Umar Johnson

In 2011, he was featured on The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor, and African Descent, directed by Tariq Nasheed.[10] In 2013, Johnson published Psycho-Academic Holocaust: The Special Education & ADHD Wars Against Black Boys, a book in which he contended that ADHD was increasingly misdiagnosed in the Black community and that the education system used ADHD to stigmatize black children.[11][12] In a 2017 video clip, Johnson asserted that "ADHD does not exist. Neither does the learning disability."[2]

In June 2014, Johnson said he would raise $5 million to buy the former campus of Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia, which had closed down in 2013 due to financial struggles, and rename it to Frederick Douglass Marcus Garvey Academy, which he said would be a boarding school for Black boys.[13][14] He claimed to have sufficient funds to buy the Saint Paul's site in 2014, but did not do so.[15] In 2015, Johnson claimed that he would open the school the following year; he failed to do so.[15]

Charing Ball, writing in the online magazine MadameNoire, discouraged donations for the project, citing Johnson's "homophobic and misogynistic" commentary in YouTube videos.[16] In 2015, he opened a GoFundMe to raise money to "acquire and rehabilitate" either the former Saint Paul's or Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in Port Gibson, Mississippi.[8] In 2017, The Root criticized Johnson for failing to providing financial documentation demonstrating whether he actually used any of the funds for the school.[8] In April 2017, Johnson founded the National Independent Black Parent Association in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.[17]

Although Johnson claimed to have applied for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit status in 2015, there was no record of an application with the IRS as of 2017.[8] In 2019, a Root commentator criticized Johnson for never providing a business plan, obtaining a license, publishing receipts, or taking other steps toward construction of the school, despite Johnson's claim in 2017 to have raised $400,000[15] or $700,000 for the school.[8] In April 2021, Johnson said that construction was complete but that the school was not ready for classes.[18]

Johnson is most known for his divisive social media commentary.[6][3] In 2018, Johnson said that his main Facebook and GoFundMe accounts had been shut down, but that his Instagram (then with 342,000 followers) remained active.[4] His Instagram following had risen to 789,000 by late 2021; at that time he also had 163,000 Twitter followers.[3]

Johnson's commentary is pan-Africanist (which Johnson renders as "Pan-Afrikanist"); he has called for Black Americans to identify with the African people globally rather than with individual religions, nationalities, professions, and fraternal organizations.[3] He referred to himself on his website as the "prince of Pan-Africanism."[19] He engaged in a Twitter feud with Feminista Jones, a Philadelphia-based black feminist activist and commentator.[20]

Johnson has repeatedly claimed to have a familial connection with Frederick Douglass, often claiming to be a "direct descendant" of the 19th-century abolitionist and civil rights leader.[8][19] The Douglass family released a statement saying that "We can tell you with 100% certainty that he [Johnson] is not a descendant of Frederick Douglass."[8]

In December 2017, Johnson was ordered to attend a hearing before the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology the following month.[21][22] He faced charges of engaging in the practice of psychology without a license.[23] Johnson denied that he had claimed to be a practicing licensed psychologist, and the Board did not strip him of a license.[24][25]

In social media posts, Johnson has criticized interracial marriage, opposed same-sex marriage, and promoted various conspiracy theories.[3] In January 2020, after the death of Kobe Bryant, Johnson falsely suggested that the helicopter was sabotaged as part of an assassination attempt ordered by the NBA and the pharmaceutical industry.[26][27][28] In 2020, after NFL player DeSean Jackson was disciplined for making antisemitic Instagram posts, Johnson suggested that Jackson's views were valid and that he should not apologize for them.[6] In May 2021, Johnson criticized Kevin Samuels saying that he was "slandering and criticizing Black women who don’t emulate Eurocentric standards of beauty and success."[29][30] In September 2021, he hosted an Instagram Live where he married two women.[31]

In speech and social media posts, Johnson has promoted misinformation, including a viral Instagram post falsely claiming that Bill Gates sought for "at least 3 billion people" to die as part of a population control scheme.[32] Johnson has also baselessly accused the Population Council and Planned Parenthood of "using homosexuality as a population control strategy in the black community."[16][19]

In contrast to mainstream psychology, he has referred to homosexuality as a mental disorder and claimed to be able to "treat" it.[19] In a 2021 speech at Lehigh University, Johnson criticized former President Barack Obama, claiming that his administration "gave my civil rights over to the LGBTQ, ... the feminist movement, ... the Mexicans."[3] In various speeches, Johnson also criticized President Joe Biden, contending that he had not done enough to protect Black people from police violence.[33][34][35]

Many people have criticized Johnson, including commentators in the magazines The Root [15][36][8] and TheGrio.[37] South African commentator Khanya Mtshali, writing in a 2022 op-ed in the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian, likened Johnson to Louis Farrakhan and said that both men "trafficked in a goofy performance of pan-Africanism."[38] Anwar Curtis, an opinion contributor to PennLive, defended Johnson, describing him in a 2017 op-ed as a "noted conservative and Afro-centric thinker" and "dedicated ... vessel for his people."[39]

Various observers,[4] including The Root commentators,[15] have called Johnson a "hotep," a term that refers to a grouping of Afrocentric commentators who espouse a mixture of black radicalism and social conservatism.[4] Molefi Kete Asante argues that Johnson lacks a grasp of Afrocentric academic theory and philosophy and thus cannot be termed Afrocentric.[4]