Conversations with Charonda Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charonda Johnson.

Hi Charonda, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My family has been in the community of Freedmen’s Town/4th Ward for five generations. My grandmother as well as my mother served our community without titles or any formal recognition. Being a community servant is in my blood fast forward to 2015 where my life took a dramatic turn. I wasn’t apart of any community group I would volunteer to coach the youth basketball team, but i knew of the historic protection for our brick streets. Our community was placed on the national register for historic places in 1984 lead by the Freedmen’s Town Association. So imagine my surprise when i saw contractors removing the bricks i told them” hey you’ll are not suppose to be removing these bricks”. The contractor told me” we’re gonna remove these bricks and there is nothing you can do about it”. It was like a fire had been ignited in my soul, because they keep taking what belongs to us and this will stop unless we do something about it . I went to gather the community because we were always told by the elders that these brick are the foundation of our community and if they are taking we will also loose the rest of our community. Myself and many members of the community came back when the contractors saw us coming they ran locked themselves in their trucks, and call the police. They reported that we threatened to kill them the former Mayor Parker was having a live press conference, she called us gang member, drug dealers, and people standing in the way of change.When the news helicopter zoom in laying her body in the streets as a form of protest was Mrs Dorris Ellis the President of the Freedmen’s Town Preservation Coalition. We were able to stop them from removing the brick filed a lawsuit on the city that they eventually drop out of. In 2017 I was voted in as the Vice President of the Freedmen’s Town Association, and the President of the Fourth Ward Health & Educational Center. In 2020 I was voted in as the Vice President of the Freedmen’s Town Preservation Coalition. I’m known as the Mayor of Freedmen’s Town. Currently the community of Freedmen’s Town along with the City of Houston, CAMH, & HFTC are partnering in the Re-Birth In Action project. A multi years, multi million dollar initiative that will ultimately preserve and restore the historic brick streets, create art activation, skill shares so the future generations can tell the story of Freedmen’s Town.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course this journey has had many ups and downs, but for me it was the elders some of whom have held roles in the grass roots organization for 30 plus years. They would sit back and laugh at my efforts saying things like” oh you think they gonna help you they didn’t help us so they wont help you”. I would tell them yes they will just watch, another challenges for me was the outside groups that come to our community. Most of them pretend to be about community only to suck up the funding, and pretend to serve our community. As a community we were tired of the same old same with these groups, so I had to put all groups new and old on notice. You’ll will not be able to continue in our community without including us, some took it as a treat while others recognize the passion and leadership.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently Im the engagement manager for partnership between the Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy and the Contemporary Art Museum Houston. I conduct tours of the community . I’m also one of the co-founders of Freedmen’s Town Cultural Experience Tours where i lead guest on walking tours of the Freedmen’s Town Community. The cost is 25$ per person 10 $ for kids all you have to do is send me an email to Freedmenstownlab@outlook.com. I don’t use a booking system because i want to personally interact with our guest. lastly Im the owner of Freedmen’s Town Brick Street Pizza formally known as Broke Ass Pizza located at 1320 Robin St where we specialize in vegan and vegetarian pizza, and yes we also have real meat option we are currently closed for renovations but will reopen in May of 2026.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me success is increasing interest, knowledge, and resources for the residents, and for those who don’t know the history or value of places like Freedmen’s Town. Saving our historic assets that are still in jeopardy for future destruction is my goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: Fourthwardyouthcenter.com
• Instagram: fta_freedmens_town_4ever
• Facebook: Charonda Black Power Johnson

Image Credits
Photos by Pricilla Graham & CAMH