Civil Rights Champion Now a Cause

When Ralph Johns was alive, he tirelessly championed human rights but his name and his deeds went virtually unrecognized.

That soon may change.

John F. Reid, director of two mentoring programs at Cal State Fullerton, has started a campaign to make Johns’ legacy of courage and determination a familiar story.

“He was a very wise, courageous and very loving servant who just wanted to help and I’m going to make sure everybody knows what he did, the sacrifices he made to help us,” said Reid, who is trying to find a publisher for Johns’ autobiography, “The Forgotten Rebel.”

Johns, who served as the first white vice president of the Greensboro, N.C., chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, spent most of his life organizing demonstrations to promote human rights.

It was nearly 40 years ago when Johns, then an owner of a clothing store, helped four young black men walk into a Greensboro Woolworth’s store and sit down at the whites-only lunch counter. For five months, the students kept up the protest, sparking what would become the burning passion of the civil rights movement.

His participation in the 1960 sit-ins and his crusade for the rights of black Americans earned him countless death threats and caused the breakup of his long-time marriage to his first wife. But he continued his crusade against oppression.

After moving to La Habra 13 years ago when he married his second wife, Norma, he delivered blankets to the homeless in Los Angeles, contributed cash to charitable organizations and told his story at forums at schools countywide.

Johns, who published a weekly newspaper in Beverly Hills, died Oct. 2 of heart failure. He was 82.

In an interview with The Times in 1995, Johns said: “I just cry for the poor, the hurting and the oppressed and my life is dedicated to helping them.”

His widow said Johns would be thrilled to know that Reid is spreading the word about his life. “He did so much,” she said. “He just loved everybody.”