Lilian Johnson

Lilian Johnson (born October 6, 1923 in Bathurst, now Banjul ; died July 2005 ) was a Gambian educator, columnist and local politician.

Life

Lilian Johnson was born to journalist Simon Johnson and teacher Ya Sang Johnson . After attending St. Joseph's High School , she went to Sierra Leone in 1942 to study education. Upon her return in 1944, she taught at St. Joseph's High School and St. Augustine's High School . In 1950 she went to Trinidad and trained as a Catholic catechist .

From May 10, 1954 to 1958, she published a weekly column in the Gambia Echo under the pseudonym Auntie Maria , which was aimed at children and, in addition to games and crossword puzzles, also brokered international pen pals . Her columns have been compared to those of Mabel Dove Danquah , who wrote similar columns. On public holidays, she designed radio programs with children. In addition, she supported the organization of an annual celebration for school children.

From the beginning of the 1960s she taught in Bansang , so that she had to largely stop her activities in Banjul.

In 1976 she ran for the Banjul City Council as a non-party candidate. She was not elected, but was nominated as a councilor to the body by Chairman Horace R. Monday, Sr., along with six other people. In 1977 she applied to replace the late John R. Forster in the Gambian National Assembly , but received only 30 (1.04%) of the votes cast.

In 1977 she retired from school and founded the Kerr Ya Sang Kindergarten ( Kerr Ya Sang Pre-nursery School ).

literature

• Hassoum Ceesay : Gambian women: an introductory history . 1st edition. Fulladu Publishers, Gambia 2007, p. 78-80 .