Marlene Louise Johnson, a former Associated Press reporter whose legal challenge against the wire service helped prompt affirmative action initiatives for female and minority journalists, died last month at the age of 89. She passed away in a care facility near Los Angeles after a period of dementia, according to her daughter, Morenike Joela Evans.

Born in Rochester, New York, Johnson earned an associate’s degree from the University at Buffalo and a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Later in life, at age 75, she completed a master’s degree in religious studies at Howard University’s School of Divinity.

Before joining the AP, Johnson worked in the Detroit office of Congressman John Conyers in the early 1970s, where she developed a friendship with civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Parks, known for her pivotal role in the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, passed away in 2005.

Johnson began her career with the Associated Press in 1972 as a general assignment reporter in Detroit. Her reporting covered a range of issues, including Black entrepreneurship, court-ordered busing in Detroit’s public schools, police and community relations, breast cancer screening, and women’s empowerment in business and culture.

A year after joining the AP, Johnson filed a race and gender discrimination lawsuit against the organization. Although initially part of a minority hiring initiative, she claimed she received no formal training and faced unequal performance standards compared to her white male colleagues. She described the experience as isolating and frustrating, later noting that she feared being dismissed without cause.

The lawsuit, initially supported by the Newspaper Guild, evolved into a class-action suit involving several other female minority journalists. While Johnson was not among the named plaintiffs in the eventual 1983 settlement, the case resulted in the AP agreeing to implement affirmative action plans aimed at increasing employment and advancement opportunities for women and journalists of color. The settlement, which followed a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission intervention, also included provisions for training and bonuses.

Johnson reflected on the changes to the lawsuit’s plaintiff list, noting that her name was replaced by another Black woman unfamiliar to her, and she did not receive the financial compensation awarded to the plaintiffs. Despite this, she said her goal was not monetary but rather to address systemic discrimination within journalism.

Following her tenure at the AP, Johnson continued her career in communications and advocacy. She worked for the Newspaper Guild, the National Urban League, the National 4-H Council, and the White House Council on Aging. She also served in the press office for President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration committee. In the 1990s, she returned to journalism as an assistant features editor at the Washington Times, retiring in 2004.

Johnson maintained active memberships in professional organizations including the National Association of Black Journalists, the Capital Press Club, and the Public Relations Society of America.

She relocated to Los Angeles about a decade ago to be closer to family. Her daughter described her as a dedicated journalist and advocate committed to truth-telling. Johnson is survived by her daughter, two grandchildren, a son-in-law, and two siblings. She wished to be remembered as a dependable friend, a strong Christian woman, and a loving mother and grandmother.