BWFC Council Member Tammy Johnson is very clear. Her life’s purpose is to be a happy Black woman. She is a dancer, producer, culture keeper, writer, somatics coach, intersectional equity consultant, and godmother extraordinaire. Her kinfolk in Tennessee taught her how to be a love warrior as they fought for their right to just be as Black people. Later as a community organizer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Johnson directed living wage, welfare rights, public education, and election campaigns.

 She spent a decade at Race Forward advancing racial justice as a national organizer, trainer, writer, policy analyst, and public speaker. Johnson co-produced the television special Colorlines: Race and Economic Recovery with LinkTV and has written for the Christian Science Monitor, The Huffington Post, and Colorlines.com. Johnson curated creativesinplace.org, a listening project and digital platform which features the work and stories of Bay Area artists surviving gentrification and a global pandemic. 

Johnson specializes in raks baladi, also known as Egyptian style belly dance. Johnson and Etang Inyang performed as Raks Africa and co-directed the Girls Raks Bellydance and Body Image program for over a decade. In 2016 Johnson was a recipient of Deborah Slater’s Studio 210 Residency Program and is currently a Bridge Live Arts Community Engagement Resident. She has also performed in ChimaTEK: Hybridity Visualization Mandala, created by renowned performance visual artist Saya Woolfalk. As the director of Project Aiwa, Johnson pours the experience of a twenty-year dance career into her performances and community-based collaborations.

More about Tammy can be found at tjuniverse.com