Invisible Man: A Hard Look at Mayor Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson’s escape from poverty reads like a fairy tale. But his story took a turn when he became mayor. Why has he disappeared from so many of his old friends lives?
By Peter Simek
Published in
D Magazine
May
2021
Photo Illustration by Natalie Goff, Photography by Bret Redman, and Courtesy
It was more than four hours into the June 5, 2020, special meeting of the Dallas City Council called to discuss the George Floyd demonstrations, and Mayor Eric Johnson had no more patience for bullshit. Johnson had sat quietly listening to one resident after another lecture him about Dallas’ endemic racism and struggles with over-policing. When it was finally his turn to speak, he wanted answers about what had happened on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge the previous Sunday. Dallas police officers had fired so-called nonlethal rounds of ammunition and tear gas canisters at a peaceful crowd that included many children. Who was ultimate