Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 1-22-19

Local NeighborsShare Their Craft From Afar
Businesswoman
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Two Tampa natives, who grew up in the same neigh- borhood living next door to each other on Idlewild Ave. and 40th St., have been shar- ing their craft of acting, writ- ing, and producing for several years.
Lorenzo Carswell, an Assistant Professor at Hills- borough Community Col- lege (HCC), lives in Tampa; and Robyn Jones, MSN, CDN, a Registered Nurse at a Veterans Hospital and an educator, who wears many other hats, lives in Virginia. However, the distance in their hometowns has not kept them from coming to- gether throughout the year for various productions.
Jones and Carswell connected by having a mu- tual opportunity to become executive producers in a fea- ture film, The Turnaround, a movie directed by James Hunter and Amanda Marquis. The movie has been nominated for several awards and is available on Amazon Prime and Pureflix.
Ms. Jones is an execu- tive producer of several movies, short films and tel- evision series. Her most re-
Raffle Winner
Awards Car To
ROBYN JONES
cent film project, Courage To Stand, will have a red carpet event in Orlando on February 17, 2019. The di- rector is Ed Love.
She recently directed her own short film about her life called, Did Showing Up Save My Life?
Carswell teaches writ- ing and college success courses at HCC. He owns Carswell Connection Con- sulting and enjoys helping the community in the areas of financial literacy, educa- tional planning and emo- tional intelligence.
In addition to the Turn- around movie, Carswell has been the executive pro- ducer for Waking Up White, which will have two show- ings at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival. He is also
LORENZO CARSWELL
the co-producer of the short film, The Season, based on the true story of Bridgette Turner out of Altamonte Springs, FL.
This weekend (through January 21st), Carswell has been involved in the Sun- shine City Film Festival in St. Petersburg, where Agent X, The Movie, will be fea- tured at the Sundial AMC Theatre in St. Petersburg on Monday, January 21.
The Tampa connection of these two will be show- cased again on Thursday, January 24, 2019, at the Dale Mabry campus of HCC, at11a.m.Theeventisto commemorate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event is enti- tled: 50 Years After the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Where Are Women Now? Carswell is chair of the committee host- ing the event at the college.
Ms. Jones will be in Tampa joining an all- women panel to discuss is- sues concerning women. Others on the panel will be: Tarnisha Cliatt, CEO and founder of the Manasota Black Chamber of Com- merce; Tamara Sham- burger, Chair, Hillsborough County School Board; Rev. Jacqueline Coffie-Leeks, Associate Pastor, 34th Street Church of God, and Youth and Com- munity Facilitator for Dev- ereux Kids; and Dr. Brenda Walker, Professor of Exceptional Student Edu- cation at the University of South Florida, and Director of the CAROUSEL Center.
For more information on this event, contact Car- swell at (813) 619-8187.
The public is welcome to attend this Martin Luther King, Jr. event.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last month, Ms. Delgra- cia Payne stopped by Madi- son’s Weave Shop. While there, she decided to invest $10 in a raffle.
Ms. Payne didn’t know at the time what the prize would be. “I just bought the ticket. I didn’t think I was going to win anything,” she said.
And then, on December 24th, Ms. Payne received a telephone call. Madison told her that she had won the raffle, but still didn’t tell her what she had won.
When Ms. Payne walked into the shop, the video was rolling and it was then she learned that she had won a car.
Prior to that fateful tele- phone call, Ms. Payne had been walking or riding the bus to her destinations. So, winning the car was very spe- cial to her. “I love it. I just love it. I had been looking for a car,” she said.
A Tampa native, Ms. Payne, 31, enjoys singing, drawing and writing poetry.
“After I gave her the keys, I gave her some money to buy gas for her new car. This was how I gave back to the community for Christmas,” Madison said.
This was the fourth raffle Madison has had since she
Madison, owner of Madi- son’s Weave Shop, left, is shown with Ms. Delgracia Payne, winner of the 2004 Honda Civic.
opened her shop.
She is also actively in-
volved in the Black Heritage Parade and 8 girls will be on the float along with 3 staff members.
Madison left her native Toledo, Ohio several years ago to care for a family mem- ber. She later ventured into becoming a foster parent.
But her dream was to open her own weave shop. She accomplished that goal last year. And now, she is fol- lowing her own dreams.
Known as “Madison,” she opened the doors of Madison’s Weave & Braid Shop, 4707 E. Busch Blvd., on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2018.
PAGE 10 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019