Grantland L. Johnson (September 29, 1948 – August 19, 2014) was a Sacramento-area politician and former Secretary of California's Health and Human Services Agency, the first African-American to hold the position.[1][2] He was born in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood in northern section of Sacramento, California. He was raised by his grandmother, Irene Wallace and mother Mae Willie Johnson and grew up with his two sisters, Rosemary and Cathy. Grantland attended Grant High School where he participated in extra curricular activities such as football, the violin, the debate team and baseball.