The Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson
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In November 2020, the Living Legacy Project (LLP), experienced a monumental loss with the untimely passing of the Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson, our co-founder, pilgrimage leader, President Emeritus of the LLP, and friend. Hope touched many lives through her leadership and ministry over a dozen years of service to the LLP and many more to the causes of racial and social justice.
We are honored to announce that the Johnson family has named the Living Legacy Project as the beneficiary of gifts made in her memory. In response, the Living Legacy Project Board has created The Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson Legacy Fund, which will help realize the LLP's vital mission that she spent so many years advancing. Hope loved the LLP experience—the bus, the travel, the places, and, especially, the people—but it was so much more to her than that. Hope dreamed that the Living Legacy Project would become a leading organization in transforming lives for the work of justice through the spiritual practice of pilgrimage. Hope knew that this history must be preserved to inspire, encourage, and fortify those who continue the struggle for justice and equity. The Living Legacy Project Board will use the funds raised in Hope’s name to ensure the future of the LLP, so that the courage of Movement veterans will infuse new generations of activists with the strength and devotion needed to build Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream of a global Beloved Community. That was Hope’s dream, too, and with your support, we will work tirelessly to make that dream come true. If you knew Hope, you knew of her fierce, loving, and unstoppable commitment to the LLP
Hope's sister, Dr. Janice Marie Johnson
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Hope at Fanny Lou Hamer's Memorial in Ruleville, MS
Hope thanking the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, in Birmingham, AL, for his courage and determination in the Civil Rights Movement
Hope with the LLP Board and founders at their October 2013 retreat in Garden City, NY
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Hope had a passion for the Living Legacy Project
Reflections by the Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson, LLP’s originator and co-founder The Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson
The Living Legacy Project is so much a collaborative effort that it’s hard to know where to give credit.
Hope Johnson, often in league with her twin sister Janice Marie, brought a great deal to LLP. Through their Jamaican roots and their broad travels, Hope and Janice brought wide multi-cultural viewpoints to our work. They energetically recruited registrants. When needed, they educated about aggressions both micro and macro. They always had energy for the LLP. And in the persons of their daughters they kept us aware of next generation viewpoints and gifts. As I think specifically of what Hope brought to the Living Legacy Project a key gift was her willingness to shoulder organizational responsibility. Hope was our first President, and was giving leadership before we formalized the role with a title. Hope always included a pastoral focus in our planning. Hope was the catalyst for an important innovation: the shorter Pilgrimages we have offered. I witnessed this idea’s birth. Hope and I had been resource people for a one-day visit by Unitarian Universalist leaders to Selma. As we drove to Birmingham for Hope to catch her flight home, she reflected on the impact of even this brief experience. She wondered if we could offer two-to-four-day Pilgrimages, more affordable in both time and money. We have done so ever since. Hope brought much and received much from the Living Legacy Project. She became intimately aware of America’s Deep South and its civil rights stories. As a result of her experiences with the LLP, pilgrimage became a key expression of her spiritual life. In fact, Hope focused her doctoral work on the meaning and importance of pilgrimage. The Living Legacy Project is so much a collaborative effort that it’s hard to know who to credit for what, and that itself may be a legacy of the leadership given by our dearly remembered Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson. |
Reflection by Dr. Janice Marie Johnson, co-founder of the LLP and Hope’s twin sister
 Dr. Janice Marie Johnson
Hope believed in the power of transformation to change hearts and minds. Through her involvement with the Living Legacy Pilgrimage, first as a participant and then as a leader, Hope saw that the experience of a pilgrimage could profoundly transform lives, as it had transformed hers.
The experience of pilgrimage allowed Hope to reach into the deepest recesses of her heart to develop a spiritual connection with the essence of the Civil Rights Movement. She had a deep respect for the brave veterans of the Movement, the striking monuments to those veterans and what they had accomplished, and the artifacts that make meaning of fighting for dignity, fairness, and freedom. Hope dreamt of building a more equitable tomorrow as early as, well, today. And she believed in the power of embodied experiential learning as ministry, as education, and as the best of good stewardship of the inheritance of life. As the Living Legacy Project’s first and longest serving president, Hope championed the mission of the LLP: “to provide experiential education about the American Civil Rights Movement that challenges, inspires, and equips people from diverse backgrounds and identities for justice work in their communities and beyond.” She believed with all her heart that if the LLP lived its mission, its vision of "a just and equitable world free from racism and other systems of oppression" would naturally follow. If you were lucky enough to have been on Pilgrimage with Hope, whether in Alabama, in Mississippi, in Georgia, or elsewhere, you were enveloped in the power of her steadfast belief in the potential of building Beloved Community. You were also enveloped to her warmth, caring, and cheerleading of the LLP! If you knew Hope, you knew of her fierce, loving, and unstoppable commitment to the LLP. |
What Others Say about Hope
Reggie Harris, LLP Co-president, NY Reggie Harris
Hope is the reason that I became part of the Living Legacy family. Her request for collaboration at the Southeastern Unitarian Universalist Gathering in the summer of 2010 was the reason I ended up on the bus and into the LLP fold. Her constant encouragement and openness made me realize that I could help to shape this incredible organization. Her stated of desire also led to my becoming Co-President when she stepped down. Her smile and her unbending push forward made change possible.
Hope and her dear sister Janice also accompanied my cousin Lisa Wickham and I on a journey to our ancestral home in Ashland Virginia helping us to embrace our connection as Black and White relatives at the former slave plantation Hickory Hill. They stood with us that day that day as righteous conduits of love in the same way that Hope's life provided the spiritual substance for change. Hope was a woman of dedication and determination who, once set on a mission, was not to be nudged or pushed off the path. I am a better version of myself as blessed by her love and friendship. Edwin Wight, NYI will always remember with deep appreciation Hope’s amazing Juneteenth celebrations at the UU congregation in Garden City—her gracious hospitality and creativity in bringing us together in common celebration and commitment to racial justice. Her spirit lives on . . .
