to get away with carsfurnishing houses.
It's just kind of what we do,and sometimes I get criticized
for it, you know.
But I've learned in this cityyou have to have big alligator
skin, oh yeah, and you just gotto go out there and do it and
(07:30):
some people will talk.
I'm sorry, stop and excuse mePlease.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
What the I'm sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Sorry sponsors, we want to give a special shout out
to JYC Jackson's Yard Care thebest, the best.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I love what that brother is doing to me.
Jyc is amazing.
I remember when he started hisbusiness in the sea, like what
he's taking that to with his bigwarehouse and all the heavy
equipment that he had reallysent.
I think he's the largestAfrican American own landscaper
in Southern.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Wisconsin.
Not only that, the man just wonpeople's choice awards.
Yeah, he did landscaping.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He deserved it and that brother also.
We went down to Houston, texas.
He drove all the way.
We went down there and rescuedsome families doing the floods
down there, and we went downthere with some boats and had a
team down there to bring peopleto Wisconsin and he drove all
the way there, him and his wife,wow To help us deliver things.
Well, maybe that was Joplin,was it?
(08:31):
It was either Joplin or Houston, but I remember being on a road
with him for 16, 17 hours andthey're a real deal and I'd be
remiss if I don't say this.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And always remember you have the right to a
beautiful yard.
Jackson's Yard Care Sounds justlike him.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
He runs some of the wildest commercials you ever
seen.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Oh, I love him, I love him and shout out to
Giovanni Giovanni.
I can't wait till you do aninterview with Giovanni Madness
is the most famous dog, the mostfamous dog, and we have a
little saying in the heat ofbattle he don't miss, yeah, no
doubt about that.
No doubt about that.
How was it working withPresident Obama?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
It was interesting.
My first contribution I everreceived as a large contribution
was from back then.
He was a.
He was either a staterepresentative or a state
senator on the south side ofChicago, so I ran the Boys and
Girls Clubs in a neighborhoodcalled Inglewood.
It was at Inglewood High School, so it was the first Boys and
Girls Club that had ever beeninside of Chicago Public School.
(09:39):
And so that year there was ayoung lady named Ryan who was
killed.
Her last name was Ryan andthey've since named a park after
her and she was.
It was a very brutal murder, andthat year Bill Clinton had came
to Chicago because it was namedthe murder capital in the world
and at that time a lot of kidswere dying on the south side of
(09:59):
Chicago, like people talk about.
You know, crime now in Chicagois bad.
You know, back in the you know80s and 90s there was 2, 2500
people dying there every singleyear.
I think they're hovering aroundsix or 700, which is way too
many.
So I wanted to do this.
There were some kids who gaveme an idea about doing a march
against violence, but theydidn't want to do the
(10:19):
traditional march.
They wanted to have a concertoutside on 63rd Street, hall
Street, and I actually thought,like I was, like the city is not
going to let us down, nothinglike that.
A major street, and then thekids kept pushing me and was
like you know, mr Johnson, ifyou want to make it happen, you
can make it happen.
Now I don't know what kind ofcloud these kids thought I had,
but I did not have that kind ofcloud.
(10:40):
And so somebody told me that Ineed to talk to my state rep and
happen to be staterepresentative Barack Obama.
So I meet him and at the timemy assistant director was a
Muslim woman.
Now, keep in mind I was only, Ithink, 23, 24 years old at the
time and my assistant director,I think she was in her mid 50s.
She was a lot more mature thanI was and so she said you need
(11:02):
to go in there and ask him forsome money and like $100,000.
And I was like that's not eventhe size of our budget.
I'm not going to ask him forthat kind of money, but I'm
going to ask him to like getinvolved and maybe ask his plan
as an event.
So I meet with him and heagrees to it.
We called it the first annualwalk against violence for
Chicago's youth and he shared itwith me, came to the meetings
(11:24):
and then I remember the coupleof meetings I had asked him for
a contribution.
