Angela By Nicole Brooks de Gier Photography contributed
Johnson at work in 2004
Mirabliss promotional shot
In Hollywood, calling yourself a multihyphenate is the ultimate resume booster. Actor-singer-songwriters or model-danceractors pad their resumes with their unique talents to stand apart from the rest. For Angela Johnson, she chooses to downplay her status as journalist-university lecturer-producereditor-communications professional. Despite her long list of undertakings, Johnson demurs at the opportunity to be boastful and instead says, “I’m not remarkable. I’ve enjoyed my work and I just hope it has contributed to something greater.” Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Johnson moved often as a child. Her father was in the military and had several posts throughout her childhood. The longest time the family spent in one place was when Johnson was aged 5 through 13 when her father was stationed in West Germany. While growing up in the private military quarters, Johnson who has long preferred to work behind the scenes, often wrote plays and skits for her friends and sister to perform. “I would sell tickets, round-up an audience, and direct my friends from backstage,” she said. “Looking back now, my writing was rudimentary and makes me cringe, but even then, my strength was in creating and organizing.”
Johnson’s CBC TV headshot
It was also while stationed in Germany that in Grade 3, Johnson opted to conduct an interview for a project assigned by her teacher Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith’s assignment feedback shaped the course of the rest of her life. “She told me, ‘Angela, you know that people do what you just did for their grown-up jobs,’” Johnson remembers. “It was the first time I thought about it as a possibility.” After that pivotal conversation, Johnson continued to excel in English literature, creative writing, grammar, language arts and history. She also volunteered to write and edit school newspapers, newsletters and yearbooks.
Eventually, this led Johnson to studying journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto and a 15-year career as a CBC journalist and producer both in Toronto and Halifax.
Johnson says, “I wanted to know why people do the things they do; to discover the uniqueness of others while also demonstrating the similarities in our humanity.” While living abroad and working and studying in Toronto, Johnson experienced a variety of different cultures and peoples. As the newcomer community began to grow in Halifax, she saw an opportunity to share the stories of new Nova Scotians. This was the genesis of her television program Our Community, the result of a successful pitch to her senior producer for a series that shares the backgrounds and customs of diverse communities in Nova Scotia. “I created, wrote, hosted and did the interviews for Our Community,” Johnson shares matterof-factly. Johnson’s passion for understanding people and sharing their stories blossomed into careers in various departments and agencies with the Government of Nova Scotia, including a tenure at the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs. At the same time, she was a lecturer at the University of Kings College School of Journalism, the managing editor of Black to Business magazine, all the while running her own production company, Mirabliss Media Productions. “Creating stories, lesson plans, going into business for myself with my own production company – each role has given me the opportunity to develop and create.” Johnson’s professional accomplishments are staggering and inspirational, yet she pivots from accolades when discussing one of her biggest projects: a documentary titled Holland Remembers that saw her travel to the Netherlands with her grandfather, father and
Two Decades at t Downtime at the Flying Apron BLACK to BUSINESS
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Winter 2020
