Kalimah Johnson

Johnson was born in Detroit and raised on the north side of Detroit by a single mother.{{cite news |last1=Davison |first1=Kahn Santori |title=New days bang |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/new-days-bang/Content?oid=2180902 |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Detroit Metro Times |date=March 9, 2005}} She dropped out of high school, then joined Job Corps in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and later enrolled in Highland Park Community College in 1986. She left community college to pursue a career in hip hop with the stage name Nikki D that was later changed to Eboni and Her Business; she signed with World One Records in 1989 and released an album titled Civilized in 1990. She began performing spoken-word poetry in 1997 and created an album titled DatsWhatImaDu for distribution by Golden Rod Records in 2005.

Johnson graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Social Work, and completed a MSW in 1997.{{cite web |title=Kalimah Johnson |url=https://www.sashacenter.org/kalimah.html |website=SASHA Center |access-date=12 June 2021 |archive-date=12 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612154343/https://www.sashacenter.org/kalimah.html |url-status=dead }} She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In 2004, after conducting research on the migration of her family as slaves, she visited the plantation where they were enslaved. In 2005, a DNA test helped trace her family to the Akan people of Ghana, and she visited Ghana in 2006.{{cite news |last1=Claiborne |first1=Ron |title=Ron Claiborne Visits His African Heritage |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=1927650&page=1 |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=ABC News |date=May 5, 2006}}

She received her Wharton School Athlete Development Professional Certification in 2016.{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Soul Healing Consulting Kalimah Johnson, LLC, Clinical Social Work/Therapist, Detroit, MI, 48207|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/354005|access-date=2021-04-26|website=Psychology Today|language=en-US}}

In 2005, she was working for the Detroit Police Department as a therapist for sexual assault survivors, and worked as a therapist and social worker in the rape counseling center of the police department for ten years.{{cite news |last1=Kozlowski |first1=Kim |title=Kalimah Johnson: Helping Black women feel 'sacred, safe, revered' |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/michiganians-of-year/2020/12/04/kalimah-johnson-helping-black-women-feel-sacred-safe-revered-michiganians-of-the-year/6281617002/ |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=The Detroit News |date=December 3, 2020}}

In 2010, Johnson founded the nonprofit organization SASHA (Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing And Awareness) Center to offer services that include culturally-specific support groups as well as prevention and education programs.{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Akiba |title=On The Ground: These Women Are On The Front Lines Combating Sexual Assault |url=https://www.essence.com/magazine/organizations-combating-sexual-assault/ |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Essence |date=November 1, 2018}} In 2020, Johnson told The Detroit News, "I developed the SASHA Center so Black women can come and tell us (how to heal); we use that and formalize it so Black women can use it from now on." According to The Detroit News, SASHA "developed a model known as the Black Women's Triangulation of Rape, which highlights barriers Black women face when sexually assaulted, including stereotyping, oversexualizing, cultural appropriation and systemic barriers." Johnson founded SASHA to address these barriers.{{cite news |last1=Stateside Staff |title=Detroit advocate reflects on black women's role in #MeToo and impact of R. Kelly series |url=https://www.michiganradio.org/post/detroit-advocate-reflects-black-women-s-role-metoo-and-impact-r-kelly-series |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Michigan Radio |date=January 24, 2019}} A final version of the Triangulation of Rape Model was released in 2018, after Johnson consulted with community members and received input from people on social media.{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Ida |title=This Image Expertly Breaks Down The Cycle Of Rape Black Women Face And How To Help Stop It |url=https://blavity.com/this-image-expertly-breaks-down-the-cycle-of-rape-black-women-face-and-how-to-help-stop-it |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Blavity |date=January 9, 2019}}{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Kalimah|date=2018|title=Culturally Specific Services for African-American Self-Identified Sexual Assault Survivors in Detroit|url=https://www.sashacenter.org/TheSASHAModelPaper2018.pdf|access-date=2021-04-26|archive-date=2022-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207162221/http://sashacenter.org/TheSASHAModelPaper2018.pdf|url-status=dead}}

She has worked as an assistant professor for the Social Work Department at Marygrove College and been a poet in residence for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.{{cite news |last1=Jordan |first1=Jerilyn |title=How Kalimah Johnson's SASHA redefines rape culture for women of color |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/kalimah-johnson-sasha-center/Content?oid=14098875 |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Detroit Metro Times |date=July 25, 2018}}

