The Kool Kolored Kidz: Paving the Way for the "New Normal" is essentially an offshoot from Dr. Johnson's first work, "Kronicles of a Kolored Kid. Instead of offering the reader a series of single, fragmented short stories, he presents the reader with a high level of chapter continuity. In essence, common themes are webbed throughout the work and familiar voices are echoed in each chapter. Dr. Johnson maintains a unique and genuine sense of humor as he shares numerous narratives in a "laugh-out-loud" fashion. His "way with words" compels the reader to reflect on the past with robust smiles and laughter. Narratives are written with a profound sense of imagery and suspense. He does an outstanding job of capturing the anxiety, fear, excitement, and turbulence of the late 1960s. His close encounter with the Ku Klux Klan is told in a riveting and suspenseful fashion. In addition, he integrates notable sounds of music, such as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, and James Brown to capture the spirit of the times. Johnson's home-to-school and community-to-school narratives support the African Proverb, "It takes a Whole Village to Educate a Child." However, his humorous account of the times forces the reader to relax and enjoy the re-visitation of a tumultuous time in American History.
Henry Vanderbilt Johnson, PhD grew up on the Outer Banks, North Carolina (Manteo) and Hyde County. He is the middle child with four other siblings. His father served the in the United States Army for twenty-one years. While his father was away, he was compelled to play the role of "great protector" of the household. He utterly hated elementary school due to ongoing encounters with bullies and indifferent teachers. He described classroom settings as incarcerated learning environments, teachers as security guards, and principals as wardens. Dr. Johnson describes his elementary and middle school experiences as tortuous and dehumanizing. He began school at the tender age of seven instead of six. He spent two years in the first grade and tolerated ridicule and bullying each day from students who didn't like him. After being retained in the first grade, he experienced another setback during his sophomore year of high school when the black community of his school district elected to stage a boycott in protest of a plan to close all black schools within the county. As such, he was nearly twenty-one years old before graduating high school. Due to his father being in the military, he was accorded numerous opportunities to travel. He lived in France, Germany, Fairfax, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a host of other small towns and cities. Dr. Johnson describes The Kool Kolored Kidz as a synopsis of his experiences growing up as a poor black male in eastern North Carolina. He shares a host of stories about the internal dynamics of the black community, social class systems, rites of passage, and encounters with the Ku Klux Klan, friendships, betrayals, and new epiphanies. He contends that his chronicle will compel you to laugh out loud and shed tears of empathy. Dr. Johnson received a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech, a (CAGS) Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Virginia Tech, an education specialist degree from East Carolina University, a master's degree in Educational Leadership from North Carolina A & T State University, a master's degree in Middle Grades Education and Reading from North Carolina A&T State University, and bachelor of science degree in Intermediate Education from Elizabeth City State University. He is employed at Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, where he serves as an associate professor and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