So I asked him for $500.
And even though my assistantdirector was like you should
have been asking for more, heactually checked me and said,
hey, if you're going to ask anelected official for some
resources, no extra $500.
And they turned around and gota $5,000 gift for us.
And so that's how I met him.
(11:45):
And so it's interesting Like Iremember him sitting in meetings
with us and this was in likethe early, like the mid 1990s,
like 94, you know 95.
And then by the time heannounced that he was running
for president, I was working forthe mayor of Philadelphia and
so I had shared with the mayorthat I had worked with him.
It's interesting, in Chicagoeverybody know me by my nickname
(12:07):
, so I hadn't seen the presidentin years.
So I'm standing in line to meethim and then he looks over me
and said Boo-Boo-Loo.
And everybody was like what didhe just say?
I was like I was like that wasmy nickname in Chicago.
So I grew up with the nicknameBoo-Boo-Loo and when I saw him I
couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That's an out of the box exclusive right there,
nobody knew that.
That's exclusive.
Just to let you know.
You got to hear first, so yousee him, you run into him.
He instantly remembers you,yeah.
You guys spent a lot of timetogether.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, it was dope man , it was.
It was.
It was interesting because atthat point I wanted to go to the
White House and I wanted to go,I wanted to go work with him.
And so I got an opportunity togo through a process and I went
to DC, you know, with my family,and this was like right before
I was coming to Madison, and Ijust think God has a way of
(13:05):
plotting your path.
And so DC is extremelyexpensive to live.
I couldn't believe how muchthey wanted for those apartments
, and at the time my wife wasworking in Philadelphia.
I was a deputy commissioner andthe salary wasn't that much
different than what I wasalready making, and so,
(13:25):
unfortunately, I just was not ina position to, you know, make
that move, and I'm actually gladI didn't make that move.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, the city is glad that you didn't.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, a lot of cities actually we're going to get to
that.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
You got a quote here that you posted not too long ago
that I really like.
It says I have friends withdegrees, llcs, felonies and GEDs
some rich, some poor and manyare in between.
I've learned from them all.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
No doubt, no doubt.
Yeah, I'm fortunate man.
You know, growing up I grew upin one of the toughest public
housing developments in Chicagoand growing up a Chicago housing
authority, you know, in theAbelahomes on Roosevelt racing
on the 16th floor.
I've met some amazing people inmy life and sometimes people
you know, they put these titleson you.
I use a CEO and I've justlearned, you know, whether you
(14:12):
got a PhD, a GED, whether you'rea felon, whether you have a lot
of hot net worth, I've learnedfrom different experiences, from
different people, and I thinkit's made me a better person
because of the diversity of therelationships that I have.
And even in this community,there are people who are
(14:33):
convicted felons that I know andthat I meet with and I spend
time with.
But there's also people in thiscommunity that's worth two,
three hundred, four, fivehundred million dollars that I
spend time with.
And then there's people who arehighly educated that I spend
time with and people not sohighly formally educated that I
spend time with.
And those experiences withthose people, I think keeps me
(14:55):
grounded and I learn as a resultof spending time with all those
different kinds of folks.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's super important, because my mother
always told me you can learnsomething from a fool.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
You can learn something from a two-year-old.
If you're looking for you can,you can find it.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
When you're talking about in the search of knowledge
, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I mean Malcolm Macs once said that.
One of my favorite quotes iseducation is a lifelong process.
You're never too old or nevertoo smart to continue to learn,
and as you mature into your role, generations and issues around
whether it's kids or communitiesare always evolving, and you
(15:34):
always particularly if you areleading anything need to be
thinking about how yourleadership will evolve.
And people who don't do thatthey see their businesses I'm
going out of business or theymight see there they may not be
as impactful as they once werewhen they ran an organization.
So I just try to learn from thepeople that are around me and I
(15:55):
try my best to also stay humble.
