Rev. Darryl Johnson

Rev. Darryl Johnson is a pastor, historian, and community development leader whose life’s work focuses on economic empowerment, historic preservation, health equity, and housing restoration in historically Black communities. A former mayor of Mound Bayou, Mississippi—one of the nation’s oldest all-Black municipalities—he led efforts centered on infrastructure improvement, economic revitalization, and community-based public health advancement, helping to strengthen both the physical and social fabric of the city.

Continuing a legacy of service as the son of Hermon Johnson Sr., an original founder of Delta Housing and Development Corporation, Rev. Johnson is a former President of the organization and the founder and President of the Mound Bayou Movement, advancing a vision of healthy restoration through housing development, neighborhood stabilization, and homeownership. He is also co-founder and Board President of the Mound Bayou Museum of African American Culture and History, which opened in 2021, and co-founder of the Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance, a national coalition supporting more than 100 Black-founded communities. An ordained minister, he is the founder and pastor of Walk of Faith Covenant Church and holds a Master of Divinity, along with public health leadership training from Morehouse School of Medicine and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, reflecting his lifelong commitment to faith-driven justice, preservation, and community uplift.