Tianne Johnson

Hello! I am an enthusiastic freelance writer, editor, photographer and social media manager based in Atlanta, GA. Here are some of my journalistic clips.

Cosmopolitan •

The Latest ‘Sh*t We Stole’ Is All About Nails

I loooove a good salon gel mani—I mean, who doesn’t?—but doing that week after week can get pretty pricey. Thankfully, on this episode of Sh*t We Stole From the Beauty Closet, Cosmo’s beauty editors are giving you the 411 on the best nail products of the season, plus all the tips and tricks on how to DIY your own mani at home, in case you’re balling on a budget like me. From super-cute nail stickers to natural cuticle prep oil, beauty editors Lauren Balsamo, Chloe Metzger, and Ruby Buddemeye
Cosmopolitan •

Literally Just a Bunch of Celebrities Taste-Testing Water for 3 Minutes Straight

In case you weren’t aware, Expensive Taste Test is Cosmo’s straight-up hilarious video series in which your favorite celebrities have to use their money-minded instincts to decipher between the real and the dupe. Because, well, we told them to! Every episode features a round in which one particular item makes it quite hard for these celebs to put their expensive taste buds to work, and we think it’s pretty funny. That item is water. *GASPS* So we’ve compiled some of the best water-tasting moments
Cosmopolitan •

You Need to Try Out These Skin Savers From the Latest Episode of ‘Sh*T We Stole’

Welcome to Sh*t We Stole From the Beauty Closet, a new video series in which Cosmo’s beauty team hangs out in their ~huge~ beauty closet, spilling all the tea on the best products of the season. Episode 3 is alllll about skincare, and the team breaks down seven products they can’t get enough of. Keep in mind that they get sent literal tons of samples each day to test and try (tough life, right?), so when the beauty team says something is good—it’s really good. Sit back and watch beauty direct

The Year of The Return Brings the Diaspora Back to Ghana – Africa Dispatch

ACCRA, GHANA – While on a tour of the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, Nicole Koonce, a professor from University Park, Illinois, recalled her 16-year-old self and a deep longing to visit Africa. She described a Sankofa bird that still hangs in her home today to symbolize this long-held dream of hers. Yet, it wasn’t until last week, at the age of 49, that Koonce’s dream finally manifested. Koonce is currently here with a group from Governor State University for a service learning project in which they
Washington Square News •

How to Take Yourself on the Perfect Date

Ever dreamed of a romantic evening watching your favorite movie, attending a fancy dinner or watching the stars all without the task of presenting your best self to another person in hopes they’ll become yours forever? Well, you can fulfill all this and more if you go on a date with yourself. Imagine the quiet sound of your own thoughts and experiencing a place you know you can always return to without the thought of a potential ex forever tainting the memory. Despite the rising number of stud
Washington Square News •

Renowned Activist and Writer Angela Davis Speaks at Skirball

Author and activist Angela Davis took the stage at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 5 to an audience of 860. Known for her activism as a member of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, she is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she teaches history and feminist studies. Monday’s Skirball Talk centered around politics and aesthetics in the Black Lives Matter movement and was organized by the NYU Institute of African American Affairs and Cent
Washington Square News •

‘Insatiable’ or Insensitive?

Unless you’ve been logged off for the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen a fraction of the buzz and uproar surrounding Netflix’s new series, “Insatiable,” starring former Disney Channel sweetheart Debby Ryan. After Netflix dropped the trailer last month, viewers took to Twitter and Instagram to protest the show’s seemingly fat-phobic and harmful nature. A petition was even started days before the show’s debut, garnering over 230,000 signatures to date. The trailer shows the main character, Pa
Washington Square News •

Mindful Leaders of the Future Come Together at TedxNYU

In our minds, we draw the idea of the future as a reality apart from our own. But the truth is that these realities are intertwined — one forcefully pressing upon the other and one being widely dependent upon that force. TEDxNYU is a entirely student-run organization that aims to unite NYU students through ideas by hosting conferences. This year’s conference was called “Re-Vision,” which reflected on the future of society. Days before the event, WSN sat down with Adam Pating, president of TEDx
Washington Square News •

