The woman in the viral ‘Lose Yo Job’ video on becoming a protest icon

If you don’t know who Johnniqua Charles is, you’ve probably seen her in the viral video that’s come to be known as “Lose Yo Job”. In the video, Charles questions a security guard as to why he’s detaining her, before breaking into song and dance.

“Why are you detaining me? You about to lose yo job,” Charles says in the video. She then begins singing and dancing. “You about to lose yo job. You about to lose yo job. Get this dance! You about to lose yo job ‘cause you are detaining me for nothing.”

The minute-long video was originally posted on Facebook by the guard, Julius Locklear, on February 5.  “Okay IM NOT POSTING THIS TO BE FUNNY TOWARDS THIS SUBJECT!!!!” Locklear wrote in his Facebook post. “I’m posting it cause that rap was lit like I wish I could put a beat to it lol.”

It went viral, however, after it was shared by DJ Akademiks on Twitter on June 3. Since then, it’s become a protest anthem against police brutality, being sung and even displayed on signs at protests.

Speaking to Buzzfeed News, Charles said: “I’m just overwhelmed, and I’m such a humble person (that) to see that, it’s just amazing to me.”

Previous to the video going viral, Charles had been homeless, dealing with drug addiction, and doing sex work to survive. She hadn’t spoken to her family since November. 

“I’d been on the streets, and they’d been looking for me,” she said. “And I guess they seen that this video could basically change my life, and they put out a whole search party to find me.”

Charles and her family reconnected on Saturday (June 6), and she’s now living with them. “At first I didn’t think much of (the video), but then I got on Instagram and I saw even more people saying, ‘Who is this woman?’” Charles’ sister, Andrea, told Buzzfeed. “So I was like, okay, this is an opportunity for my sister to be known. If the world wants to know who she is, why not let the world know who she is?”

Since then, Andrea has set up an Instagram for her sister, started selling T-shirts, and created a GoFundMe that has raised more than $30,000 so far. The money will go towards Charles’ son and “also to better (Charles) with whatever resources she needs to keep her on the right track”.

“Other people keep telling me I helped them so much, but they don’t understand – nobody understands – how much this video going viral like this is helping me, because it’s giving me the breakthrough I so badly needed for so long,” Charles concluded.