TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Mrs. Dorothy Inman-Johnson has inspired tens of thousands during her lifetime of service to the community, but she credits three remarkable women who've given her inspiration over the years. They are civil rights icon Rosa Parks, her high school teacher Ms. Fannie Hayes, and her mother.
It's a moment she'll never forget, the time she got to meet in person Ms. Rosa Parks. the woman, Mrs. Dorothy Inman-Johnson says, was her hero growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. Dorothy didn't just learn about the civil rights movement...she lived through it.
"As young people, they were just important civil rights leaders for us then," said Johnson. "We never knew they'd become international leaders and icons."
Dorothy grew up in poverty. Her parents worked hard to raise their 14 children, her mom with an 8th grade education and her dad...just a 3rd grade education. But Mrs. Dorothy Inman-Johnson says her mother was fearless.
"Because even when very difficult, she didn't shy away from what she felt was her responsibility," said Johnson. "She would go and do her work as a maid, come home and take care of children, and then would do volunteer commitment for the Civil Rights movement."
As a teenager, Dorothy took part in various protests, demonstrations and sit-ins. Her experiences preparing her for a lifetime of activism on behalf of minorities and low-income families.
By high school, Dorothy met another influential woman in her life, Ms. Fannie Hayes, her French teacher who became her English teacher, and then her mentor.
With Ms. Hayes' support, Dorothy went on to college, then followed in her footsteps.
After 28 years of being an educator, Dorothy decided to run for the Tallahassee City Commission, and became the first African American female Mayor of Tallahassee.
Dorothy says, "I think back on how many close calls I've had with my life and I think about why did God preserve me, and it's because there were things he had purposed for me and these are some of those things."
Over the eight years Dorothy served the citizens of Tallahassee, she says she accomplished a long list of things she's proud of. They include founding the art museum in the Brogan Center, creating the "Mini PASS" or Pedestrian and Street Safety program for older neighborhoods, and creating the Utility Rate Stabilization Fund for the city.
But it was her desire to be the chief advocate and service provider for people in poverty that drove her for 14 years, leading the eight counties under the Capital Area Community Action Agency as the Executive Director.
"I was able to initiate programs, rebuild the agency with a wonderful board and a staff team that made that agency, by the time I left, one of the best Community Action Agency's in the state," proudly stated Dorothy.
She says things might have been much different if she didn't have the people in her life to influence and push her. Ultimately though, she says it's up to each person to dictate who you want to be in the future.
"If people just remember me as a passionate advocate for taking care of people in need, that would be enough for me, because I think that is the purpose that threads everything I've done in life," said Dorothy.
And she hasn't let retirement slow her down one bit. Two years ago she wrote the book, Poverty, Politics and Race...the View from Down Here. It's a book she hopes will inspire people to do what it takes to continue to make sure everybody's rights are protected.
