Newspaper Page Text
Hi LIFE
INSIDE MOREHOUSE. SEPTEMBER 2010
‘It’s Everything’
Judo Is a Way of Life for Quentin Johnson '02
By ADD SEYMOUR JR
Quentin Johnson ’02 lost
100 pounds in 2003 while liv
ing in Japan. Great accom
plishment, until he considered
the potential impact.
“My friends and I used to
rough house a lot in college,” he
said with a laugh. “I didn’t want
my friends to think they could
best me, so I figured the best way
to supplement the loss of my
strength and weight was to bolster
my skill level in terms of fending
off any particular attackers.”
So Johnson, now an assis
tant director of recruiting,
thought he’d pick up a hobby:
judo. It turned out to be a life-
altering decision.
Instead of a rough-housing
advantage, judo has become a
passion that has him teaching and
competing all over the country.
“It’s a way of life,” Johnson
said. “One of the mantras in judo
is maximum efficiency, minimum
effort, mutual benefit and welfare
for all. I live that. Even in some
thing as simple as just getting to
know people. The path of least
resistance is always to be nice. So
judo has involved itself totally in
my life. I couldn’t see myself
doing anything else.”
Johnson practices four to six
days a week at his Alpharetta dojo
(the Japanese word for martial
arts training site). But most days
he does something related to judo,
such as yoga for strength and flex
ibility or even just push-ups.
While he teaches adult and
children’s classes, lohnson has
begun focusing on competitive
judo. That took some getting
used to after learning the sport in
Japan, where judo originated.
“Judo in Japan is different
than it is here in the United States
because it is seen as a recreati
onal activity,” he said. “Here in
America, it’s primarily done for
the competition aspect of it.
“For me, with a recreational
viewpoint on judo, it took some
getting used to when I got back
here to America, especially seeing
how people reacted to it and how
much more they were serious
about winning. In Japan it was
more recreational and was more
about perfecting the art.
It made me realize that losing
is part of winning - because I had
to change my attitude and take on
a winning attitude. That’s when I
started to win.”
Johnson won gold in a local
competition, came in third in a
national meet in Philadelphia and
finished second in the USA
National President’s Cup Champ
ionships in Michigan in June.
But while winning is great, he
sees judo as something bigger.
“(The judo community is] my
family, my friends, my workout,
my therapy,” Johnson said. “Judo
is everything.” ■
SELF PORTRAIT
Louis Delsarte Tells His Own
Story in His Hammonds House Exhibit
"Jazz Dancer"
By ADD SEYMOUR JR
Art professor Louis Delsarte
has told many stories around the
world through his renowned
works of art. But in his latest
exhibit at the Hammonds House
Museum, he has painted about a
topic he knows best - Louis
Delsarte.
“It’s a retrospective of the 40
years of my life as an artist,” he
said of his exhibit titled, “Spirit
Chasing Rainbows: the Art of
Louis Delsarte.”
“It goes back to the time
when I was 14 years old and goes
up to the present,” he said.
“People can see how dedicated
I’ve been to the arts over the years
and they can figure out my sense
of style and direction.”
The exhibit, which opened to
rave reviews during the National
Black Arts Festival in July, ran
through Sept. 12.
Delsarte, who studied art at
Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute and the
University of Tucson, has spent his
life painting, drawing, doing two-
dimensional designs, using water-
color and other media to create his
colorful take on life.
His diverse portfolio has been
exhibited in cities such as Wash
ington, D.C., New Orleans, New
York and Los Angeles. His glass
mural in Brooklyn, “The Trans
itions: Glass Tile Murals,” illus
trates life in the diverse Flatbush
community where he grew up.
His 2000 painting of Martin
Luther King Jr. ’48, “From Selma to
Montgomery,” was featured on a
U.S. postage stamp in 2005.
In January, the city of Atlanta
unveiled Delsarte’s 125-foot mu
ral, “Dreams, Visions and Change:
The Martin Luther King Jr.
National Mural,” along the wall of
the Martin Luther King Jr.
Natatorium facing the MLK
National Historic Site.
His Hammonds House exhib
it is a take on various stages of his
life, including a piece about his
growing up and watching the car
nival in Brooklyn; another on his
views on the strength of a woman;
and a mixed-media collage on the
birth of Christ.
“His paintings whimsically
move the eyes through a spatial
carnival of colors that are a
hallmark of Delsarte’s mature
work, colors and forms,” said
Hammonds House curator Kevin
Sipp. “His sensual depiction of the
human form in his work is remi
niscent of the works of Ren
aissance masters, and what is cap
tured in the subject matter of his
art can be seen as a diaspora of
cultural experiences.”
Looking at his Hammonds
House work, Delsarte said he sees
himself. “I see a history of my
work, he said. “It’s a good feeling
to see everything that I’ve done
throughout my life. It represents
40 years of my life.” ■
Renaissance
Readers Book
Club Promotes
a Well-Read
Community
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
A group of faculty and
staff has heeded the call of
President Robert M. Franklin
’75 to build a Morehouse
community that is well-read
by forming an organization
titled, The Renaissance
Readers Book Club.
“The name was chosen
because of the commitment
of the College to develop
Rena-issance men, so we
decided on the same name
for the book club,” said
organizer Doris Coleman,
chief ethics and compliance
officer. “It is an opportunity
to read, laugh and meet other
employees,” Coleman said.
“The common theme is that
we all love to read and expe
rience the adventure and
learning that reading pro
vides us.
The club is open to any
faculty and staff member.
For more information about
joining The Renaissance
Readers, call Doris Coleman
at (404) 681-7554 or email
her at:
dcoleman@morehouse.edu.
"Man in Grass"