Javon Johnson

Javon Johnson is an American spoken word poet, writer, and professor. He is the director of African American and African Diaspora Studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the author of Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities.

Javon Johnson
Born
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationPoet, writer, professor
TitleAssistant Professor and Director of African American and African Diaspora Studies
Academic background
EducationCalifornia State University, Los Angeles
Alma materNorthwestern University
ThesisMy Words Dance: Doing Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Slam and Spoken Word Poetry Communities in Los Angeles and Chicago (2010)
Academic work
DisciplinePerformance studies
Institutions
Main interestsSlam poetry
Notable worksKilling Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities

Early life and education

Johnson was born and raised in Los Angeles. In high school he read the work of Amiri Baraka and Langston Hughes, which inspired him to write poetry.[1] While in college at California State University, Los Angeles, Johnson won first place in Drama Interpretation at the 2002 American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament.[2] He earned his Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University with a dissertation on "race, gender, and sexuality in slam and spoken word poetry communities".[3]

Career

Johnson has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, BET’s Lyric Café, TVOne’s Verses & Flow, The Arsenio Hall Show, and The Steve Harvey Show.[4][5] He also co-wrote the Showtime documentary Crossover.[6] He was on the Da Poetry Lounge slam team that performed in the National Poetry Slam in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013, winning the NPS championship in 2003 and 2004.[7][8] At a 2012 performance at Literary Death Match in Los Angeles, Henry Rollins criticized Johnson's poetry as "basically built for performance".[9] That same year Johnson performed at the Stockton Plea for Peace Center with four fellow poets under the name "Blackson 5".[10] He also contributed essays on race and popular media to the Huffington Post's blog platform.[5] In 2015 Johnson performed at the Fourth of July celebration at Grand Park in Los Angeles.[11] As a member of San Diego PoetrySLAM in 2017, Johnson again took first place at the National Poetry Slam.[12]

After completing his Ph.D. Johnson worked as a USC Visions and Voices postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.[13] Johnson then spent four years as an assistant professor of communication studies at San Francisco State University before becoming the director of African American and African Diaspora Studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[14] His academic research examines poetry communities in Los Angeles, contrasting their democratic possibilities against the experience of struggle and privilege.[15] In 2017 Rutgers University Press published his book Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities, and in 2018 he co-edited the poetry collection End of Chiraq: A Literary Mixtape, which was published by Northwestern University Press.

Bibliography
  • "Manning Up: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Los Angeles' Slam and Spoken Word Poetry Communities", Text and Performance Quarterly, 2010.[16]
  • Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities (Rutgers University Press, 2017) ISBN 9780813580029
  • (Co-editor, with Kevin Coval) The End of Chiraq: A Literary Mixtape (Northwestern University Press, 2018) ISBN 9780810137189

Selected performances
  • "Cuz He's Black", 2013 National Poetry Slam[17][18]
  • "Last Conversation Between Malcolm X and His Daughter", 2014 National Poetry Slam[19]
  • "Debt", 2017 Button Poetry Live[20]
  • "Black and Happy", 2017 Button Poetry Live[21]

References
  1. Sheridan, Matthew (October 28, 2014). "Javon Johnson sparks discussion through poetry". The Villanovan.
  2. "CSULA student is crowned National Forensic Champion". Los Angeles Sentinel. May 30, 2002. p. A12.
  3. "Recent Dissertations". Northwestern School of Communication. Northwestern University. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  4. Adorno, Jailene (February 2, 2017). "Writing Poetry from a Place of Love". COLOR Magazine. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  5. "Javon Johnson | HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  6. Rowland, Marijke (December 10, 2014). "Vets vs. newbies at poetry's grand slam in Modesto". The Modesto Bee. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  7. "Javon Johnson | PSi Scores [beta]". scores.poetryslam.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  8. "Poetry Slam Inc". poetryslam.com. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  9. Kellogg, Carolyn (July 12, 2012). "Literary Death Match: Henry Rollins not big on spoken word". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  10. Sauro, Tony (October 18, 2012). "Slam poets hope to reach local at-risk youths". The Record. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  11. Shepherd, Katie (July 4, 2015). "Downtown L.A. decked in red, white and blue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  12. Bradford, Ryan (November 15, 2017). "Best of San Diego 2017 (People): Chrissy Croft". San Diego CityBeat. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  13. Mukerji, Payal (August 17, 2012). "Slam poet takes the stage at Bovard". Daily Trojan. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  14. Hollingsworth, Karen S. (May 29, 2018). "New Face: Javon Johnson". UNLV News Center. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  15. Hassert, Joseph Alan (May 1, 2014). The Collaborative Performance of Open Mic Poetry and the Art of Making Do (PhD). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. pp. 36, 127, 162. OCLC 909914386. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  16. Johnson, Javon (2010-10-01). "Manning Up: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Los Angeles' Slam and Spoken Word Poetry Communities". Text and Performance Quarterly. 30 (4): 396–419. doi:10.1080/10462937.2010.511252. S2CID 192233974.
  17. "Cuz He's Black". Poets & Writers. 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  18. Blacksher, Anthony (2014-09-07). ""Cuz He's Black" by Javon Johnson". Spit Journal. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  19. "(Video) Javon Johnson | Last Conversation Between Malcolm X and His Daughter". The Poet's List. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  20. Dixon, Danielle (2017-02-21). "On Being a Black Student, Being in Debt, and a Failing Education System". Soul Reflectionz. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  21. Dixon, Danielle (2017-01-10). "Javon Johnson on Being Black and Happy". Soul Reflectionz. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
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