Boys and Girls Club of Dane County (BGCDC) CEO Michael Johnson laughs it off now, getting 40 emails in two days, then seven more over the next three days, from one person, questioning his credentials, threatening to sue, accusing him of fraud. But, he says, it’s worth taking seriously because it’s just one extreme example of what happens to him and other Black and brown leaders in Madison all the time.
The first email came from Patrick Franzen of Middleton at 7:15 am on Thursday, February 19. It offered a million-dollar donation to BGCDC if Johnson would answer a series of questions, such as whether he’d ever stolen from an employer, how many times he called someone a racist in 2025, and whether he’s called anyone a racist so far in 2026.
Johnson, who was on his way back to Madison from Philadelphia, didn’t see that email right away. Instead, he got a notification of a comment on a LinkedIn post he’d made about the Reverend Jesse Jackson. The comment, from Franzen, complained that his email regarding the million dollar donation offer hadn’t gotten a reply yet, and accused Johnson of inflating his credentials, among other things…