AFRAM Performer Le'Andria Johnson Has A Message In Her Ministry: Keep Moving
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Gospel Singer Le'Andria Johnson sings about the blessings of life and tries to reach the people who don't know how to digest their emotions about life's difficulties.
She spoke to WJZ's Ava-Joye Burnett about her music and her ministry. WJZ is the official TV partner of AFRAM, which kicked off at Druid Hill Park.
The two-day festival celebrating African-American culture coincides with Juneteenth, the commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans in 1865 that officially became a federal holiday last year.
The song Better Days is self-explanatory, Johnson told Burnett.
"Better days are coming and I am grateful to be able to share that across the world," she said. As for Deliver Me, the song is "a personal cry out," she said.
"You have people who deal with a whole lot of things that don't know how to express that," Johnson said. "They don't know who to go to or who to talk to, but that song is there. . . . A lot of things we get ourselves into—WE get ourselves into—so we have to deal with the consequences after. But if we start acknowledging that it's us and nobody else, it makes the song even more sweet."
Johnson touched hands with some of her fans. She said it was to let them know that she appreciated them and that she was human too.
"I'm flesh and blood just like them and I'm going to show you how much flesh and blood that I am," she said. "I'm going to go out there and relate to the people. I'm going to touch your hand. I'm going to hold you. I'm going to hug you. Hey, we're here. We're all here together. We're the church."
Johnson was emotional during her performance. She said during times of great struggle, she remembers what her grandmother said: keep moving.
Johnson described how she used to watch her grandmother maintain her composure and make it look like it was nothing wrong.
"That energy was, you know, instilled into me," she said. "I was able to relay that to the crowd. The crowd gave me their energy and I was here. Everything was great. It kept me moving because I wanted to bust out crying. I ain't going to lie."
