Johanna Fernández (historian)

Johanna Fernández (born December 2, 1970) is a Dominican-American historian, police/prison abolitionist, and revolutionary socialist. An associate professor of history at Baruch College, her academic work has centered on the Young Lords, culminating in The Young Lords: A Radical History (2019). Since its publication, she has been working on a book about the history of fascism in the United States and co-curated the first exhibit at the National Museum of the American Latino in 2022.

Her activism began in 1991 as a leader of Students for Admissions and Minority Aid (SAMA) at Brown University. As an advocate for need-blind admission and affirmative action, she participated in the April 22–23, 1992 occupation of University Hall. Her 21st-century activism has primarily centered around the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal campaign. In this endeavor, she has produced the film Justice on Trial (2010), co-edited a special issue of Socialism and Democracy with Abu-Jamal, and edited a collection of his works titled Writing on the Wall (2015).