Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 3-14-17

Feature
Drive-By Shooter Kills Man Playing Chess
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigat- ing the death of a Tampa man. The shooting took place in Clair Mel on Saturday.
According to police,
Thomas Edward Walker, III, 38, was playing chess with another individual at the corner of Libby Lane and Deerfield Lane. The witness told police that shortly before 1:30 p.m., Walker walked away and at that point, an unidentified suspect in a ve- hicle drove by and fired sev- eral shots.
Thomas was struck sev- eral times and died at the scene. When deputies ar- rived, they found Walker on the ground near the roadway. He died at the scene.
Police are asking anyone with information pertaining to the shooting to call the Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office at (813) 247-8200.
Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and con- viction of the person respon- sible for the murder of Thomas Walker. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS, or at www.crimestopperstb.com.
THOMAS EDWARD WALKER, III 11/1/1978 --- 3/11/2017
Centre For Women Luncheon Speaker:
Dr. Sheila Johnson Lives What She Believes: Women Should Think Outside Of The Box
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Long before becoming a billionaire and a media and hospitality mogul, Dr. Sheila Johnson was a Washington, D. C. music teacher and coach who struggled to make ends meet.
In the early 1970s, John- son – an accomplished violin- ist – was teaching music at the prestigious Sidwell Friends private school, earning a whopping $7,200 a year. To supplement her income, she acted in plays and taught violin lessons and ran a youth or- chestra from her home.
Johnson maximized her earnings by learning every- thing she could about D. C.’s tax laws and taught herself how to flip real estate.
At a luncheon on Friday sponsored by The Helen Gor- don Davis Centre for Women, Dr. Johnson told an audi- ence of hundreds that her humble ventures in entrepre- neurship was setting her up for greater things to come, though she didn’t know it at the time.
For her acting, teaching music lessons, and running a business along with working a day job was more about sur- vival than laying the founda- tion for a legacy.
“You have to learn to think outside the box,” she said. “You become a real problem solver.”
Dr. Johnson – co- founder of Black Entertain- ment Television (BET) with ex-husband, Robert, and now chief executive officer of Sala- mander Hotel & Resorts – was honored as the 2017 recipient of the Helen Gordon Davis Women’s Leadership Award at the Centre’s annual Waves of Change luncheon.
Sandy Freedman,
Tampa’s first woman mayor, received the inaugural, Waves Award.
Dr. Johnson shared high- lights and turning points in her career during a Q&A with Kelly McBride, vice presi- dent at The Poynter Institute.
She was still teaching when, in 1980, she and ex-hus- band, Robert started BET.
The company had difficulty attracting advertisers, so Johnson kept working to
Honorees: Former Tampa Mayor, Sandy Freedman and guest speaker, Dr. Sheila Johnson.
keep the couple and its fledg- ing startup afloat.
“I was the woman holding it together,” she said.
It wasn’t until nine years later after partnering with angel investor, John Malone that Johnson stopped teach- ing and assumed an executive role at BET.
Johnson said she got in- volved with the channel’s pro- gramming as a way to counter its entry into the controversial, but lucrative video market – a move that she says she protested against.
“I did not like the way women were portrayed,” she said. “If you turned the music down, it was pornography as far as I was concerned.”
She started Teen Summit, a talk show that addressed youth-related issues like peer pressure and teen pregnancy. The show became immensely popular and President Bill Clinton tapped Johnson to be part of his administration’s anti-teen pregnancy campaign.
In 2001, BET was sold to Viacom for a reported $2 bil- lion. The following year, the Johnsons divorced after more than 30 years of mar- riage.
It was a great new begin- ning for Sheila.
“It was the best thing that happened,” she said. “I had the resources to do the things I wanted to do.”
She started Salamander Hotels & Resorts, a hotel man- agement company of luxury properties including Innis- brook, a golf and spa resort lo-
cated in Palm Harbor.
She also entered profes-
sional sports and is owner and a partner in three franchises: the NHL’s Washington Capi- tals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
Dr. Johnson also found love again and in 2005, mar- ried William T. Newman. He was the judge in her divorce case, but the two had crossed paths decades earlier when they both acted in the same play.
With Judge Newman, Dr. Johnson said she’s been able to grow and flourish.
“He’s an amazing man who lets me be me,” she said.
A successful business- woman, she is also involved in philanthropic causes and espe- cially supports efforts that raise the visibility of women in places where they are scarce, like corporate boards.
She is a founder of WE Capital, a consortium of busi- nesswomen who advocate and support women investors and entrepreneurs.
“Men watch out for each other and women do not do that,” Johnson said. “Men use other people’s money (to start businesses); women can’t get other people’s money.”
Dr. Johnson said getting more women involved in busi- ness and entrepreneurship is a mission that’s very important to her.
“We don’t even realize our own power,” she said. “But we have to do it in a graceful and powerful way.”
TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3