So no matter how much successthat one may perceive that you
have, it can always be takenaway, whether it's your health
or I'm somebody that might havea little bit more influence than
you, and so I just learned tobe resourceful but also to be
humble and to be thankful forwhat God has given you to be
(16:17):
able to help and help in helpingsomebody else.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
February 24th.
Why is that day so significant?
I was at the St Louis Day.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's the Mayor.
St Louis I can't remember whatyear it was I was it's when I
had announced I was leaving theYMCA and Mayor Francis Slay,
who's the Mayor of St Louis atthe time, had issued a
proclamation and named that dayin my honor.
I'll tell you, you know Madisonis.
A lot of people criticizeMadison, but Madison is by far
(16:48):
the best place that I've stayedin terms of from a career
perspective.
Now we have some otherchallenges around culture, other
challenges around how weeducate our babies, but for at
least for me, madison has been agreat place to stay.
St Louis, I feel like I leftprematurely.
Really, I was a vice presidentfor the YMCA.
I had some had no fundraisingexperience when I got there and
(17:10):
was really afraid to take thatjob and was actually shocked
that they made me a VP.
But I was.
I was thankful and I remembergoing into that job scared that
I was going to fail my familyand also fail my colleagues who
was working with me at the time,and so I did everything I could
to meet with people to try tolift up those YMCA's that were
(17:31):
in challenging communities and Ijust couldn't believe how
quickly that community hadembraced my leadership and I got
to a point where I think ourCEO at the time was, I think in
his mid sixties, and he was agood guy, but I was like man, if
he could be a CEO, I could be aCEO Right.
And and I just at the time Ijust didn't have the patience to
(17:52):
like wait.
And so I remember applying forjobs and I was shocked, like, at
the number nonprofitorganizations that were willing
to hire me in a CEO role.
So the first interview I got Itook the job and it was, and I
would say I never seen anythingas a mistake.
But that was the first timethat I learned that sometimes
(18:13):
the grass is not always greeneron the other side and sometimes
you can't chase titles to makeyou happy.
And I learned that.
And so I was thankful for theopportunity in St Louis and very
thankful for the mayor at thetime, because that last day
there I cried and I justremember, like man this is, I
had only been there two yearsand so for the mayor to do that,
(18:37):
there was about 500 people thatshowed up.
Am I going away party into thisday?
I still have a lot of friendsin St Louis, good friends that I
go back and see on a regularbasis, and some of them actually
have come here to work for meand have moved on to other
cities doing other things.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I want to get into the thick of it 2020,.
We almost lost you as the CEOof Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, yeah.
It's a very, very pivotal time,not only for you and your
family, but for all of us.
You almost stepped down.
Yeah, can you take us throughthe process of that?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
decision man.
I did that privately.
I don't know how you know allthis stuff the best.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I don't know how you know that when the pandemic hit
I had written a resignation tothe president of our board at
the time because I couldn'timagine a Boys and Girls Clubs
without kids in our buildingevery day.
And maybe at the time I waslimited in my thinking, just
didn't know how we could survive, right.
(19:40):
And so my board was likeabsolutely not.
So they did not accept yourregular and my board president
at the time was at MadisonCollege.
She was like you figure it out,like just chill.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Was it more of a health concern also, like were
you concerned for your health?
Like as far as like, yourpersonal health, your wife, your
kids?
It was a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, it was crazy.
My wife was like so this wasright before that.
And my wife was like you needto come home and just chill,
right.
And I tried for like two daysand I just couldn't do it and I
didn't.
The George Floyd thing happenedyeah all that stuff was going on
right and so I pretty much waslike, nah, I'm going out there.
(20:24):
And so my board chair was like,just figure it out.
So we decided we were going totry to raise a couple of hundred
thousand dollars to supportnonprofits doing like doing this
period.
And we had a partner with likeMadison 365, american Family
Insurance, United Way and awhole bunch of other folks and
we had to raise over $3 millionand we distributed that out to
(20:46):
about I think, 41 organizationsat the time.
