J. Brandon Johnson is from Topeka, Kansas and started Kancel Klan Kulture as an art project to support the Rename Seaman Schools initiative at his alma mater, Seaman High School after a contemporary cohort of students discovered via Kansas historical records that their namesake was an active leader (Exalted Cyclops) of the Ku Klux Klan-a notorious white supremacist domestic terrorist organization. The premise of the project was a simple question: If being casually affiliated by name with the genocidal history and tactics of the Ku Klux Klan isn’t problematic, why would actively denouncing the same be an issue?

The controversial reception of the brand and its affiliated art has illustrated the absurdity of this gaslighting attempt at dissociation efforts perfectly. When the school district decided to retain the name in a questionable whitewashing campaign that attacked dissenting students and faculty, Brandon realized Klan Kulture was more complex than simple nomenclature and manifested internationally in various regressive movements and organizations globally to reinforce entrenched power structures. It was upon this appreciation of socio-institutional architecture that Brandon expanded the scope of the project and sought out likeminded anti-authoritarian artists to grow and spread the installation to combat similar cultures wherever they may exist around the world.

A mass communications graduate from Winston-Salem State University who continued his studies in Film and Video production at University of North Carolina Greensboro, Brandon has taught communications at various institutions of higher education in the the North Carolina educational system for over a decade. In addition to his digital portfolio of web/graphic design, app development and multimedia production, Brandon is a physical mixed media artist currently exploring acrylic painted wood micro-murals in a scalable style he has dubbed “Wallfitti.”

Brandon is an active anti-racist and political ally of various marginalized groups that specializes in provocative pieces designed to prompt intentional discourse about perception with his personal mantra that: “Discomfort is where meaningful discussion begins.”