Vernon Damani Johnson is the retired Ralph Munro Distinguished Professor of Civic Education, and professor of political science, Western Washington University (USA). His research focus is comparative settler colonial states in the global system. Professor Johnson has authored several scholarly and popular articles on issues ranging from revolution in Africa to race and identity in American politics. He has authored two books: The Structural Origins of Revolution in Africa, Edwin Mellen Press, 2003; and Walkin' the Talk: An Introduction to African American Studies, Prentice-Hall Publishers, 2002 (co-edited with Bill Lyne). He served as the Program Director for the Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education at Western Washington from 2015-21. He was the founding editor-in- chief of the African Journal of Governance and Development and served in that capacity from 2011-18.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Johnson was on the advisory committee to Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Presidential Campaign in 1988 and served on the Steering Committee of the Washington State Rainbow Coalition from 1988-92. In Bellingham, he helped found the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force and chaired its board from 1997-2000. From 2000 to 2003 he was the president of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, a six-state regional human rights organization.

Awards that Professor Johnson has received include the WWU Philip E. Sharpe Community Engagement Award (2015) and “Rosemary and Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award (Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, 2020). In 2003 Professor Johnson’s name was inscribed on the “Wall of Tolerance” at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery Alabama.