EARLY CHILDHOOD
Happy Johnson spent his childhood shuffling in and out of numerous foster care homes. His biological mother abused drugs and his biological father abandoned his newly formed family. Happy’s early childhood in the Ida B. Wells section-8 housing project ended after authorities raided their living room.
His maternal Grandparents raised him until their passing, which took place while he was in the 2nd & 3rd grade. Happy spent the next five years in foster care and was officially adopted the summer before he entered high school in 1999.
MIDDLE YEARS
Despite the obstacles he confronted in the foster care system, Happy excelled at St. Dorothy Elementary School. Later, while attending Hales Franciscan High School, Happy became co-captain of the varsity Golf Team and Class President. He wrote a column for New Expression youth newspaper and hosted a civic engagement television show for young people sponsored by The Mikva Challenge.
He was also twice elected citywide Youth Mayor of Chicago, which afforded him an opportunity to work in the Council Chambers of City Hall. With enough credits to graduate early, Happy took a leave of absence during the first semester of his senior year to become a full-time staff writer for the Springfield Journal-Register.
COLLEGE, HURRICANE KATRINA & BEYOND
Following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina on August 29th 2005, Happy Johnson volunteered at the Washington D.C. National Guard Armory categorizing donated household materials.
Guided by that experience, Happy went on to serve full-time with the K44 Disaster Relief Unit of the American Red Cross Chapter of Southeast Louisiana, driving Emergency Response Vehicle #1081 during the month of December 2005. He led a unit responsible for providing 600 meals per day to residents living in the Ninth Ward, New Orleans East and St. Bernard Parish.
At the conclusion of his service as a Hurricane Katrina First Responder, Happy founded the non-profit [BNO] Blanket New Orleans, Inc.: “Leadership For Our Recovery” as a junior in college at Georgetown University. While many officials in Washington D.C. neglected New Orleans, Happy fought for a comprehensive probe of the federal government’s inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina. Those efforts garnered national recognition.
After graduating with a B.A. in International Relations and American History from Georgetown University in 2007, Happy served a 1 ½ year term as a National Service AmeriCorps Volunteer in addition to advancing the development of BNO. Under this capacity, he led short-term volunteer teams in the reconstruction of ravaged homes.
In preparation for Hurricane Gustav, Happy joined the American Red Cross Evacuation Support Team. He directed GustavRelief.Org, which filled a void of blankets and water that was needed throughout pockets of Mississippi and Louisiana.
In 2007 & 2008, BNO spearheaded BikeKatrina.Org, a 250-mile bike ride that retraced the storm path of Hurricane Katrina from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans. The cycling journey paid homage to the victims of the storm throughout the Gulf Coast during the Anniversary of Katrina. Tandem with their goal of surveying the progress in the region, BNO incorporated an awareness campaign centered on the importance of sustaining our wetlands.
Earlier this year, Happy co-coached the boys basketball team at Lafayette Academy.
He has also finished three marathons despite knees plagued by the Osgood-Slaughter Disease.
He is a member of the City of New Orleans MLK Holiday Planning Commission, 2010 Mayoral Inauguration Committee and New Orleans Jazz Institute Advisory Board.
Happy leads BlanketHaiti.Org, a rapid response initiative providing blankets to orphans in Port-au-Prince.
Happy dedicates his pursuit of justice to his late Grandmother, HenriSue.
[UPDATED JULY 2010]
