Discovering the Bright Warrior
Confessions of a Social Activist
by Joan Johannson
ISBN 1-896474-05-5
2001 / 288 pp. / 5.5 x 8.5 / paper / $19.95
A powerful personal story of Winnipeg anti-poverty activist Joan Johannson's struggle to transform fear and anger into political action and positive change.
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About the Author
Joan Johannson, MSW, RSW, has worked in Winnipeg's inner city of 15 years. Ms. Johannson was a founding member of the Canadian Association of the Non-Employed (CANE) and served as the Chairperson of CANE from 1993 to 2000. She has served on the National Boards of Directors of the National Anti-Poverty Organization, Ten Days for Global Justice and the Urban Core Support Network. She continues to work on policy issues concerning poverty and unemployment with both professionals and people living in poverty. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Basic Income Canada.
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Cover Design by Gary Styrchak
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What people are saying
"Joan Johannson makes us look at what many of us don't want to see: that amid such plenty there is such poverty and marginalization. Yet
surprisingly this book is about hope and the human spirit's ability to soar above our elitist system, to
show us the humanity we have lost."
"Bright Warrior is a powerful personal story of how one person challenges the stereotypes and discrimination faced by people who are economically poor. Joan Johannson uses her thinking, reading and experience as a social justice worker to figure out how to live a good life challenging the competitive, greed-filled, individualistic world around her."
- Jean Swanson,
Former President of the National Anti-Poverty Organization
Author of Poor-bashing: The Politics of Exclusion
"A passionate desciption by a Metís woman of courage and compassion on a spiritual journey. the warrior spirit described in constructive and contemporary terms."
"This book links Christian commitment to social activism. It is not only a deeply moving personal story, but also suggests some strategies for transforming the future."
- Senator Lois Wilson,
Former Moderator, United Church of Canada
"She writes with passion and personal experience. But the book really comes alive when she takes us through the spiritual journey that helped her lay down her anger and continue the struggle with hope and joy. This profound book integrates the personal spiritual growth and the struggle for social justice in a Canadian Christian context."
- John Bird,
United Church Observer
"This book is a must read for anyone affected by burnout as a social activist. It also has much to offer the general reader who seeks a core of truth and meaning in their personal life. By sharing her personal experience and her wide ranging exploration of contemporary events and beliefs in Canada and beyond, she gently leads us to the recognition that we all need faith to continue in the struggle for social justice, the hope that true community is possible, and the compassion towards self and others that enables the Bright Warrior within to survive and thrive."
- Muriel Smith,
Former Deputy Premier of Manitoba,
Former President of the
United Nations Association in Canada
"Here is a story that both informs and transforms the reader. writing from personal insight and front-line experience, Joan Johannson brings us face to face with the dehumanizing treatment of the unemplyed, forces us to confront our own stereotypes about poverty, and shakes us out of the inaction that comes from either complacency or despair. While this book is a scathing indictment of Canada's blame-the-victim approach, it is also an inspiring story of one individual's struggle to transform fear and anger into political action and positive change. it is testimony to the strength of the human spirit and the good that comes from collective action."
- Judy Wasylycia-Leis,
Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North Centre
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Excerpt from the book
"Mary, who lives with her daughter and grandson, came to a meeting. She told us that now mothers with children under six were being forced to job search. But more significantly, they were expected to sign a form, a contract. This contract said that if they did not carry out their job search as laid out for them, they would lose fifty dollars a month or be completely cut off welfare. We knew that "single employables" were expected to sign contracts. Some of our groups had been pressured to do so. They had not, and in some cases had caused a minor rebellion in the job-finding clubs they attended. We knew that legally no one could be forced to sign the form, but they were signing it. When the person who decides whether you get your cheque this month says "Sign this" you sign.
"Now there is an NDP government in Manitoba, but people are still being forced to sign the contract. People are losing fifty dollars a month, and in some cases losing one hundred dollars amonth. There is still no organization to help people appeal such draconian measures. Thankfully, there are a few people arond who volunteer advice to those who have lost their rightful money unfairly. Each time I hear the details of another case, my heart breaks.
"How fearful it is to be caught in large bureaucratic institutions. People who do not know you, or care about you, make life and death decisions about your life. In Manitoba you can be cut off welfare if you do not "satisfy the Director of Welfare." I have this vision of Jabba the Hut, the monster who must be satisfied."
From Chapter One:
Will There Be Camps?
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