So then the George Floyd thinghit.
Then, you know, at the timeBrandi Grayson is my.
She's amazing.
At the time I did not likeBrandi Grayson.
I was actually on her showtalking about this because she
once called me the torch bearerof white supremacy and we went
(21:06):
back and forth.
She was tough and during thattime there were some people that
was coming at me, there weresome people upset and I probably
, as I reflect on it, you know,when all those businesses were
looted, when it was broke, Ifelt for those businesses
because- so didn't you rallylike 5,000 people to get
downtown to help clean up?
(21:26):
Yeah, so about I think it waslike 5,700 people came down
cleaned up we raised about$200,000.
And then for those businessesto open back up.
And then we ended up marchingwith some of the young people
and I hired some peacekeepersand that's why I got in trouble,
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Some of the young people you said how can you?
You need to walk among your ownpeople.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, you don't need them.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
We're not.
It's not for you.
This energy is not for you.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, they weren't filling the peacekeeper thing
right, and so my concern like itwas funny, because a lady just
today sent me a message onFacebook saying that her
daughter called a felony from anincident like that in another
city and it has ruined her life,oh, wow, and so I was concerned
then.
You know that if kids weregoing to be breaking in stores
(22:11):
that they would eventually becharged with a felony.
So I wanted peacekeepers outthere, not to police the kids
but to help them make informeddecisions, to help distribute
water.
But for whatever reason, somepeople were distorting what our
intentions were, which resultedin some young people doing a
petition to have me fire, and soit was like 3,000 people signed
(22:34):
it.
Wow, there was organizers atthe rally.
It was like signing thispetition and then it come out of
nowhere.
There was a young lady namedKeith Johnson in February did a
counter petition and like 10,000people signed it.
They're like I know we support,you know his leadership.
It was a tough moment because Ihad to figure out how to keep
our employees from not goinghomeless and to make sure they
(22:56):
got paid, but also had on mymind how would we feed our kids
in this community, and so wepartnered with Mass 365 and Feed
Kitchen and ended up feedinghundreds and hundreds of kids
every single day and we launchedfood trucks, you know, across
the city and we raised moneyaround that.
So I was really proud of likewhat we did during the pandemic.
(23:17):
But my wife, you know she wassomething else, you know she I
would come home and she wouldmake me shower in the garage.
She made a, she made amakeshift shower with a water
hose and put up like a curtainand made me shower every day in
the garage before I even had totake off all my clothes and
shower in the garage.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
She wasn't going to no grocery store, she wasn't
doing none of that.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
She sent you Well my wife at the time was wearing a
mask, a face shield, I mean shewas taking she was every time we
went to the grocery store.
She went, but she will make uswipe down all of the groceries
in the garage, the bags, and itwould take us 40 minutes, almost
an hour, to do that every time.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
My wife was pregnant, so she was like about eight
months pregnant when it reallyhit and no, she didn't go
anywhere.
You know she worked from homeand she didn't leave.
So she was like I would go goto work, do all the grocery
shopping, do everything, andthen come home and she's at the
door, spray everything down,wash her hands, leave your shoes
(24:24):
outside, this and that I'mpregnant.
I don't want the baby.
I'm like you know, I get it, Iget it, so I feel your pain.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
But you got to have people like that.
Like I applaud my wife.
She kept us healthy and duringthe pandemic, kept our kids
healthy and we did a lot ofbiking during that time.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
We did a lot of walking on the bike trail.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
No, that's yeah that kept us sane man.
So kudos to your wife formaking that a priority.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So what was your guilty pleasure show during the
pandemic?
I tell you mine.
You know my own survivor.
Yeah, you're a survivor I loved.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I got into a survivor during the pandemic, so I tell
you I watch survivor shows likethat, but I'm maybe it's the
alter ego Michael Johnson.
