Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Author of Skill in Action; Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World--is a Diversity Equity and Inclusion facilitator, self-proclaimed justice warrior, intuitive healer, yoga teacher, and author. Like a Sociologist, she teaches people how to acknowledge and accept human differences and reiterates the importance of connection. Johnson has led dismantling racism work across sectors for over twenty years. Her professional background includes twenty years as a practicing-licensed clinical social worker. Johnson currently focuses on her entrepreneurial endeavors as a train-the-trainer-activist dismantling racist practices and policies through yoga and storytelling from a trauma-informed social justice lens. In short, Johnson trains groups and organizations on anti-oppression practices to create community and global resilience in the wake of generational trauma caused by white supremacy and colonialist social construction. Johnson is an African-American BIPOC woman from North Carolina. Her self-titled business engages in monthly interviews to “ amplify the brilliance and wisdom of people who have found ways to honor their grief and stay centered amidst the turmoil in the world"(M. Johnson personal communication, April 1 , 2023). I was honored to discuss dismantling racism and cultivating resilience in mind-body-spirit spaces with Johnson on April 2, 2023, through a ZOOM conference. We learned from one another regarding best practices for speaking with groups of people with intersecting identities. She described the importance of holding facilitation groups accountable with agreements co-created at the beginning of each meetup. Agreements in this group setting govern how each group member will treat one another and aims to override any toxic, harmful, or oppressive social constructs that may follow group members from their public lives. We discussed how salient attributes like skin color cannot be easily masked when holding space. She says her blackness is the identity she thinks the most about, not necessarily by choice ( M. Johnson personal communication; group discussion, April 1, 2023). We discussed ways to change power structures by remaining true to ourselves and speaking out against oppressive policies and practices. Johnson opened my eyes to methods all facilitators can use to engage with trainees open-mindedly from a grounded approach. When I asked her what we can do as researchers or interventionists to improve her line of work, she said that we must learn how to co-create brave spaces for discussing intersecting oppressions, acknowledging that when we as facilitators cannot guarantee safe spaces for all our participants ( M. Johnson personal communication, April 1, 2023).
YOGA EQUITY TRAINER
Johnson’s teaching style came through our interview as she invited me to recognize how our existence in a toxic culture impacts every aspect of life. She states that we are discouraged from seeing the toxicity and champions that social justice warriors must guide others to see our culture clearly and recognize how social norms parasitically teach us to accept irrationality as rational. Johnson uses the term culture in a transitory way that most closely relates to the sociological definition of society.
I have had the opportunity to learn from Johnson as a student and through the lens of social science ethnographer. Johnson is the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, accessibility & belonging facilitator across yoga programs at LYB. Her role at LYB is to help close the care gap for members of the traumatic brain injury community who identify as black, indigenous, or other identities of color. Johnson highlights the need for facilitators to orient their participants to the present moment at the beginning of each training session or meetup (M. Johnson personal communication, April 1, 2023). This ritual helps her as a trainer to provide brave spaces for all participants to engage in healthy discourse from a yoga-mindfulness approach. She allows us to interact with race as a salient social construct. We discuss how intersecting identities impact self-concept. She shares that group relationships to power and privilege come from a deeper, less salient connection to our ancestors ( M. Johnson personal communication, April 1 , 2023). She discusses race impacting socioeconomic status through political, economic, and “cultural agendas.” As a Sociologist, I understand her use of cultural agenda to mean society and the social construction of race and racism. Her approach to being anti-racist is gentle, critical, and clear. Not harm. Look at the macro to understand the micro. Make room for marginalized voices and amplify those voices until prejudices are drowned out ( M. Johnson personal communication, April 1 , 2023).
Johnson spoke about holding time boundaries, being okay with not having closure in every discussion, and taking the time to listen to the questions of the collective
In her effort to teach me how to be an effective social justice facilitator, Johnson spoke about holding time boundaries, being okay with not having closure in every discussion, and taking the time to listen to the questions of the collective. Johnson led by example, helping me lean into the silence and discomfort of complex topics during our time together. We talked about issues such as white fragility, anti-racism, not using the phrase" because of their skin color,” and acknowledging the hardships of our ancestors to break generational trauma and intolerance. Most of all, heal in our collective grief.
I learned from Johnson that there is a deep need for equity and justice warriors. There is room for my voice and perspective in training, facilitation, and education. This uplifted me, as I can feel like an imposter when I enter spaces as an equity warrior with my white skin and southern accent.
Johnson gave me a broader understanding of BIPOC’s lived experiences by retelling her nonlinear journey, forming her career as a self-proclaimed justice warrior. The biggest takeaway from my interview with Johnson is a growing need for training facilitators who help communities co-create meaningful human connections. Johnson combines yoga and storytelling to engage the public sector in anti-racist solidarity. This interview brought me back to my squiggly journey and showed me how a social justice facilitator I admire and look up to is also on a squiggly journey.
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