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Battle of Lake Okeechobee Johnny Montgomery

The Art of Johnny Montgomery on display at Seminole Nation Museum

By Windy Goodloe, Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association secretary

The Seminole Nation Museum in Wewoka, Oklahoma, is exhibiting Johnny Montgomery’s artwork in honor of Black History Month. Mr. Montgomery’s artwork is a rich and deeply personal exploration of the Seminoles and Black Seminoles. In honor of his exhibition at the museum, I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his work, his life, and his plans for the future. 

I was able to speak to Mr. Montgomery while he was at home in Charleston, South Carolina. And very quickly in our conversation, we covered the important facts. He is a Vietnam veteran. He was a paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division. Being in the military allowed him to see the world. But he is very proud of the people he descended from and the place where he grew up. He is Gullah. He grew up eating eel and crab and grits. He said eating alligator and racoon was not out of the norm. He, also, grew up eating the South Carolinian staple – red rice, which can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

He began drawing at a very young age. When he would visit his maternal grandmother during the summer, he would spend his free time tracing farm animals. As a young adult, he took two years of art classes in college. These courses taught him the fundamentals of art, such as perspective and foreshortening. With this foundation in painting, Mr. Montgomery was equipped to begin his career as a fine artist, but he needed a subject.

When he learned about the Seminoles and Black Seminoles, he immediately began doing research on his own, consuming as many books as he could. He even attended a few Seminole Days celebrations in Brackettville, Texas, and visited with Miss Charles Emily Wilson and Mr. William “Dub” Warrior, who were the matriarch and patriarch, respectively, of our group. 

During our conversation, Mr. Montgomery spoke about how his heritage has informed his art by giving it a deep purpose. He calls his work “Cultural Art.” He has been painting the Gullahs, Seminoles, and Black Seminoles for more than half a century. His work is the culmination of decades of research. He is a historian in his own right. Mr. Montgomery uses his knowledge to paint history onto his canvases. He has single-handedly given us a vision of what our Seminole and Black Seminole forebearers may have liked like, from the perspective of a Black man. They are not depicted as “savages” or “slaves.” Instead, they are depicted as real people, who were strong, fierce, brave, and resilient. And this is why his work is so important and should be celebrated.

This exhibition came together with the help of Ms. Theressa Golden, who is a force in her own right. I had the chance to speak with her, and she said that, after Mr. Montgomery attended the Wewoka Sorghum Festival in October, the idea for his exhibition came about, and just a few months later, plans for his work to be displayed were in place.

In preparation for this exhibition, Mr. Montgomery said that he personally drove his painting out to Oklahoma. He said he has plans to attend our annual Seminole Days celebration in Brackettville this year, as well, and we are certainly looking forward to finally meeting him in person. Our museum was the lucky recipient of one of his paintings (“Battle of Lake Okeechobee”) a few years back, and we can’t wait to thank Mr. Montgomery for sharing his immense talent with us in person.

Mr. Johnny Montgomery’s art will be on display at the Seminole Nation Museum (524 S Wewoka Ave, Wewoka, OK 74884/phone: (405) 257-5580) until the end of February.

Logo for San Diego American Indian Health CenterGreetings, Beautiful Relatives!

We hope you are all safe and doing well! The Wellness Team is gearing up for a new productive, and fantastic year with our Good Medicine Youth! To bring the best services for our youth, we must circle back around as some have not finished registration. We are attaching the Good Medicine Youth Registration form to this email, and it has been condensed and is auto-fill, so it should take no longer than 5 minutes to register your youth. The families that register their youth will be in the running for giveaway items; 1.) Good Medicine Hoodie (Youth choose color and size), 2.) Cedar Feather box 3.) Abalone shell and sweetgrass 4.) Indigenous handbags & earrings. All the items we give away hold significant value and are handcrafted by local Indigenous community members. We will also be calling the families that are missing registration forms. We can walk you through the registration process over the phone or meet you and sit outside and help you register your youth. Let the Wellness Team know if you need support over the phone or in person. The Wellness Team is motivated to bring the best services for our youth to strive physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is a true honor to walk with our youth in a good way. For any information feel free to contact the Wellness Team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration Link: https://arsl.at/rGNXxw7B

San Diego Voters

The Registrar of Voters is now hiring monitors and drivers for our mail ballot drop-off program.
Flexible part-time and full-time shifts at locations throughout the county. 

Apply today!

2022 ca connect adWhat is California Connect?

California Connect, also called the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program (DDTP), is a public program that distributes specialized telecommunications equipment to persons with disabilities; provides a dual-party relay system called California Relay Service; and supplies assistance for speech generating devices- subsidized by the State of California, removing any financial barriers.

San Diego NAACP Fights Back

The San Diego NAACP took action last Thursday night that is certain to generate a strong response from the National NAACP.  On January 6, at its first regularly scheduled General Membership meeting of 2022, the San Diego NAACP voted to approve a motion that would protect the individual members of the San Diego branch from reprisals from the National NAACP, as the San Diego Branch seeks redress from the actions of the national office. This comes after the San Diego Executive Committee, in a closed session that left many members of the organization on hold in the Zoom waiting room for three hours, voted in December not to add the administrator appointed over the branch to the branch bank accounts, as demanded by the National NAACP in a letter to the branch.


The motion came in the form of a resolution which reads in part:

Read more: San Diego NAACP Fights Back

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