Theodore R. Johnson is the author of When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America; a Senior Advisor at New America, leading its flagship Us@250 initiative marking the nation’s semi quincentennial; and a contributing columnist at the Washington Post. Prior to joining New America, he was a senior fellow and Director of the Fellows Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, where he undertook research on race, politics, and American identity. He is a retired Commander in the United States Navy, serving for twenty years in a variety of positions, including as a White House Fellow in the first Obama administration and as speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His work on race relations has appeared in prominent national publications across the political spectrum, including the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and National Review. Johnson is a proud HBCU graduate, holding a BS in mathematics from Hampton University as well as an ALM with a concentration in international relations from Harvard University and a doctorate of law and policy from Northeastern University.