Christopher JOHNSON

1954 - 2019

JOHNSON, Ph.D., Dr. Christopher L. Passed away on 5 August 2019 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, NY. He died from Kidney Failure as a result of an extended battle with Prostate Cancer. Mr. Johnson was born in Springfield, Ohio 19 May 1954, son of Nathaniel E. Johnson and Rachel Adelaide Johnson (Walker). He graduated from Springfield Catholic Central High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts; he was awarded advanced degrees from New York University with additional graduate studies at Harvard (The History of American Civilization), as well as a year lecturing and conducting research in Frankfurt, Germany. After completing his Doctorate in American Studies (at NYU) he served as Assistant Professor / Cultural Studies and Media at the Eugene Lang College and Assistant Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Music at the New School University in Manhattan. Chris was also an accomplished Musician playing Drums, Saxophones and the Flute. Mr. Johnson's book, "Drums Rising: Symbol and Myth in African American Culture" is in the process of being published posthumously. It is the result of Research conducted as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and as a Research Fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University. An excerpt from the book is a TEDxHudson presentation,"How Banning the African Drum gave Birth to American Music". Chris is survived by his beloved wife Wendy Johnson (Joseph) from Trinidad, West Indies, and their son Justin Johnson of Seattle, WA. He is also survived by his mother Rachel A. Walker of Riverdale, New York and two brothers Fritz Johnson of Manhattan and Gregory Johnson of Pomona, New York.