Commentary

COMMENTARY: Johnson-Patterson played as well as she coached

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Faith Johnson-Patterson is well known in Minnesota high school basketball lore. After eight state titles and 14 tournament appearances as the head girls’ coach at Minneapolis North (state championships in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005) and DeLaSalle (state championships in 2011, 2012, 2013), she has established herself among the state’s elite.

Published

6 years ago

July 23, 2019

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

By Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

Faith Johnson-Patterson is well known in Minnesota high school basketball lore. After eight state titles and 14 tournament appearances as the head girls’ coach at Minneapolis North (state championships in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005) and DeLaSalle (state championships in 2011, 2012, 2013), she has established herself among the state’s elite.

Twenty-nine years ago, I saw the Hall of Fame coach in a different light.

In May 1980, my father invited me — a ninth-grader at the time — to attend a high school all-star game at the old Met Center in Bloomington featuring teams representing Minnesota and Indiana.

I was very excited because my basketball heroes at the time — Ricky Suggs (St. Paul Central) and David Gilreath (Marshall University High) — were going to be playing against the best high school players the state of Indiana had to offer.

My pops, the late Kwame McDonald, had other ideas. I should have known, because we were leaving for the game three hours before tip-off.

“There’s a girls’ game before the boys’,” he said with urgency. “I’ve got to see Faith.”

At the time, I wasn’t that excited about seeing the girls play. The priority for me was to watch the boys represent. I also remember saying to myself, “Faith who?”

The answer to that question was fully answered in the next hour and a half.

We looked on as Marshall-University High senior guard Faith Johnson — displaying quickness, leadership and one of the purest jump shots I’ve ever witnessed — scored nine of her 15 points in the second period to help the Minnesota all-stars defeat the Indiana all-stars 71-65.

That game was my introduction to Faith Johnson the player. Many don’t realize the impact she had as a player during a time when girls’ basketball was in its infancy.

She played in the first two girls’ state basketball tournaments during her eighth- and ninth-grade seasons, and though she went on to have an outstanding prep career, she was not an all-state selection as a senior.

Despite the snub, she accepted a scholarship offer to play at the University of Wisconsin, scoring 1,120 points from 1980-1985.

Many remember Johnson-Patterson as one the state’s greatest coaches. Some remember her as an outstanding high school player.

Thanks to my father, I will always remember her as both.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

Posts by Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

Up Next

A champion of the people: Josie Johnson still finds hope in the struggle

Don't Miss

Giants rally to beat Cubs now above .500

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

3 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.