"Johnnie Tillmon"(1926-1995)

Was born in in Scott Arkansas.A migrant sharecroppers daughter,she moved to California in

1959,to join her brothers and worked as a union shop steward in a Compton laundry.Johnnie organized workers and became involved in a community association called the Nickerson Garden Planing Organization which was established to improved conditions in the housing project.She became ill in 1963,and was advised to seek welfare.Johnnie was hesitant at first,but decided to apply for assistance to take care of her children.She immediately learned how welfare recipients were harassed by caseworkers who went to their apartments looking for evidence of extra support and who designated how they should spend money.In order to fight against this dehumanized treatment,Johnnie organized people on welfare in the housing project and founded one of the grassroots welfare mothers' organizations called ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous,in 1963.When a former CORE activist George Wiley,brought together local welfare recipients' groups and transformed them into a national movement,ANC Mothers joined the movement and became part part of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO).Johnnie quickly emerged as a leader and became a chairperson of the NWRO.Together with other welfare mothers,she struggled to adequate income,dignity,justice,and Democratic participation.While the NWRO was official run by welfare recipients,the male middle-class staff managed the finances and administered the national office,wielding great influence over the organization.Johnnie and other welfare mothers because increasingly critical of George and supporters who dominated leaderships positions,and sought to place control of the organization in the hands of the welfare recipients.When the number of recipients rapidly increased and the NWRO was under fierce attack,the internal conflict between the staff members and welfare recipients came to the forefront.While George and his advisors tried to mobilize the working poor,especially the white blue-collars workers,into the welfare rights movement,welfare mothers led by Johnnie sought to align with a women's movement and gain support from feminist organizations such as the Nation Organization for Women (NOW).In 1972,Johnnie published an article in Ms magazine entitled "Welfare Is a Women's Issue,"articulating how the welfare system controlled the lives of women on welfare constantly placed them under scrutiny of government authorities.She tried to broaden the horizon of the feminist movement by redefining poverty as a "women's issue."When George resigned in late 1972,Johnnie was chosen as the new Executive Director of the NWRO.The funding for the organization,had become depleted by the time she became the director.After the NWRO folded in 1975,Johnnie returned to Los Angeles continuing her struggle for welfare rights at the local state level.