The campaign organization “Justice for Gregory Johnson” hosted a philanthropic festival Friday and Saturday to honor the life of San Jose State student Gregory Johnson Jr. and continue to call for justice surrounding  his suspicious death.

More than 300 people attended the two-day event called “Gregory’s Jam” through Twitch livestream and featured performances from 17 local artists. 

Cristopher Acosta, a political science senior and event organizer, said the festival enabled people to use art as a form of advocacy.

“There is power in guarding the community around [avenues of social justice],” Acosta said in a Zoom call. “We felt as though this would be a way to allow more people to get involved.” 

20-year-old Johnson’s body was found hanging in the Sigma Chi fraternity house basement on Nov. 22, 2008. The University Police Department and Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office ruled the case a suicide, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner autopsy report.

Johnson’s mother, Denise Johnson, has gained community support in the last 12 years, calling the case a murder, and more specifically a hate crime. 

The event was aimed at raising the $2,000 needed to reopen the case and run an independent autopsy on her son’s body. 

Acosta said $4,300 was raised. 

Meanwhile, SJSU President Mary Papazian broke the university’s silence on Thursday regarding Johnson’s case in a campuswide email. 

“SJSU recognizes that for many members of our community, the circumstances surrounding Gregory’s death are emblematic of longstanding systemic racism in our nation,” Papazian stated in the email. “They have called on the university to take action, to bring the truth to light.”

She encouraged students to attend the event as the county’s coroner and district attorney will reexamine the case after the pandemic, but said no new evidence has surfaced since the investigation’s conclusion in 2009.

Previous 2020 demonstrations that supported the Justice for Gregory Johnson campaign were organized by Black Liberation and Collective Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.) Outreach, a San Jose activist group. 

However “Gregory’s Jam” was put on by SJSU students including Acosta, Leland Pama and Nina Chuang, as well as local activist Symone Jackson. 

The Jam

The event’s main headliner, “Denise’s Set,” featured the Johnson family’s favorite music and a pre recorded speech of Denise Johnson at an October protest in front of Sigma Chi fraternity. 

“[The officials and university administration involved in the case have] sons and daughters. How would they feel if they lost [their child] at 20 years old?” Denise said in the recording. “[Gregory] had the chance to do nothing . . . He came [to SJSU] a scholar.”

Kadence Walker, an SJSU student and poet, created a spoken word poetry video to honor Johnson and commemorate his mother’s fight for justice. 

“There is no replacement for this beyond, bright soul,” Walker said in the video. “His mother carries it like no other. Like a stamp on her heart and her own search for answers . . . all she ever asked for was a transparent investigation.” 

While Walker produced and narrated the two minute video, he said most of the words used to describe Johnson including “beyond capable, his laughter inescapable . . . first generational, handsome and capable Black man,” were words that Denise Johnson used to describe her son. 

He also said he ended the clip with Denise Johnson asking “Who killed my son?” because it highlighted the family’s story. 

Walker said he’s not satisfied with Papazian’s campuswide email. 

“I understand the legal implications, but [the email] felt more like the university is trying to cover it and say the least amount possible,” he said.

Walker explained he feels people should know how the Johnson family was treated when they were denied the ability to identify Johnson’s body after having already been identified by a fraternity member. 

“The coroner’s office . . . treated us like we were animals,” Denise Johnson said in the recording of her speech at the October protest. 

Walker said the university should’ve apologized to the family and the community for Johnson’s death. 

Community calls to reopen case

Symone Jackson, a local activist and event organizer, was featured in episode two of case 26 on “Crime Noir,” a Spotify podcast that discusses controversial court cases. She explained the illegitimacy of Johnson’s case ruling in the Jan. 7 episode. 

“Based on the evidence and the sheer sloppiness of the investigation, I believe it needs to be reopened,” Jackson said in the podcast. 

Leland Pama, a communications senior, said it’s important Johnson’s case is never forgotten.

Pama said he reached out to more than 3,000 local organizations, businesses and restaurants for endorsements for the event and several of them came from SJSU Greek organizations and clubs.

Acosta said Gregory’s Jam differed from previous demonstrations because of how much awareness the campaign has created.

“There were a number of Greek organizations who we didn’t think were going to speak out,” Acosta said, adding he hopes advocacy is something Greek organizations put into action seriously. 

Walker said the best thing SJSU students should continue to do is ask questions, educate themselves and persevere. 

“The strongest tool that students have on their campus is their voice,” Walker said. “When it comes to the suspicious [deaths] of Black individuals, their story becomes part of the amalgamation of what it is to be Black in America.”