Dr. Umar Johnson, Photo: X/Twitter screenshot, @JoeBuddenPod
Dr. Umar Johnson has been making waves the last days of 2023. During a recent interview with Joe Budden. Johnson sparked debates about hip-hop artist Eminem and Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late baseball star Kobe. Of Eminem, Johnson said the veteran can not be considered a rap G.O.A.T because he is white. Of Bryant, Johnson questioned why she wasn’t spending more of her inheritance from her husband’s legacy on the Black community. While Johnson was stirring up debates over these two subjects and more, he found the attention turned to himself on social media, as people questioned Johnson about his Frederick Douglass Marcus Garvey (FDMG) Academy, located in Wilmington, Delaware, for which he has been raising money for years but has yet to open the doors. Is the Pan-African activist offering up a good sermon, or a good school?
Earlier this year, the prominent Pan-African psychologist announced a definitive opening date for his long-awaited school for Black boys. The FDMG Academy, Johnson updated on social media that the school is set to open its doors on Sept. 3, 2024, marking the beginning of what he calls an “intellectual insurrection,” NewsOne reported.
Still many came for Johnson on social media following his Budden interview.
“Umar been raising money for a decade, someone needs to ask him what has he done financially for the community other than buying a abandoned building,” Zigg tweeted, adding that Johnson has children out of wedlock by two different women and should not be giving morality advice. “The community has an issue with valuing words more than actions because Umar himself has 2 black baby moms out of wedlock, taken millions from the community without a return but still walks around acting like some moral standard because he speaks well,” Zigg added.
Tony “The Closer” Robinson tweeted he wondered if the school would in fact open. Robinson tweeted, “Talk is cheap. Building matters. Years into promises of a school and still nothing. What is the real impact of Dr. Umar’s words? Let’s evaluate on tangible contributions, not eloquent speeches. When this building getting completed?”
ADOS (Advocacy Foundation The American Descendants of Slavery) co-founder Yvette Carnell had something to say about the interview, noting how scattered the talk was. Carnell tweeted, “Dr Umar Johnson says he’s having a conscious singles convention, Black farmers conference, Black media conference, Black ex offenders conference, Black woman’s conference, conference to stop sex trafficking, cosmetology conference and a Black investors conference AND he’s currently writing a relationship book. If y’all think this man is focused—on anything—you’re out of your mind.”
Dr. Umar Johnson, Photo: X/Twitter screenshot, @JoeBuddenPod