Barbara Cherem, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, MI Hope and Barbara Cherem on a Living Legacy Pilgrimage
I participated in the pilgrimage of Civil Rights' sites on the 10th anniversary of the UUA's running of these about 4 years back or so and met Dr. Johnson then. Hope was such an uplifting spirit. She was open and enthusiastic, and I sat with her several times over the course of our weeks’ time there in Alabama. She left a mark on me due to hearing of her ongoing work in the midst of already being a very busy person with a full plate of commitments. And yet, she was so passionate about the pilgrimage that she squeezed time for it regularly. I admired her passion and tenacity of spirit. She is missed, and most especially I’m sure by those who knew her far better than my brief encounter.
John Harris, LLP Treasurer, MD John Harris
I worked with the Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson going back to the 80s or 90s in the Metro New York area doing anti-racist and anti-oppression work. I found Rev. Hope to be passionate and committed to making the world a caring and better place for all.
In 2013, I personally experienced the caring and support Rev. Hope is known for. In 2013, my wife (Kathy) and I were scheduled to be on an LLP Pilgrimage. A few months before the Pilgrimage we had to cancel due to a death in my family. Not long after I notified LLP, I received a phone call from Rev. Hope to offer her condolences and time for me and any family member who needed to talk to help with healing. After joining the Living Legacy Project’s Board, it became more apparent of Rev. Hope’s desire and passion to have all treated with love, respect and with equal rights. May we learn from the battles and wins of the Civil Rights movement to foster and encourage leaders now and in the future. Dr. Jan Sneegas, LLP Co-President, MA Jan Sneegas
My take away from my first significant introduction to the Rev. Dr. Hope Johnson, was that Hope was a Force for Good in the World (she was a passenger in a car I was driving from Birmingham to Selma, Alabama, in August, 2014, as part of the planning process for the 50th commemoration of the 1965 Selma Bridge Crossing). This initial impression was fortified and affirmed in every subsequent interaction I had with Hope up until her death. She cared deeply, she loved broadly, she engaged nearly everyone she met in positive action. She was smart and wise. She was funny! She made you believe YOU could make a difference.
Hope Johnson certainly made a difference. 
Hope Johnson
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Molly Scott, NYI remember way back in the early 1980's when Hope and Janice and their daughters first visited our UU church. They lived in the neighborhood and thought they would check it out. They came to the Community Church of New York, stayed, became active in the church and then in the denomination. The gifts and time that they both have given to us in so many ways is mind boggling!! We were blessed indeed!!
Annette Marquis, LLP Director of Operations, VA Hope and Annette Marquis at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL
n the more than twenty years I knew Hope, I never saw her stop dreaming of a better future for all of us. Hope loved her name because it was a clear expression of what she was made of. When Hope embraced something, she jumped in with both feet and knew that even if it didn't work out, the experience would be a teacher.
Hope loved the image of Sankofa (a word in the Akan Twi and Fante languages of Ghana meaning "go back and get") of a bird moving forward while looking toward the past. Hope had a deep respect for those who had gone before and constantly, lifted up the ancestors and elders. Even in the few times when we didn't see eye-to-eye, Hope treated me with dignity and respect, and as a result, we grew even closer together, rather than farther apart. In every such encounter, she taught me how to work more effectively across cultures. I will always be grateful to her for that. I will hear Hope laughter, her exuberance, her excitement, and her encouragement till the end of my days. I miss you, Sistah Hope! Judith Gibson, LLP Co-founder, TN Judy Gibson
Hope brought an important impetus to the development of the Living Legacy Project because of her heartfelt commitment to the impact of on-site pilgrimage on our lives.
She served an important leadership role in the development of our organization. Lori Kenschaft, member, First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington, MAI attended a Living Legacy Pilgrimage with Hope. I will always remember the way she gently accompanied us in our emotional/spiritual processing of what we were learning, and how she helped me find words for my deepening emotional understanding of things I had already intellectually known. I will also always remember her wonderful smile.
The Rev. James A. Hobart, LLP Board, IL Jim Hobart
I never expected to outlive Hope Johnson. She was about 20 years younger than I am. She was vital, alive, brilliant in her role as one of the founders of the LLP. This was just one of her numerous projects which gave life and vitality to her numerous religious and civic engagements. As the leaders of the Civil Rights revolutions in the 1950s and 1960s, she understood that our civic life and our religious life are forever yoked or otherwise we are failing both.
She had a diplomatic core to her being, no doubt learned from her Jamaican diplomat father, which she brought to all her engagements. We all saw it, and engaged along with her in carrying it out. Hope was also able to combine truth-telling with diplomacy to bring people into the shining light of her work for them and with them. She was our friend, teacher, and supporter in our work with her and beyond her. She literally used up her life in serving all these efforts and relationships. It was such an honor to be part of her circle. It would have been difficult to say these things directly to Hope while she lived. I regret I did not find the way and the words to do it. Hope took a place in my being and my acting which I will hold close as long as I live. Kristin Famula, LLP Board, CA
I remember feeling overwhelmed and anxious when I first met Hope through the Living Legacy Project. I felt humbled to be working closely with this larger-than-life person I had heard so much about. Hope of course immediately made me feel like part of the team, and with our shared love of education, life-long learning, and peacebuilding, I felt connected quickly.
I realized later that that was part of her gift, helping you to feel deeply and authentically connected and seen, while also pushing you to think or feel differently and expand your understanding of what is possible in this world. |
If you'd like to share a testimonial, please submit it here: Hope Johnson Written Testimonials