Speaker set for MLK program

Beverly Johnson will be the speaker for the 2011 Dr. Martin Luther King program, which will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, at Living Word COGIC in Osceola.

Johnson was born Beverly Elaine Johnson in Memphis on May 10, 1953, at John Gaston Hospital. She is a product of the Ann Arbor, Mich., public school system.

Johnson received a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., and a master's of science degree in educational/media technology from Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss.

Johnson's broadcast career began in Jackson, Miss., which eventually lead her to Memphis. This is Johnson's 34th year in the broadcasting industry, where her jobs have ranged from disc jockey to public service director to news/community affairs director, programming assistant, marketing assistant and talk show host. Currently, Johnson is the news anchor/talk show host for Clear Channel's legendary radio station WDIA in Memphis, and hosts "The Bev Johnson Show," now in its 23rd year, and has been employed by WDIA Radio for 27 years.

Johnson continues her second career as a college professor, an instructor of speech and fine arts at Southwest Tennessee Community College. She is a former board member of the Rock N Soul Museum, Memphis-area Planned Parenthood and the National Black Programmers Coalition. Johnson has participated in the girls mentoring program at Gordon Elementary School, chaired the Memphis Branch of the NAACP's Radio-thon, and auctioneered for the Coalition of 100 Black Women Memphis Chapter's Annual Eligible Bachelor auction fundraiser, as well as WKNO's Action Auction. She is second vice president of the Shelby County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.

Johnson has received such awards as UNCF Outstanding Alumnus 1996, the 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1996 News/Public Affairs Director of the Year National Black Programmers Coalition, 1993, 1994 and 1995 nominee for The National Association of Broadcaster's Marconi Award, Personality of the Year. Also the 1996 Billboard Award Personality of the Year, and honored by the Tennessee General Assembly's House of Representatives for her 10th and 20th year hosting "The Bev Johnson Show" talk show.

Johnson is a graduate of Southwest Tennessee Community College's Substance Abuse Program, and The Drug Court Institute. She interned with the Shelby County Drug Court, where she continues to volunteer her services. She is co-owner of Heart 2 Heart Collaborations Counseling Services with her partners, clinical psychologists Dr. Dorothy Jeffries-Anderson and Dr. Warren Harper. Johnson also hosts a cable TV show on Comcast Cable titled "Affairs of the Heart," dedicated to deliver healthy messages of hope and love through mental health, by strengthening male and female relationships. She is also a member of Mount Pisgah C.M.E. church.

She is the daughter of the late William Van "Country Gentlemen" Johnson, a graduate of Lemoyne-Owen College, and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; and the late Julia Danner Johnson, a graduate of Rust College, and member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.