Even Me
written by
Kenya R. Johnson, PhD, MSW
Even Me gathers threads from a life lived across five decades, tracing how the author’s identities—visible and felt—have steadied, unsettled, and propelled her journey as a social worker. This auto-ethnography is both a record of experience and an invitation: to reflect on one’s own journey, to consider the power each person holds, the questions carried, and the curiosity that invites connection across differences.
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At its core, the book chronicles a journey of self-discovery, cultural humility, and anti-racism in practice. While rooted in social work, its meaning extends to anyone who shows up in the world with a desire to learn from moments of self-discovery. The guiding premise is transformative: let evolving self-understanding teach readers about cultural humility and invite them to lean into anti-racist practices in every sphere of life.
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Throughout the narrative, cultural humility is foregrounded as both practice and stance. Learning arises through listening, grappling with power dynamics, and recognizing how systems shape what is known. The text is threaded with ongoing “ah-ha” moments—insights that refract through personal experience and professional conviction. Gratitude anchors the journey, acknowledging mentors, collaborators, and the resources that broaden understanding, while continually naming, questioning, and softening the hard edges of practice.
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The book challenges the old division between anti-racism and daily work, arguing that weaving anti-racist commitments into every interaction, decision, and policy is not an optional extension of helping professions but their heartbeat. It chronicles the dissolution of boundaries between theory and action, the creation of a praxis where cultural humility, power awareness, and anti-oppression live at the center of practice—an approach that resonates across social work, education, public health, medicine, politics, and beyond.
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Ultimately, Even Me is about embodying the standards we invite in others: modeling cultural humility, embracing accountability, and staying present with people who carry histories as heavy as one’s own. It is honest, imperfect, and hopeful—a testament to the power within each person to heal, to grow, and to act for justice. Yes, even me.
Literary Journey
Click on a title to read selected excerpts from my book that illuminate the core themes of self-discovery, cultural humility, and the dedication to anti-racist efforts. Each passage invites reflection and growth.
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About the Author
Dr. Kenya Johnson (she | her | hers), is the co-founder of Full Circle Strategies LLC, a consulting firm specializing in helping organizations engage in anti-racist organizational change. As lead strategist at Full Circle, Dr. Johnson engages with a diverse group of organizational leaders and their staff who represent various sectors across the country. She co-facilitates skill-building training, provides coaching and leads a team of skilled facilitators who provide support to individuals committed to practicing race equity at the individual and organizational levels. Full Circle’s approach centers anti-racism, holistic wellness, liberation, solidarity, and love as core values that affect change.
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Dr. Johnson was trained in 2005 as an anti- racism facilitator through the Western States Center in Portland, Oregon and Race Forward in Chicago, Illinois. Her experience in being an anti-racist trainer contributes to her anti-racism scholarship. Dr. Johnson also has more than twenty years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels in both sociology and social work. She has an extensive background as a mental health practitioner working in community and school-based settings. Her career also includes political engagement and community organizing work having facilitated grassroots mobilization efforts that increased voter engagement, especially in communities of color. She has received numerous awards for her community activism work.
It was a culmination of these experiences which led to the start of the Race Equity Leadership and Research Collective in 2020. This Houston based nonprofit founded by her and her sister, Dr. Kim Baker, is also known as the RE Collective. The RE Collective is dedicated to the advancement and leadership cultivation of Black, Indigenous, Latino/a, and other people of color through leadership, research, and advocacy.
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Dr. Johnson grew up in the Pine Lawn community in St. Louis county and graduated from Normandy High School. The juxtaposition of witnessing multiple forms of white supremacy and also being connected to the rich history of civil rights and black activism in St. Louis underscores her strong commitment to advancing racial justice. Dr. Johnson’s educational background includes receiving her Bachelor’s in social work from University of Central Missouri, her Master's in Social Work from Saint Louis University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work.