V. M. Johnson, also known as Viola Johnson, born in 1950, is a leatherwoman, leather activist and author.
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Life

Johnson claims that when she was seventeen years old a vampire gave her some of his own blood to drink and thus she became a vampire. In the early 1970s, she joined the

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

scenes. In 1988, she became an honorary member of Tulsa Uniform Leather Seekers Association (T.U.L.S.A). In 2005, she started The Carter/Johnson Library & Collection, a "collection of thousands of books, magazines, posters, art, club and event pins, newspapers, event programs and ephemera showing leather, fetish, S/M erotic history". She was a judge for many leather-related contests, including Ms. World Leather. She is on the board of governors for the Leather Hall of Fame. She was on the board of directors of the

Leather Archives & Museum The Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M) is a community archives, library, and museum located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Founded by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase in 1991, its mission is "making leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish a ...

and is a member of the

Lesbian Sex Mafia The Lesbian Sex Mafia (LSM) is an information and support group for bisexual women and lesbians interested in sexual activities involving BDSM, fetishes, costumes, etc. Founded in 1981 by Jo Arnone and Dorothy Allison, it is located in New York Cit ...

. She is married to Jill Carter.

Notable awards

*1995: National Leather Association's Jan Lyon Award for Regional or Local Work *1995: National Leather Association Lifetime Achievement Award *1995: Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award (Johnson was the first person to receive the National Leather Association Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year.) *1998: Pantheon of Leather Couple of the Year award (shared with Jill Carter and Queen Cougar) *2000: Pantheon of Leather Woman of the Year *2005: SouthEast LeatherFest Jack Stice Memorial Community Service Award *2005: Master/slave Conference slave Heart Award *2005: Pantheon of Leather Forebear Award (tied for the win with David S. Kloss) *2007: Black Beat Lifetime Achievement Award (This was the first Lifetime Achievement Award given by Black Beat.) *2012: Master/slave Conference

Guy Baldwin Guy Baldwin, M.S. (b. 1946) is a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist, author, activist, and educator specializing in issues of particular relevance to the BDSM and leather communities. He maintains that inclusion of non-injurious elements of sadom ...

Master/slave Heritage Award *2012:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...

Leather Leadership Award (Johnson was the first woman to be given this award.) *2018: The Carter/Johnson Library & Collection received the Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the

Pantheon of Leather Awards Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

. *Unknown date: Induction into the

Society of Janus The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society) and is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group. The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is ...

Hall of Fame

Works

Books *V. M. Johnson, ''

Dhampir In Balkans folklore, dhampirs (sometimes spelled ''dhampyres'', ''dhamphirs'', or ''dhampyrs'') are creatures that are the result of a union between a vampire and a mortal human. This union was usually between male vampires and female mortal huma ...

: Child of the Blood''. Mystic Rose Books, 1995. *

Laura Antoniou Laura Antoniou (born 1963) is an American novelist. She is the author of ''The Marketplace'' series of BDSM-themed novels, which were originally published under the pen name of Sara Adamson. Antoniou is also known for her work as an editor and pi ...

(ed.),''Some Women''. Masquerade Books, Inc, 1995 (contributed "Journal entries") *V. M. Johnson, ''To Love, to Obey, to Serve: Diary of an Old Guard Slave'' Mystic Rose Books, 1999. Contributing author, notable periodicals * ''Black Leather in Color'' * ''Black Mistress Review''

References

External links

The Carter/Johnson Library and Collection
1950 births African-American writers American non-fiction writers BDSM activists BDSM writers Leather subculture American lesbian writers LGBT African Americans Living people Women erotica writers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American women 21st-century American women African-American women writers {{US-writer-stub