The PowerPLAY Show

S2 Episode 16: EmPOWERing Women featuring my Mom, Cynthia Johnson

March 26, 2021 Tonia Magras Season 2 Episode 16
The PowerPLAY Show
S2 Episode 16: EmPOWERing Women featuring my Mom, Cynthia Johnson
Show Notes

My guest today is an award-winning writer and producer who’s worked for PBS, NBC, CBS and the Smithsonian Institute. She has won 9 Emmy Awards, 2 gold World Medals from the International Film and Television Festival of New York, A CEBA Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and a Massachusetts Psychological Award for her contributions in broadcast media.

With such award winning productions: Journey of courage, Ellington’s Sentimental Mood, Surviving the Odds: Being Young, Black and Male in America and The making of Africans in America, her work has always explored a deeper understanding of the black experience in America.

Storytelling IS her first love. In 2014, she graduated from Grub Street’s Novel Incubator, a year-long advanced degree program and now is working on several novels which range from exploring the history of her ancestors in Barbados, to an intimate look at her mother’s life.

She wrote, “Stories hold the power to transform our lives and will remain an integral part of  humanity for as long as we gather around campfires, open books, and stare at movie screens.”
 
It’s hard to put into words exactly what this woman has done to inspire me. As a young girl, I marveled in her presence as she stood firmly producing, directing and being the head woman in charge. She took my sister and I on an adventure that has defined us to this day. She was strong when I was weak. She loved me through my pain. She looks up to me with such pride and affection not realizing – and I tell her this all the time – YOU MADE ME. 

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