I really like gangster moviesand gangster shows and so I
watch shows like you know, powerlike, like I watch shows like
BML during the pandemic, youknow, I was watching every
gangster flick that you can, youknow, think of, and because so
(25:24):
many of those stories I couldrelate to, like coming from how
I grew up and you know friendsand family members of mine who
was killed in the streets or doa lot of prison time, but for
whatever reason, I just likewatching, you know, movies like
that.
My aunt was, was interested.
My wife does not like watchingmovies like this, so I have to
go to the basement because shelike those old songs.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
I was about to say she, so she's dictated what's
going on.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
She like those old, soft, like I won't say, because
Lorenz Taylor is a good friendof mine those love Jones type
movies, and I don't know man, Ilike Frankie Lyman.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I like that's my movie.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Now he snapped, he snapped, he snapped in that in
that movie man Over time.
Man, I've you know I'm onLorenz Tate and the Tate family.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
You like the old dog Lorenz Tate?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So I'll tell the story.
I was with Lorenz this summerin Chicago, so I'm on his on
their family foundation boardand he spent a lot of time in it
.
I actually in this room with us, him and his three brothers,
because we're working on aproject in Chicago together.
We were on the West side in theold neighborhood that we grew
up with, and he was like man, Ilove this, I love it and I watch
(26:28):
him.
I said, oh my God.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So that's all I saw it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I saw it in his image as he were like sitting,
because he was very animatedabout like what he was trying to
express to me.
And I looked, I was like theygo oh, dog, and what a nostalgic
experience.
Yeah, yeah, and them brothersare.
They're amazing, man.
They're trying to do somethingphenomenal on the West side of
(26:52):
Chicago and I just recently Ididn't know them as kids.
I stayed on one side of theWest side and they stayed on the
other side.
So I just happened to meet themthrough a project.
They came, we invited them fora grand opening.
A mutual friend of ours knewthem and then when they came
here and saw like what we weredoing here, lorenz was in the
basement and he was like man,can we talk to you for a minute?
(27:13):
And he was like man, brother, Ijust can't believe what y'all
did with this facility.
We want to do something similarand can we connect?
So I ended up meeting with themin Chicago at a hotel and then
we met again on the West side.
Then they came here.
We had a retreat.
His foundation and his team allcame here for a retreat and
we've been friends.
You know every since.
Man, those are some really,really good dudes, so fast
(27:36):
forward a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Some of the things that you were able to accomplish
during the pandemic was justamazing.
One notable thing is the statue, miss Phillips, that you got
downtown on the Capitol Squarethe first black woman to ever be
elected into the stateleadership role.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
A group of students that said there was no
representation at the stateCapitol and that you know, mr
Johnson, if you really want tohelp us, you will make sure that
there's representation at thestate Capitol and at the time I
was like I'm not an electedofficial.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Right, what do y'all think that I actually do?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And so I'll be honest with you, I didn't know how to
respond to it.
I just said, okay, and let melook into it Right.
So I called the governor'soffice the following morning and
I wanted to just confirm.
I said, you know, is there anyrepresentation of people of
color?
And his chief of staff hadconfirmed that it wasn't.
And so I started talking topeople throughout the state and
Vail Phillips' name kept comingup.
(28:32):
So I called us.
I said what would it cost tohave a statue built?
And he originally told me itwould be about $400,000.
But you had to get support fromboth the Democrats and the
Republicans.
So I had to get some help.
We went and met with SpeakerVolks, we went and met with
other Republicans, we went andmet with the governor, we went
and met with Sheila Stubbs and abunch of other you know
Democrats to make sure that wehad support from both sides of
(28:55):
the aisle.
And we did.
It was unanimously voted.
And as a result of that, becausethat doesn't happen Not in this
day and time, vail Phillipswill be the first black woman in
the United States to have asingular statue at a Capitol in
the United States, and it'sreally those young people that
made that happen.
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