Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson: Bringer of Good News

When Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson told me she had been nominated for the Beautiful Are Their Feet Award, I had no idea what she was talking about. I had gotten to know Rev. JoAnn through our roles with the Unity Urban Ministerial School (UUMS), based in Detroit. We were both graduates, and she had taken over as president of the UUMS board while I was (and still am) executive director of the seminary.

Our first encounter was testy. After a board meeting, I revised the board and staff roster, putting the names in alphabetical order. It had been a long and busy day, and I was relieved to check that off my to-do list. Just as I was settling down for the evening, Rev. JoAnn called to tell me how rude and unprofessional it was for me to list the names alphabetically instead of in order of positions on the board (which would put her name at the top). I tried to explain my intention, but she could not let it go. I revised the roster. 

I learned from others that her strong personality came across loud and clear to everyone. She confronted people and problems directly. She was also quick to apologize if she was wrong. For a while, I avoided Rev. JoAnn as much as I could, but she soon won me over. It didn’t take me long to understand that she was a woman committed to getting things done right. 

The Beautiful Are Their Feet Award is given by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, which supports the African American faith community, to honor those who live the gospel in a way that improves society. When Rev. JoAnn told me in 2021 about the award she was receiving, I had no idea the magnitude of the honor until she sent me a copy of the beautiful book in which she and other recipients were featured. The articles and tributes to Rev. JoAnn spoke volumes for how she gave unselfishly of her time, talents, and treasure for the betterment of humankind. The name of the award is from Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

The Early Sparks

Rev. JoAnn’s commitment to social justice began as a student in Detroit’s Central High School where she was editor of the school newspaper and in the drama and Latin clubs. “The school wanted to discontinue the Latin class, but I kept signing up,” she later wrote. The school kept Latin alive until she finished.

Her activism also might have been sparked by a chance experience in 1963 when her grandparents scooped up the 12-year-old JoAnn and took her to join 125,000 people in the Detroit Walk to Freedom, one of the largest civil rights demonstrations of the time. It was there that she heard Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give an early version of the “I Have a Dream” speech preceding his national address at the March on Washington months later.

At the University of Michigan, Rev. JoAnn became a student activist. She was a member of the Black Panthers and secretary of the Black Action Movement. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and went to work using her skills to tell the story of the struggle for civil and human rights. In 2017, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate of humanities. 

A Fierce Advocate

Rev. JoAnn served as executive director of the downtown Detroit YWCA, then became assistant executive director of the national YWCA headquartered in New York, and later served as YWCA’s director of racial justice. She also was the first woman to be appointed executive director of the Detroit branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1990 to 1997.

Her work as public liaison for U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.—the only elected official ever to be endorsed by Dr. King—provided an opportunity to get to know and work with Rosa Parks, whom Rev. JoAnn fondly called “Mother Parks.” The lessons she learned from her inspired her to work fearlessly for social justice for all people. 

She became deeply involved as a leader in the reparations movement, cheered on by her good friend Aretha Franklin, who would say before Rev. JoAnn attended meetings, “Tell them to bring me back a check”—a story that Rev. JoAnn told at Franklin’s funeral. Rev. JoAnn served for a decade on the board of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America and chaired the Detroit chapter for seven years.

Elected to the Detroit City Council from 2003 to 2013, she challenged the policies that prevented poor citizens from getting the services they needed. She sponsored the Water Affordability Plan for low-income Detroiters to avoid having their water shut off, and the Cost-Recovery Ordinance that helped people recoup millions of dollars owed them by the utility companies. In 2019, the city council gave Rev. JoAnn a Spirit of Detroit Award that honored her as “Supreme Mother of Our Beloved Community.” 

She was a delegate to the United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, which she called a shining moment in her life. Wherever her feet landed—at home and abroad—she continued her work for justice, mercy, and peace. 

A Beneficial Presence

At the same time she was serving on the Detroit City Council, Rev. JoAnn decided to become a Unity minister. She went through Unity Urban Ministerial School and was ordained in 2010. One of her mentors was Rev. Ruth M. Mosley, D.D., the revered founder of West Side Unity Church in Detroit as well as the founder of UUMS. Under Rev. Ruth’s tutelage, Rev. JoAnn served as associate minister at West Side, then in 2018 took over as senior minister some years after Rev. Ruth retired. She established West Side Unity as a polling place for elections and for food and clothing drives for those in need. 

Among all her accomplishments, Rev. JoAnn was especially proud to be tapped by the American Girl doll company in 2016 to advise them on a new doll named Melody. The doll’s backstory was a 9-year-old girl living in Detroit in the Civil Rights era, which mirrored Rev. JoAnn’s experience. 

I fondly remember the times she interviewed me on her Wake Up Detroit television and radio shows. She was proud to introduce me to her audience as the executive director of our alma mater, UUMS. She moderated our discussion on the seminary’s roots in Detroit, the Unity movement itself, and the difference our school and alumni are making throughout the world. She invited me to join her on the show whenever I was in Detroit. I could tell by the greetings she received from everyone in the studio how much they loved and respected her. Her show was a positive, uplifting program with current events and reminders of the need for social justice.

The more I got to know her, the more I understood and appreciated her strong personality. Rev. JoAnn told me she was the eldest of 10 children, which meant she was often the one responsible for her younger siblings and later her aging mother. It was from her that I first heard the phrase went home to be with the ancestors in reference to someone’s passing. She was proud of the gifts that God had given her, and she used them to be a beneficial presence for her birth family and the communities she served.  

On July 10, 2023, without warning or goodbyes, Rev. JoAnn Watson went home to be with the ancestors. Not only had she become my friend, confidant, and encourager-in-chief, she was a voice for the voiceless and hope for the hopeless in the City of Detroit, throughout the nation, and beyond.  

She climbed many mountains and overcame many obstacles in her personal and professional life, but she never gave up. With business acumen and spiritual wisdom, Rev. JoAnn was a dedicated and faithful servant who put feet to her prayers and wings to her actions. Her “beautiful feet” took her to places she had never dreamed and enabled her to make a difference in the lives of people all over the world.