Dr. Johnny Brown spoke of Rotary’s work in the world and community. He first joined the Birmingham, Alabama Rotary Club and, after moving to Texas, served as President of the Port Arthur Rotary Club in 2020-2021. Dr. Brown said he has always relied on and appreciated the 4-Way Test.
In 2020 and 2021, Dr. Brown authored the following books:
The Emerson Street Story: Race, Class, Quality of Life and Faith
The Emerson Street Story 2: Winners Always Practice Program
Life on the Land: Memoir of a Farmer’s Daughter
A third Emerson Street Story is in progress.
Dr. Brown grew up in Austin on Emerson Street, now the baseball stadium of the Longhorns. Growing up, his focus was on faith and the importance of sound ideas for quality of life. His statement “from the outhouse to the White House” shows his sense of humor and his confidence in becoming who he is. His grandmother lived in a house “without a proper bathroom” close to his parents. After 911, he was invited to the White House by George W. Bush to tour the Oval Office.
He came from a loving family that knew life wasn’t always fair, but to let go of the anger that keeps one from succeeding. His own home had running water but no water heater. He attended segregated schools but luckily was able to engage in some integrated activity. Texas State University offered him a full scholarship to play basketball in 1966. He was the first Negro athlete at Texas State. There was an entire floor in the residence hall for black students, a colored water fountain, and he was denied hotel accommodations on road trips. Things are better today but they are not “all right.” He was humbled to have been chosen for this part of history at Texas State and appreciated the coach who talked him into attending because of his talents and skills. In 2020 that basketball team was honored by Texas State. Dr. Brown received the Legacy Achievement Award from UT’s Black Student Athlete Summit.
Dr. Brown has taught and coached in several education systems and was Superintendent for systems in Texas, Ohio and Alabama, including Port Arthur ISD. His experience as Superintendent has made him aware of the many political interferences in public education in contracts and positions. Not accepting the “interferences” by his measure of honesty and fairness did have some consequences that were unfortunate. But his “let it go” philosophy came in handy in dealing with these situations.
In 2021 the Dr. Johnny E. Brown Committee on Racial Equality (CORE) was created by the Texas State Athletics Committee in order to develop recommendations that foster an inclusive culture in Texas Student Athletes.
Dr. Brown has left a mark for fairness wherever he goes.
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14. President Brad Brown and Vice President Uliana Trylowsky were both interviewed on-air and told of the project taken on by the Rotary Club of Beaumont. 
We have 5 bottles of white wine remaining from Wine Down With Rotary. If you would like to enjoy one or more, please call the Rotary office at 409-842-1913. For a donation, you can enjoy a bottle and make a donation to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation at the same time!
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