Dr. Umar Johnson claims to be the top black school psychologist in America. He has been all over the place delivering his expertise on black education and mental health with a focus on children. Umar is renowned for his scathing criticism of race relationships in America. The self-proclaimed Prince of Pan-Afrikanism recently shared his thoughts on Oprah Winfrey and why she has never had him on her show. He also talks about how she was able to build her empire of “middle aged white women.”
According to Dr. Umar, today we uplift the wrong people in the fights for equality. Musicians and athletes are often looked at to lead because of their status and wealth, but many of them do not have the knowledge or education to do so. He calls this financial elitism and feels it is detrimental to our growth. Umar feels that while he is beyond qualified to lead and speak up for people, many outlets are afraid to give him a platform because he is “too radical.” He uses Oprah Winfrey as an example, posing the question “why have I never been on the Oprah Winfrey Show?”
Umar has seen what Oprah has done for Dr. Phil, making him a millionaire. Phil was featured weekly on Oprah until getting his own series The Dr. Phil Show. He was reportedly making $15 million a year at one point and has successfully created his own spin-offs like The Doctors. Phil is a middle aged white man who delivers advice but is not too offensive to audiences. Umar says that Oprah would never offer him a platform because it goes against her very audience. Umar says that Oprah has build her empire appeasing middle aged white women, the same ones “too racist” to properly teacher kids of color because they are afraid of them.
He goes on to say that while he applauds Oprah, he feels that she and so many other black people called to speak during times of turmoil are too tempered. He feels people are too afraid of his point of view because it is raw. While Umar says his goal is not to be disrespectful, his hope is to spread honesty.
While some might argue that Umar has a point, one glaring exception to this is Iyanla Vanzant. Vanzant is a black women who like Dr. Phil, was granted a platform by Oprah of which she too was able to become a big success and household name. While Umar criticizes Oprah’s audience for being too “tempered”, Iyanla has actually build her brand off her ability to be raw and unfiltered, telling it like it is to her guests.
Vanzant is so “real” that she recently confessed to Tamron Hall that she abandoned her show Iyanla Fix My Life because she was receiving threats from people who could not take her honesty. Vanzant said that fans could not separate the show from real life, and it made her feel unsafe.
In 2018, Dr. Umar tweeted his thoughts on Oprah at a time when people were rallying for her to run for president. “Black people love symbols over substance, an Oprah Winfrey presidency is just what the white man needs to complete his eradication of the Black agenda. Negroes are still dumbfounded after the Obama deception but still yearn for more useless tokenism.”
