User talk:Valjohn1

Dr. Valerie C. Johnson is associate professor and chair of the Political Science Department at DePaul University. She was born in Buffalo, New York and graduated from North Carolina A&T State University (B.A. 1984), Atlanta University (M.A. 1984), and the University of Maryland, College Park (Ph.D. 1995). She has resided in Chicago since 1994.

Valerie is the author of Black Power in the Suburbs: The Myth or Reality of African American Suburban Political Incorporation (2002), and co-editor of Power in the City (2008). Currently, she is working on a book entitled: At the Water’s Edge: The Unfinished Business of African American Equality. Her research interests include African American politics, urban politics, and education policy with a particular focus on the politics of urban education.

Valerie is the former national education spokesperson for Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and has served as a consultant for elected officials and community organizations nationwide.

Valerie is also the chair of the State of Black Chicago Congress (SBCC), which seeks to mobilize all segments of the community of African descent in Chicago to tackle problems in a myriad of areas, including education, joblessness, and crime and violence.

Valerie is dedicated to realizing a world that truly recognizes the dignity of all human beings, and where all people comprehend that we have more commonalities than differences.

Favorite Quotes:

“We are not divided as we are disconnected” Reverend Willie T. Barrow

“We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for” Susan Taylor