A walk back from class to the dorms or scootering down the hill on Howard University’s campus over the last week had students running into Tokyo Toni and paying for a scented oil for a photo, or being recorded by social media personality Ira Johnson, also known as Ira J.
For students who know Toni primarily through her viral TikToks, memes and catchphrases, her appearance at Howard might’ve looked like just another internet moment. But for Toni, her presence on campus is tied to a decades-long connection.
She said she has been around the school and its surrounding community for roughly 30 years, having grown “up the block from Howard.” She went to the parties, and now she is returning to the community as a business owner, selling perfume in oil bottles, body butters and food to students.
“I do it for the homeless in the community, so I figure, why not for the college?” Toni said.
Similarly, Johnson, known on his TikTok as ira14street, said he grew up on his grandmother’s stoops on Swann Street, about a mile from Howard’s campus, and has stayed local to the Northwest area his whole life. He said that his videos are unedited and authentic, capturing what he sees when he goes outside.
“And without the people, I wouldn’t have never been who I am right now. All my neighbors around here love my stuff. People even say, ‘I want to be caught on your camera,’” said Johnson.
Elisa Relerford, a junior political science major from Prince George’s County, Maryland, found her encounter with Toni to be completely unexpected. She and her friends regularly quoted Toni’s memes and knew she had been around.
“When it’s least likely someone shows, that’s when they show up,” she said. “It was a little later, so I thought she was done for the day.”
It had been around 8 p.m., she said, when she got to meet Toni, which was why she originally thought she was done. In a now deleted TikTok, Toni said she would be near campus from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Relerford expected to see the oils and perfumes, but instead saw the folding table filled with food alongside her products.
Jordan Storey, a freshman acting major from Indianapolis, said multiple times he passed Toni on his way to class and would stop to say hello. Storey heard more about Toni after the DTLR HBCU Tour on Aug. 20 and was surprised to see her selling oils at Howard, given her large social media presence. He eventually posted two or three videos with Toni, including one where she gave his audience on Tiktok advice.
“She’s really chill,” Storey said. “When the camera was out, that’s when the viral side of her came out.”
While some students were interested in her products, Storey said others appeared to be there primarily for photos and for the chance to say they had seen her. For him though, the encounter made him see her presence at Howard differently.
“I thought it was admirable, because she’s cheating herself of getting more money,” Storey said. “She said six small bottles was more product than three of the medium ones, and that if I wanted more for the same price, I should get the six.”
Toni said she came to Howard expecting a much bigger reaction from students.
“Actually, I expected way more. It was very calm,” Toni said after a pause to think, smiling.
Toni also said she plans to bring her business to college communities along the East Coast. She said she hopes students take more than products from her appearances.
“Mainly to show y’all entrepreneurship,” Toni said. “We’re gonna show you how to support each other.”
From the TikToks of Johnson hyping up students to getting Toni to take time away from her business to create a video with wise words, the verdict on Howard was described by Johnson as a “10.”
“I enjoy the people cause I’ve never seen so many different people from different places. Everybody gets to learn each other,” Johnson said.
Bryce Gilleyle, a senior sports medicine major from Houston, was unforeseenly caught by Johnson before he got on the bus. He said the conversation felt very familiar and that Johnson was easy to talk to.
Gilleyle described the encounter as seeing a “really tall man” at the stop, with up to 10 people surrounding him, and wondered who it was.
Johnson had walked up to him and they tried to figure out who it was, realizing it was AJ Dybantsa, the number-one NBA draft pick for the Washington Wizards, who, Gilleyle said, was visiting the recreational center.
“We ended up just making small talk at the bus stop, trying to figure out who this special person was, finding out that it was the NBA player,” Gilleyle said. “All of a sudden, [Johnson] pulls out his phone, starts recording, asking questions.”
That’s the essence of Johnson’s videos: him capturing people in public, open spaces that could potentially catch them off guard. A commenter on a Monday post on Johnson’s TikTok had concerns, saying, “I’m scared you’ll record me when I’m wearing weird clothes.”
His content highlights the lives of people in the neighborhood, and after comments told him to visit Howard, he met students and said, “it’s real amazing what they do.”
Jaedyn Givens, a sophomore acting major from Los Angeles, said he was featured on Johnson’s page in a video posted Tuesday of him acting with Toni, garnering over 100,000 views and 22,000 likes since.
“To have me plastered on social media like that, doing what I love and having it made a joke, it was kind of like a battle of conflict after the video was posted,” Givens said. “But I just have to remind myself this is all for laughs and jokes and fun.”
Copy edited by Jori Johnson