Kim Johnson held leadership positions in social justice organizations as a teen and in college, and is now an author and vice provost at the University of Oregon. This Is My America is her bestselling novel that explores racial injustice against innocent Black men who are criminally sentenced and the families left behind to pick up the pieces. She is an award-winning novelist, with 2021 accolades that include the Pacific Northwest Book Award and Malka Penn Human Rights Award for Children's Literature.