Johnathon McCollar - People Over Politics

Johnathon McCollar is a native of Statesboro, GA. He is a product of the Bulloch County School System and a graduate of Statesboro High School. He matriculated at Albany State University, finishing his degree at Georgia Southern University.

McCollar has held jobs in education along with working for charitable organizations.  He has also been active in politics, losing the Statesboro mayoral race by under 100 votes.  

Get on the Bandwagon spoke with McCollar about his career.

Q: Tell me about your background...growing up in Statesboro? A: I was born and raised in Statesboro. I come from a family that did not have much materialistically,  but we loved each other tremendously. Because of this,  I didn't realize I was missing anything in life until I was much older. As a kid, I spent most of my time with friends and family, either playing basketball at the park or just hanging out.

Q: Who were some of your role models growing up?

A: Early in life, I adored my Great Grand Father. He was a strong independent man. A man where the people always knew where they stood with him. Vance "Sonny" Harrison was also a role model for me. My mother had me at an early age, and there were not that many men around for me to look up; so when he moved in next door that was a life changing event. Since then, I have had such great mentors as, Deborah Mills, Loretta Williams, Lonnie Simmons, Enola Mosley, Saba Jallow, Renata Newbill Jallow, Carlos Brown, Wayne Wiliams, Vuela Rhodes, and so many more.

Q: When was the first time you felt things were not equal for everyone?

A: The first time I felt that things were not equal for every one was when I was in second grade. It was brought to my attention that I had scored one of the highest scores in the school on an aptitude test. As I walked through the school, I remember getting all of these hugs from the teachers telling me what a great job I had done. Well,  when I was promoted to third grade I was in the class with the same students as before. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but when I got to high school I wanted to prepare for college and had been poorly prepared up until this point to be a success in the classes that were identified as being college prep. It was in this moment that I realized that there was an unfairness in the system. This was when I was in 9th grade.

Q: Do you think this may have affected where you went to college? 

A: No. In fact, in some strange way, it helped me to understand who I am and what my passion in life was going to be. After this event, I had lost all interest in education. I did enough in class to graduate. As a matter of fact, I was so disinterested in school that I was habitually late to class, to the point where I was being sent to In-School Suspension for it.

However, it was there where I tapped into my love for reading. On a daily basis, I would finish all of my work by 10 am so that I could go to lunch and come back and sleep for the remainder of the day. Well, one day one of the teachers gave me this tattered book and said read this. That book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. From that that day until now, I have had a thirst and fire for truth and justice.

Leaving high school, I only wanted to attend one college and that was Albany State University. Why?  Albany was a city that played a major role in the Civil Rights movement and at this point in my life, I wanted to be any where that was connected to Dr. King. The things I learned and experienced Albany State University I will never forget.

Q: How would you describe the HBCU experience? A: I can't express the positive impact this experience has had on my life. Growing up in a small town, in a time when things were still very separate, it was life changing to go to an environment where nearly everyone looks like you and there is excellence all around you. The president of the institution looks like you. The smartest kid in class looks like you. For me, this was so empowering because up until this point, I had only seen those that looked like me in mostly powerless conditions. The irony behind this is that this experience was nearly 25 years ago and my hometown is now just beginning to discuss things that we were doing in the early 1990's. This experience has left me with the belief that the sky is the limit when it comes to the things that are possible for my children and I. Going to an HBCU was one of the best decisions in my life. Ultimately, I did not graduate from Albany State, but it will always have my heart.

Q: What caused you to not finish Albany State?

A: For the most part, I was supporting myself through college. My family helped my when they could, but I began to find myself working more than I was going to class. So, it came to a point where I had to make the decision that I needed to finish my degree and the best place for me to do that was back home. Thus, I moved back home and enrolled at Georgia Southern University.

Q: How was Georgia Southern different than Albany State?  A: The immediate difference I saw between the two institutions was the funding and exposure. Georgia Southern had so many resources for its student body. However, what Albany State lacked in resources, it made up for it in the relationships that were made. When I needed help with a class, I did not go to a tutor,  I went to the professor. That professor tutored me one on one. The professors acted more like mentors and friends. I felt that every professor cared for me. Truthfully, being a part of Albany State felt like being a part of one big family. Too often HBCUs get a bad rap for their lack of funding, but the relationships you build there are priceless.

Q: After graduating from Georgia Southern, what were your plans?

A: I wanted to change the world after graduation. I knew my passion was working with young people, but I was still unsure as to in what capacity. I tell people that I have been fortunate in my career because it has allowed me to experience some things in life that I know many others will never get to do. My first "real" job after graduation was a director for an alternative education center. There, I worked with youth in an at-risk situation and loved every day of it. I learned so much from working with these young people. It was through them that my passion for community activism was ignited all over again. I saw the conditions and issues that many of these students were facing and felt that there must be something I could do. My first though was to start an organization that would change the world, but I quickly realized that the students and community would suffer because of the failed policies of its leadership. This is when I began to become interested in politics and the political process.

Q: What is the major problem you have seen in the political arena? What have you learned from the process?

A: The major problem that I have seen in the political arena is how detached those that are supposed to represent the people are from the people. Politicians tend to know all of the right people that can get them the money they need to fuel a campaign, but understand very little about the people that make up the districts that they represent. What supports this is the people's dismay with the process and their choices for representation,

I have learned that the people have more power than they believe and career politicians fear this. It is political strategy to keep the people fighting among themselves over petty differences. What is heart breaking about this is that re-elections and political control is more important to the career politician than the people.

Q: How can we get more people involved in the voting process on the local, state, and national level?

A: All politics are local. If we are going to get more people involved in the process, then we have to get them engaged in their local politics. Races for the school board, city council, and county commissions matter as it is these races that are going to push overall turnout. So we must work at the grass roots level to get more people to run for any of the offices that go unopposed. For example, in 2013, I ran for mayor in my hometown. Prior to then, it had been nearly 25 years before there was a contested mayoral race. Even more astonishing is that I was only the second person of color in the city's 200 plus year history to ever run for the seat. Though it was a race where I ultimately lost, it was a race that has forever changed the political landscape of our community. Why? Because for the first time in the city's history the people could see that it was a real possibility that a person that does come from one of the old families and grew up on the wrong side of the railroad track could actually be in the mayor's office. We lost the race by 93 votes and several years later people are still talking about what almost happened on both sides.

Q: What barriers have you seen in our community to voting? A: The barriers that I have seen in the voting process in our community is the lack of knowledge about the process and the familiarity of the steward of the election office to get out into the community and educate the people.

Q: How can it be changed?

A: We have to take on the responsibility of educating the people about the process while we are working remove those that do not effectively represent the people.

Q: Will you continue to seek public office? What will you do differently this time? A: I will continue to work to shape public policy, but I will not be running for office. My ultimate goal is for the condition of the people to improve. It does not matter to me who does it as long as it gets done.