Michelle T. Johnson on

comfort with discomfort

Flexing Our Communal Protest Muscles

In our own way, America is at war. It may seem dramatic to say, but it’s the truth. Not against a foreign enemy. Not with guns and tanks and nukes. We’re at war with our fellow Americans, with our sense of communal normalcy. Right now the weapon is everything we can lay hands on —…

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Cover art for Michelle T. Johnson column | the resistance

This Inauguration Will Have no Hive Mind

Resistance is futile, according to the Borg from the late, great television show “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” The Borg, a group of aliens who wanted to assimilate every being they encountered, aimed to create a hive mind, telling those who fought back, “resistance is futile.” And that, boys and girls, is the incomparable beauty…

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"the fourth estate"

Media: Meet Us Where We Are

I’m long overdue, but I just got around to watching the 2015 Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” this weekend. As much as I enjoyed the movie, it increased my conflicted feelings regarding today’s reliance on social media and my anger at how far we’ve strayed from traditional media. “Spotlight” was about a Boston Globe investigative team defrocking…

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"Michelle T. Johnson On My Grandmother"

Cliffie’s Final Chapter Isn’t Her Last Story

This past November was probably my toughest month. The election, of course. But I also lost my grandmother exactly two weeks later. There are a lot of people I love in the world, starting with my first love, my mother, but my grandmother and I always had a special kind of love. Our communication dimmed…

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"Michelle T. Johnson on Owning It"

Commentary | Post-Election Public Relations Obscures Real Issues

The further we get away from the presidential election, the better position I’m in to settle on what most gets under my skin. Am I incredibly nervous about what a Donald J. Trump Presidency will look like? Yes, and I get more nervous with each cabinet appointment. But what I’m in full-fledged annoyance about is…

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