In a news release issued by the NAACP, Leon Russell, the vice chairman of the organization's Board of Directors, said: "You can't look at young folks and say you're going to be the leaders of the future. You have to give them the opportunity to lead now, and that's what the NAACP believes. (Johnson) walks in the footsteps of the greats, including Savannah's Ralph Mark Gilbert and W.W. Law; Macon's Julius Caesar Hope; and Madison's Walter Curtis Butler. As a scholar, a practitioner of law, and a dynamic young leader, I am confident that the bar of excellence will be raised and more young professionals will be attracted to the work of the NAACP."