Born and raised in Jackson and coming of age during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement, Grace E. Johnson was a first hand eyewitness to the violence and upheaval that turned a national spotlight on Mississippi.
Finding a talent for writing as a teen, Johnson always knew a book was in the future, but a 40 year career in public education as both teacher and administrator took priority. It is those early teaching years that formed the foundation of this book, beginning in the infamous town of Money, MS where the Emmett Till murder story began. Those early years impacted Johnson in a profound way as even today that prompts this writer to remain in the ranks of those still pushing back against racism and inequality.
Johnson graduated from Central High School in Jackson and received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Delta State. The author currently lives in Forney,Texas.
Grace is a first cousin to Brenda Hunt and Mary Tabor of Louisville.
All around the world, people live in disadvantaged areas and face injustice, a lack of economic opportunities, or social isolation on a daily basis. When hearing about these situations, it’s common to wonder, why don’t these people just leave? Darkness on the Delta by G.E. Johnson is a poignant and poetic novel that explores this theme with brilliant success.
In this story, which draws on Johnson’s personal life experiences, we meet Bern Gresham, the white teenage son of ACLU attorneys, who is transplanted from Jackson to the heart of the Mississippi Delta in 1966. We see him come of age during the civil rights movement, which includes the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1969 Supreme Court order forcing the immediate desegregation of schools in Mississippi. He witnesses the chaos this desegregation order causes, as relationships are destroyed, students drop out of school, and teachers resign rather than mix with the other race.
Raised by his parents to fight injustice and make a difference, Bern decides to become a teacher. His first job out of college is as the first and only white teacher at Wilkes School in the impoverished and racially-charged town of Money, Mississippi. The student body is entirely black. As he teaches throughout the 1970s, he suffers firsthand from the hatred and distrust between the two races. This darkness is enough to break many of the people around him, and Bern constantly struggles to create a life for himself where he can feel happy and at peace.
This novel is written in the first-person point of view in the form of a memoir.