Johnson has also worked as a consultant for professional sports organizations to educate athletes about relationships, domestic violence, and sexual assault, and is a consultant for the National Basketball Association. As a consultant, Johnson worked with NBA commissioner Adam Silver in 2014, after Charlotte Hornets player Jeffery Taylor pleaded guilty in a domestic violence case.{{cite news |last1=Connolly |first1=Matt |title=The NBA Just Did What No Other Sports League Has Ever Done |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/104674/one-league-just-showed-the-nfl-the-right-way-to-deal-with-domestic-violence |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Mic |date=November 20, 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Draper |first1=Kevin |title=NBA Suspends Jeffery Taylor 24 Games For Domestic Assault, Shades NFL |url=https://deadspin.com/nba-suspends-jeffery-taylor-24-games-for-domestic-assau-1660919470 |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Deadspin |date=November 19, 2014}}

Johnson appears in the 2017 documentary I Am Evidence that followed untested rape kit investigations across the United States.{{Cite magazine|last=Marshall|first=Sarah|date=2018-04-18|title=How I Am Evidence Demands Justice For Victims of Rape|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/148036/evidence-demands-justice-victims-rape|access-date=2021-04-26|issn=0028-6583}}

Johnson was an early organizer of #MuteRKelly protests,{{cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Morgan |title=Is R. Kelly's time up? Movement takes aim at Chicago-born R&B singer |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-met-rkelly-metoo-career-20180503-story.html |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=May 4, 2018}} and in 2018, in response to a long history of sexual abuse and assault allegations against R Kelly, she co-organized a #MuteRKelly protest outside of the Detroit Little Caesars Arena to protest rape culture and sexual violence.{{cite news |last1=Shamus |first1=Kristen Jordan |title=Activists protest R. Kelly at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena: 'Black girls do matter' |url=https://www.khou.com/article/news/entertainment-news/activists-protest-r-kelly-at-detroits-little-caesars-arena-black-girls-do-matter/285-522070865 |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=KHOU 11 |date=February 22, 2018}} At a news conference, Johnson stated, "Black girls do matter, and black girls do have a voice and black girls need more visibility around sexual abuse and assault, and that's why we're here. We're here to have that conversation."

Johnson is also a natural hair stylist. She founded the natural hair care salon, PicNap, LLC, to provide natural hair care and wellness services.{{Cite web|title=PicNap Salon :: About Us|url=http://www.picnap.com/history.html|access-date=2021-04-22|website=www.picnap.com}} In 2008, Johnson published Locs for Life: The Root to Well Being for African American Women, a guide to hair locking, including social, emotional, and spiritual aspects.{{Cite book|last=Johnson|first=Kalimah|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/427370683|title=Locs for life : the root of well being for African-American women|date=2008|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4343-5721-2|location=Bloomington, IN|oclc=427370683}}

• 2019 Activist Impact Award at the Breakthrough Inspiration Awards, Breakthrough{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Char |title=Meet The Unsung Heroes of the #MeToo Movement: 'It's Powerful to Be Honored' |url=https://people.com/human-interest/me-too-movement-heroes-black-women-breakthrough/ |access-date=12 June 2021 |work=People |date=May 21, 2019}}
• 2020 Michiganian of the Year by The Detroit News, for founding the SASHA Center

• Sexual Violence in the Lives of Black Women (VAWAnet. Violence Against Women Act, 2013)
• I am Detroit. The Voice of Social Workers (NASW Press, 2011)
• Get it Together Sugar! (D-Life Online Magazine, 2019–present)
• Locs for Life: The Root to Well Being for African American Women (AuthorHouse Press, 2008)
• A Decade of Change, Michigan's Strategic Plan for Sexual Violence Prevention (2006)
• An Exploration of Gangster Rap and its Impact on the Violence Against Women Movement. (The Advocate, 2006)
• Effects of DV on Children (Detroit Police Department Domestic Violence Unit, 2005)
• Rape Counseling Center, Information Brochure (Detroit Police Department, 2004)
• RAPE Poem (Turning Point Newsletter, 2003)
• Women Who Survive (PicNap Press, 2000)

{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{improve categories|date=April 2021}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kalimah}}

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:Wayne State University alumni

Category:Delta Sigma Theta members

Category:African-American poets

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:African-American activists

Category:People from Detroit

Category:American nonprofit executives

Category:American businesspeople

Category:American social workers

Category:21st-century African-American people

Category:African-American women poets