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Umar Johnson
American Afrocentrist psychologist and activist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dr. Umar Rashad Ibn Abdullah-Johnson (born Jermaine Shoemake; August 21, 1974), better known simply as Dr. Umar is an American motivational speaker.[1] Johnson has referred to himself as the "Prince of Pan-Africanism". Johnson received dual Ghanaian citizenship in 2025.
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Early life and education
Johnson is a native of North Philadelphia.[2] His mother is Barbara Shoemake and father is Jamal Abdullah-Johnson, a US Marine veteran; and his stepmother, the late Bernice Elizabeth Dockins Abdullah-Johnson, was a preschool teacher. Umar was raised Muslim.[3] Umar was educated in the School District of Philadelphia where he attended the Tanner G. Duckery and George Meade Elementary Schools. Afterwards, he attended Dimner Beeber Junior High School where he graduated in 1988. He then attended the Scotland School for Veterans Children where he received his high school diploma on June 6, 1992.
Johnson graduated from Millersville University[4] before graduating in 2012 from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with a Psy.D. in clinical psychology.[5][6]
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Career
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Book and documentary appearance
In 2011, he was featured on Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor, and African Descent, directed by Tariq Nasheed.[7] In 2013, Johnson self-published Psycho-Academic Holocaust: The Special Education & ADHD Wars Against Black Boys, a book in which he contended that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was increasingly misdiagnosed in Black communities and that the American education system used ADHD to stigmatize black children.[8][9] In a 2017 video clip, Johnson claimed that ADHD and learning disabilities do "not exist."[10]
Social media commentary, activism, and controversies
Johnson is most known for his commentary,[2][11] and his provocative remarks over the years, mostly on race.[12]
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.[5] His Instagram following had risen to 789,000 by late 2021; at that time he also had 163,000 Twitter followers.[11]
Johnson characterizes his commentary as pan-Africanist (which Johnson renders as "Pan-Afrikanist"); he has called for Black Americans to identify with African people globally rather than with individual religions, nationalities, professions, and fraternal organizations.[11] He referred to himself on his website as the "prince of Pan-Africanism."[13] He engaged in a Twitter feud with Feminista Jones, a Philadelphia-based black feminist commentator and activist.[14] He has criticized black Americans for celebrating Independence Day.[12] He has denounced various Black public figures, including actor Jonathan Majors (for dating a white woman), college football coach Deion Sanders (for leaving the historically black Jackson State to coach at Colorado), and Oprah Winfrey (for being identified with feminism and LGBT rights).[12]
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.[15] Johnson has also baselessly accused the Population Council and Planned Parenthood of "using homosexuality as a population control strategy in the black community."[16][13]
Dr. Johnson criticized former President Barack Obama, claiming that his administration "gave my civil rights over to the LGBTQ, ... the feminist movement, ... the Mexicans."[11] In various speeches, Johnson also criticized President Joe Biden, contending that he had not done enough to protect Black people from police violence.[17][18] In a 2023 interview on The Breakfast Club radio show, Johnson discouraged Black people from voting, said he had not voted for many years, and described the Democratic Party as "a White, racist institution" that "is just as racist as the Republican Party."[19] In a 2023 interview on Joe Budden's podcast, Johnson criticized Black people who believed that Eminem was the greatest rapper of all time, asserting that it "speaks to how psychologically ill we are as a race of people" and "No non-African can ever be the best of anything African. It's an insult to the ancestors. It's an insult to the race."[20]
In social media posts, Johnson has criticized interracial marriage, opposed same-sex marriage, and promoted various conspiracy theories.[11] In January 2020, after the death of Kobe Bryant, Johnson suggested that the helicopter was sabotaged as part of an assassination attempt ordered by the NBA and the pharmaceutical industry.[21][22][23] 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.[2] In May 2021, Johnson criticized Kevin Samuels claiming that he was "slandering and criticizing Black women who don’t emulate Eurocentric standards of beauty and success."[24][25] In September 2021, he hosted an Instagram Live where he married two women.[26]
Claim to be a Frederick Douglass descendant
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.[4][13]
2018 Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology hearing
In December 2017, Johnson was ordered to attend a hearing before the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology the following month.[27][28] He faced charges of engaging in the practice of psychology without a license.[29] In defense, Johnson denied that he had ever claimed to be a psychologist. Therefore the Board did not strip him of a license, because he has never had one.[30][31][clarification needed]
Reception
Many people have criticized Johnson, including commentators in the magazines The Root[32][33][4] and TheGrio.[34] 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."[35] 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."[36] Dr. Umar is now broke and asking for donations to eat.[citation needed]
Various observers,[5] including The Root commentators,[32] 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.[5] However, Molefi Kete Asante argues that Johnson lacks a grasp of Afrocentric academic theory and philosophy and thus cannot be termed Afrocentric.[5]
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References
External links
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