By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
An Asbury Park woman will be part of the change presidential candidate Barack Obama hopes to bring to America this November, if elected.
Rosetta Johnson, who works for the citys Neighborhood Preservation Program, was chosen from thousands of applicants who petitioned for an unpaid internship in the Obama Campaign as part of the Advanced Leadership Fellowship Program.
Next month Johnson, 48, will head to the Obama headquarters in Virginia to begin her six-week stay.
Johnson said she is being given a supervisory role and will be coordinating volunteers.
I feel like hes going out there and helping for the greater good of mankind, she said, explaining why she wants Obama to become president.
Johnson said she feels a kindred spirit with Obama.
I think his background is like mine, she said. We were both raised in poverty. My mother raised 5 kids all by herself.
Johnson was also raised by her aunt, Dorothy Johnson after her mother, an ordained Pentecostal minister, died. She has one child, a niece she adopted, who is now nine years old.
Johnson said she will use her vacation days for the six week internship. She has a masters degree in criminal justice from Monmouth University and an associates degree in social science from Brookdale Community College.
Johnson said she believes she and Obama both have the capacity to see the world from the opposite vantage points of living in poverty to experiencing the benefits of higher education.
I stayed in Asbury Park and didnt fall into vice. I rose above it, she said. We both know what its like to live in poverty and then rise above it.
She calls Obamas rise to a prominent position in national politics, a grass roots campaign.
When she gets to Virginia, Johnson is hoping to make her mark.
I like to do my job; Im a doer, she said.
Johnson would also love to go to the convention in Colorado.
If I get invited, Id go, she said.
Johnson does not rule out a career in politics on the local level.
Ive been here since 1960, she said. I love Asbury Park. Ive seen it all and I am part of the rebirth of the city, the revitalization.
Johnson has certifications in Advanced Leadership and Management and Labor from Rutgers University and is a member of the Phi Sigma Criminal Justice Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for Social Justice.
I love people and he loves people too, we understand the basic needs of poverty, she said. I think he would do the best for the people…focus on the needs of the people.
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