Allen Johnson was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, an activist in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and he was also a minister of religion.
[2] In 1963, Johnson, like his father once had, became the head pastor at Pratt Memorial United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi.
[3] In 1966, Johnson hosted the Tenth Annual Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the Masonic Temple in Jackson.
[4] Those in attendance, among others, included: Dr. King, Edward Kennedy, James Bevel, Ralph Abernathy, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Fred Shuttlesworth, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.
[5] Dr. King spoke of his dream "that one day the empty stomachs of Mississippi will be filled, that the idle industries of Appalachia will be revitalized.
[7] Allen Johnson and his family were targeted because he was an activist in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the larger civil rights movement.
[2] Around 1967, Johnson and Charles Evers decided to start a very quiet whispering campaign that encouraged blacks to vote for William Winter in the Mississippi's governor's race.
[13] In 1968, with the support of the Mississippi AFL-CIO, Johnson coordinated workshops that taught African-Americans how to participate in local Democratic party meetings.