Duluth Public Schools honored the late activist Portia Johnson Tuesday, July 23, with a rededication of the road that bears her name.

Porcia Johnson Drive, formerly Central High Drive, was first renamed for Johnson in 2007. Now, after a recent extension that takes the road from Blackman Avenue to H Courtney Drive, the school board decided a rededication was in order. This time, a ribbon cutting was scheduled, something that hadn’t happened in 2007, but was something those who knew her say she wanted.

“When I won the election, that was the first thing she contacted me and said, you know, you need to do this,” said Henry Banks, a member of the Duluth school board. “And when an elder tells you something, you do it.”

Sadly, Johnson passed away just days before the ribbon cutting, but her family asked that the ceremony go on as planned. Daylan Johnson, the youngest of Portia’s children, spoke about what the recognition for his mother’s efforts meant to him.

“She had four kids raising [them] on her own. You know, she worked two jobs, but then she also had all these meetings. I didn’t know that she was part of half the things that that that I heard tonight. So, it’s it raises her status in my eyes higher.” Said Johnson.

Portia Johnson first came to Duluth in 1966. In her decades of community service, she was involved in numerous organizations, such as serving as the President of the Duluth NAACP, a member of the Independent School District 709 Desegregation/Integration Council, as well as the League of Women Voters. Johnson also served as a DFL delegate from Minnesota on three separate occasions.

Banks, who knew Johnson for over four decades, says that she never stopped working for students who needed a hand, no matter what their background.

“She wanted this district to be the best district it could be for all children. Okay. Again, she wasn’t just about advocating just solely for black students and black families. She advocated for anyone in needs. And it didn’t matter. You know, if you’re a student in I.S.T. 709 and you were having issues, she was there to advocate for it. That’s who Portia Johnson was.”