Taking Wellness Into Your Hands

Alyssa Petersel is CEO and founder of My Wellbeing, something she’s built from the ground up since graduating from NYU in 2017 with a Master’s in Social Work. My Wellbeing is an online service that connects individuals with therapists in the New York City area. Intrigued by the start of Petersel’s journey with My Wellbeing, I met her at one of her favorite coffee shops in Brooklyn Heights. Afterwards, she showed me WeWork, a collaborative workspace she spends most of her time at, and her favori
Washington Square News •

Fashion as an Accessory to Activism

In wake of the numerous marches across the nation, many of us rallied together during times of injustice and filled city streets with our unified voices. We take inspiration from historical organizations and movements of the past such as the suffragettes, the Civil Rights movement, the Black Panthers and many others. Not only does a collection of voices communicate a cause, but so can the fashion trends worn during that movement. By looking back at the history of various organizations, it is evi
Washington Square News •

5 NYU Alumni Women Breaking Barriers in Their Industries

Each year, women stride to the forefront of history by fighting for change in society and equality in the workplace. Many notable thinkers, leaders and creators today were once studying here at NYU. This Women’s History Month, let’s celebrate the countless women who create spaces for women of all backgrounds and passions to flourish in. Here are a few NYU alumni breaking barriers in the film industry, crushing beauty standards, fighting for gender and racial representation, shedding light on the
Washington Square News •

NYFW: Fashion-Forward or Fashion-Dead?

New York Fashion Week has always served as a window into the future of fashion. Carrie Bradshaw, leading lady of “Sex and The City,” once said, “Every year, the women of New York leave the past behind and look forward for the future. This is known as Fashion Week.” Despite the fact that fashion week in New York City is often considered the pinnacle of sartorial showcases, this past NYFW was unusually quiet. With countless designers either choosing to show in Europe or choosing not to show at al
Washington Square News •

Spring Ahead: Trend Forecasts

Fashion trends have always been cyclical — we tend to recycle trends from decades ago and modernize them (e.g. the flower crown-wearing bohemian gypsy archetype). Trends can be annoying and hard to keep up with if you’re not especially into fashion. However, it is important to take note of them because they give us a glimpse into the way cultural landscapes and societal attitudes shift throughout the years. Here are four trends that I predict will take over 2018. Pastel colors are probably one
Washington Square News •

Let the Good Times Roll with Mardi Gras

Born in the Big Easy, my sisters and I were always excited to build cardboard floats filled with candy and beads to imitate the huge floats that flooded the French Quarter and Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras parades. If I was lucky, I’d be the one to find the small plastic baby inside the tasty purple, green and gold King Cake. I remember going to parades and seeing the second-liners fill the streets, catching beads thrown to us from the floats above and being picked up in the wave of bounce music
Washington Square News •

The Destruction of a Black New York Community

Before there was Central Park, there was Seneca Village — Manhattan’s first prominent community of African-American property owners. Located between Seventh and Eighth Avenue, from 81st to 89th Streets, this was a community of approximately 264 people — mostly African Americans. However, this town was razed and rightful citizens were wrongly forced out of their community and into a state of unresolved quandary. In 1851, due to a push to introduce open park spaces in New York City, Mayor Ambrose
Washington Square News •

Don’t Be Overzealous with New Year’s Resolutions

January is the time of year when people turn to horoscopes, the Chinese zodiac and the Gregorian calendar for inspiration while busting out their phones to post “#NewYearNewMe” selfies. For most, January brings lots of hope for self-improvement as many of our New Year’s resolutions tend to be geared toward health, finance or nutrition. This is because Janus, the two-headed Roman god for which January is named, is derived from the Latin word ‘ianua,’ which means door. As the god of doorways, brid
Washington Square News •

Teen Vogue Says Goodbye to Print

Disclaimer: Alice Lammers, quoted in the article below, is a contributing writer at Washington Square News. Condé Nast is slowly moving away from its history of glossy-covered magazines in an effort to become more digitally-oriented and modern. To reduce its print spending, Condé Nast will end Teen Vogue’s print run. The company wants to evolve its means of content consumption and deliver content that resonates with the cultural movements and platforms important to its audience, according to a