On one of this summer’s few sunny days, Jennifer Johnson walked down Rita Road in Dorchester with a smile on her face, ready to begin one of her favorite activities these days: Door knocking.

Johnson, who is running for the open District 3 Council seat, had parked outside St. Brendan Elementary School and crossed the street to talk with residents who were outside their homes, taking in the breezy afternoon, carrying grocery bags into their homes, washing their cars, and playing in yards with their children.

She spotted a little girl who was, Johnson said, around the age she was when her life in door knocking began. “I’ve been involved in politics since I was three years old. Not for running for office, but my mother was a Democratic activist in small-town Louisiana, and she was helping [US Sen.] Bennett Johnston Jr. and she took me around with her everywhere. Door knocking, holding signs, all of that.

“When Election Day came, she brought me to town hall when she was going to vote and I threw a fit in the middle of town hall because I couldn’t vote, too.” 

Johnson is all smiles these days. She knows the issues in District 3 are serious, but she aims to be approachable and personable when speaking with voters. It can be easy to associate her demeanor with southern charm, but she moved to Boston for school when she was just 20 years old and has a particular appreciation for the city.

She has spent the past 34 years as an activist in her community through various roles – president of the Meetinghouse Hill Civic Association, key participant in the Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets, member of the Ward 15 Democratic Committee, involvement with the Healthy Bowdoin Geneva Collaborative, a community nonprofit. She also has run for the Fifth Suffolk House seat.

“I think a lot of times people who have lived here all of their lives don’t understand that Boston is the best city to live in and they don’t understand how different it is here from where I grew up,” said Johnson.

“In Boston, you have a responsibility to your neighbors, to your community. People will talk about issues like inequities in public schools and things like that. Where I grew up, there’s not that conversation.” 

During her childhood, Louisiana scored very low when it came to providing public education, Johnson noted. Still, she added, each school she attended had a library and offered art, music, and sports, and the same cannot be said for all Boston Public Schools. 

“It’s not enough to just keep looking at Boston Latin and the three exam schools. Every single one of our students, even if they don’t get into an exam school, should have good opportunities for a good education.” she said. “And that’s not what we have right now. I will really fight for our kids and for our families.”

If public schools do not improve soon, more and more residents will leave the district for locations with better academic opportunities, according to Johnson.

Additionally, families are being pushed out due to the lack of affordable housing.

While she has some suggestions of her own, she plans on listening to residents as the way to find the best solutions.

“I think I have some solid ideas about things around education or housing,” she said, “but I’m also somebody who is not going to say, ‘I already know the answer.’ I’m actually out there and I talk to people, and I find out what they know and what their experiences are because we have people all over this district, and all over the community who have knowledge about things. I listen to them, and I learn. When you’re dealing with city issues, which is about really fixing problems, you have to get out of the theoretical.”