On this episode of Blacklight on Sports, host Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald sits down with Johnny Allen Jr., founder and executive director of the JK Movement, a St. Paul-based youth development organization rooted in the heart of the Rondo community. What unfolds is a candid conversation about athletics, mentorship, purpose, and what it really means to invest in young people for the long haul.
From Jimmy Lee to St. Thomas
Allen grew up a Jimmy Lee Recreation Center kid, playing organized football from second grade through high school at Highland Park and eventually collegiately at the University of St. Thomas. His athletic career came to an early close after a knee injury in college, but by then the blueprint for something bigger was already forming. The JK Movement, named after his nickname Johnny Knuckles, was born out of a simple but powerful moment during his sophomore year at St. Thomas, when a thank-you card from a group of North Minneapolis kids he had spoken to on a college tour made clear what his real calling was.
Building the JK Movement
Now 15 years deep, the JK Movement operates out of the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in St. Paul and works with young people from second grade through age 24. The organization is built on three pillars: youth empowerment, community and civic outreach, and youth workforce readiness through its JK Works program. All of it is delivered through a healing-centered engagement approach, a model the organization developed through training with Flourish Agenda, a California-based organization specializing in trauma-informed youth work.
Free Programming, No Barriers
The programming is free. No cost to families, no barriers to participation. Allen is deliberate about that. Transportation, snacks, food, whatever it takes to make sure young people can show up and engage. All he asks in return is that they participate and apply what they are learning, in school, in the community, and at home.
The Proof Is in the Alumni
What makes the JK Movement distinct is not just the programming but the relationships. Alumni come back. Former participants now serve as facilitators. Parents who once enrolled their kids return as volunteers and supporters. Allen describes seeing a cohort of young people, now college graduates working at companies like Google and coming out of schools like Stanford, share video testimonials about their experience with the organization. That, he says, is his gratification.
Lessons From the Field
Allen also spoke honestly about his athletic journey, the politics of recruiting, the painful loss to Totino-Grace that ended Highland Park’s section run, and the lessons about preparation, humility, and never overlooking an opponent that he still applies to running an organization today. He credits a long list of mentors, coaches, teachers, and community figures, including a high school English teacher named Miss Jeter who pulled him aside and told him plainly that he was a leader who needed to start acting like one.
An Ecosystem, Not a Competition
The JK Movement partners with organizations across the Twin Cities including United Way, Reconnect Rondo, Rondo Land Trust, Planting People Growing Justice, and the St. Paul Public Schools, among others. Allen is a firm believer in building an ecosystem, not competing with it.
How to Connect
To learn more, visit https://www.thejkm.org or call 651-558-7815.
Blacklight on Sports is produced in partnership with the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Read Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald and Charles Halman every week in the paper and online at msrNews.com.