![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC00009-1024x683.jpg\")
Dorothy \u201cDot\u201d Inman Johnson stands in her living room, holding two of her published books. (Justin Jordan\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\nDorothy \u201cDot\u201d Inman Johnson stands in her living room, holding two of her published books. (Justin Jordan\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always been a passionate advocate\u00a0and champion for those who need it,\u201d said\u00a0Dorothy\u00a0\u201cDot\u201d\u00a0Inman Johnson, the first Black woman to become\u00a0Mayor of Tallahassee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inman Johnson boasts a\u00a0storied political\u00a0career in Tallahassee,\u00a0marked by\u00a0her\u00a0many accomplishments,\u00a0including\u00a0the\u00a0divestment of Tallahassee retirement accounts from\u00a0businesses based in\u00a0apartheid South Africa, the\u00a0development of Kleman Plaza and the restoration of the\u00a0once-neglected\u00a0Greenwood Cemetery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although Inman Johnson has called Tallahassee home for over 50 years, she was born in\u00a0Birmingham,\u00a0Alabama,\u00a0amid segregation. To her, the horrors of segregation were not painted in black\u00a0and\u00a0white photos or history books, but in her lived reality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inman Johnson\u00a0recalled learning\u00a0about\u00a0the\u00a0murder\u00a0of Emmett Till\u00a0vividly\u00a0and seeing horrific\u00a0images of\u00a0his body\u00a0at the age of eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my mom and some of her friends passing around this Jet Magazine \u2026 And I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0quite figure out\u00a0what they were talking about,\u201d\u00a0Inman\u00a0Johnson said. \u201cSo\u00a0later on,\u00a0when they put the Jet Magazine down,\u00a0and I could have access to\u00a0it,\u00a0I went and picked it up\u2026 And it\u00a0traumatized\u00a0me for years after seeing that picture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the daily horrors her family endured,\u00a0they\u00a0actively\u00a0participated\u00a0in the Civil Rights Movement. Inman Johnson\u2019s\u00a0mother organized carpools\u00a0for organizers,\u00a0and she and other family members\u00a0would\u00a0actively\u00a0participate\u00a0in marches and rallies against segregation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The protests were often met with firm and violent resistance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a sister who was two and a half years younger than I\u00a0[was],\u00a0who was\u00a0beaten and had her ribs fractured and [was] taken downtown,\u201d Inman Johnson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a0significant\u00a0turning point in the movement was\u00a0when the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th\u00a0Street Baptist\u00a0Church, killing\u00a04 young girls and injuring\u00a0over a dozen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was meant to put us in our place,\u201d Inman Johnson Said, \u201cBut after the bombing,\u00a0we kept\u00a0protesting\u00a0just like the people in Minneapolis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC00008-1024x683.jpg\")
Four of Dorothy \u201cDot\u201d Inman Johnson\u2019s books lie on her living room table. (Justin Jordan\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n
Inman Johnson described how the shocking act of violence led a wave of\u00a0Northerners to migrate south, joining the protesters and shoring up public support for Civil Rights, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act\u00a0of\u00a01964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After graduating from\u00a0high\u00a0school, Inman Johnson attended Clark\u00a0Atlanta University on a full scholarship. When she returned home, she volunteered to help Black residents register to vote.\u00a0Inman Johnson would eventually become a teacher, dedicated to helping children learn and grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During her 28 years of\u00a0teaching, Inman Johnson placed special emphasis on caring for students living in poverty,\u00a0making many\u00a0of them\u00a0her godchildren.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0brought them into our homes [for] Sunday Dinner\u00a0[and] did all the special things\u00a0we did as a family,\u201d\u00a0Inman\u00a0Johnson explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was her career in education and involvement in\u00a0teachers\u2019\u00a0unions that led her into politics\u00a0when fellow teachers encouraged her to run.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had built a pretty strong base out\u00a0there of people,\u00a0Black and white,\u00a0who knew of the hard work I had done \u2026 so\u00a0I was able to be successful in winning a seat\u00a0on the city commission as the first Black female elected,\u201d Inman Johnson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inman\u00a0Johnson\u00a0would eventually serve as mayor, making her the first Black woman to do so in\u00a0Tallahassee\u2019s\u00a0history.\u00a0During her years at City\u00a0Hall,\u00a0she took part in\u00a0numerous\u00a0projects,\u00a0including efforts to reduce utility bills\u00a0for residents, a program to build sidewalks in neighborhoods where pedestrian safety\u00a0was a concern,\u00a0and\u00a0countless\u00a0others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of all my time in Tallahassee since 1971 because I have always worked hard for the people,\u201d Inman Johnson\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked what she would say to younger generations who have lost hope in the current political climate, Inman Johnson said,\u00a0\u201cYou\u00a0have to\u00a0have courage, and you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0win by giving up. You win by\u00a0fighting the battle.\u00a0You have to fight for\u00a0the\u00a0right.\u00a0For justice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dorothy \u201cDot\u201d Inman Johnson stands in her living room, holding two of her published books. (Justin Jordan\/FAMUAN) \u201cI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-162354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}