Jerrie Johnson And Dria Brown: The Creative Power Couple Who Are Better Together

For Jerrie Johnson and Dria Brown, their relationship is integral to who they are as artists. Johnson, a breakout actress from Amazon’s Harlem and the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest, has rooted her acting in her queer identity. As a self-described queer artDoula, Brown works with artists to nurture their ideas from creation to birth. Together, they have fostered a world where creativity is key and love is everything.

“ She makes 

everything she touches 

more soulful, 

more structured, 

more alive.”

When the two met at a post-show panel for the play Confederates by Dominique Morisseau, Johnson clocked Brown as cute but somewhat cliquey and decided not to make a move right away. Playing the long game, Johnson slid into her DMs a few months later. After some missed messages, the couple finally went on a first date in 2022 at the Brooklyn neighborhood dive Otis. Jokes were made, hours slipped away in effortless conversation, and the evening ended with a nightcap at Brown’s place.

Two years later, in 2024, Johnson whisked Brown away to a romantic, private villa in Montego Bay, Jamaica to pop champagne and pop *the* question. Now, the couple is excited to exchange heartfelt “I dos” next year. Their dress fitting even made it into the New York Times Fashion Week coverage.

While their relationship offers a refuge from their demanding careers, their love fuels their creativity rather than distracting from it. “Our relationship is a daily reminder that love can be a creative ecosystem—not a distraction from the work, but the soil it grows in,” Brown tells GO. “It’s given us the courage to go deeper. To rest more. To say no to things that don’t serve our joy.”

As an actor, Johnson finds joy in creativity every time they step on a set full of powerful women. “It’s like finding your coven. There’s something revolutionary about being in community with other powerful women who are not just talented but deeply intentional,” says Johnson.

On both Harlem and Survival of the Thickest—two shows that unapologetically and radically center the stories of Women of Color—Johnson has worked alongside a diverse cast, including Grace Byers, Meagan Good, Tasha Smith, and Shoniqua Shandai. On the recently renewed hit series Survival of the Thickest, every episode was directed by Women of Color. 70 percent of department heads and 50 percent of crew members were also women. “We’re not just telling stories—we’re shaping culture. And when the room is full of women who affirm each other, push each other, and laugh from the gut, the work just hits different.”

By portraying two out, queer Black women on television, Johnson has deepened her understanding of her own queerness through her characters. Tye, Johnson’s sharp-witted, unapologetic character on Harlem, couldn’t be less like Daphne, their thoughtful, softer character on Survival of the Thickest. “Playing both gave me the chance to explore the full spectrum of Black queer womanhood,” Johnson explains. “Playing Tye helped me embrace my ambition without shame. Playing Daphne reminded me that softness isn’t weakness—it’s power.”

Johnson has learned that while her characters may not directly reflect her own experiences, they can still embody parts of who she is. “What I learned most is that no matter the character, what makes them real is allowing them to touch the most honest parts of me,” Johnson says. “I bring my cadence, my rhythm, my Philly. I bring my sense of humor, my curiosity, and my contradictions.”

From a young age, Johnson, 31, always felt that acting was a part of them. While they didn’t always have the exact language to express their desire, they knew they “wanted to move people, to make them feel something.” So, they would memorize TV show monologues and recite them in the mirror like prayers. “From the moment I understood that performance was a thing people did, I knew I wanted in,” Johnson says. Then they went for it—studying Performance Studies in undergrad and later getting their MFA at the American Conservatory Theater.

Johnson credits her hometown of Philadelphia with her need for self-expression. “I was raised in Philly by a village of Black women—loud, loving, and expressive,” Johnson says. Growing up in North Philly as the fifth of seven children, Johnson says that their artistry “is as much shaped by the block as it is by the stage—my cadence, my honesty, my sense of style and community are all Philly-born.”

Johnson finds that the lessons she learned in Philadelphia still shape how she moves and creates in the world. “Philly is gritty and tender at the same time. It made me resilient, but it also taught me softness through chosen family,” Johnson says. “I wasn’t always surrounded by affirming queer spaces growing up, but I did learn how to advocate for myself. That self-advocacy is central to how I walk through the world as a queer Black femme now.”

“Our relationship is a daily reminder that love can be a creative ecosystem­—

not a distraction from the work, but the soil it grows in.”

Brown admires the way Johnson approaches her work with honesty and an open heart. “She brings her full self to every room and makes no apologies for it. That kind of truth-telling is rare and brave,” she says.

Brown, 33, also brings her whole self into her work with each of her clients. “I hold artists through birth pains, drafts, breakdowns, and breakthroughs,” the South Carolinian artist says. The “creative doula” has worn many hats—from creative producing for the band Britton & the Sting and producing the mainstage at New Inc Museum
to becoming the Co-Director of Programming at the Broadway Advocacy Coalition.

Johnson can’t help but feel inspired by Brown’s creativity. “Watching her midwife art into the world, not just her own but others’, is watching divine labor. She makes everything she touches more soulful, more structured, more alive,” Johnson told GO.

At the core of Brown’s projects is a question: what does a piece need to come to life? Clients come to her with fully developed ideas or fleeting desires, which Brown helps shape into impactful work. The visioning residency that she puts her clients through includes setting goals, creating schedules, and providing structure, all while encouraging openness and imagination.

“I help build frameworks for artists to feel free in their process while honoring the unique timing and truths of their work. It’s spiritual, logistical, and deeply personal,” she says. Also at the core of her practice—social justice.

“The most important part is who is centered and how they’re held. Storytelling has the power to reimagine systems. It can name harm, build empathy, and practice liberation in real time,” Brown says. Alongside the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Brown co-produced and facilitated a workshop that empowered individuals to harness storytelling for social impact. Across the Tribeca Film Festival, South by Southwest Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival, participants were given the framework to craft liberatory narratives. Brown is currently working to develop a digital archive of stories to capture Black women’s dialogues through immersive sound, layered storytelling, and the politics of listening.

“I believe story is strategy. When we make room for nuance, when we honor lived experience, we give people the blueprint and the permission to change things,” Brown says. Brown and Johnson are united in the belief that storytelling and justice go hand in hand as they advocate for art access, prison abolition, education justice, and food sovereignty.

Johnson and Brown are conscious of how they walk through the world as a couple. They are aware of the radical nature of sharing their love and life with the world. “Visibility can be life-saving. Queer Black love is often either erased or sensationalized. We share it not to perform but to affirm: We exist. We are possible,” Brown says.

Together they hope to collaborate in creating affirming spaces for Black and Brown queer artists. While they already consult on each other’s projects, they’re also dreaming up something new together. “We’re manifesting a retreat space and creative production company rooted in joy, rest, and liberation.”

Beyond their collaborative future, the couple is imagining a life and world of their own. The world of their creation “feels like sunlight and slow mornings. Like art that doesn’t ask for permission. Like family that we choose, and freedom we create,” Johnson says. With their love as a foundation, these creative souls hope to foster a space where art can flourish, joy will be protected, and love will be centered. “We’re building a life with land under our feet, music in our bones, and a retreat space where Black and Brown queer artists can rest, create, and be. It looks like abundance. It feels like home.”