e ■< than i care about the truth about this country.tell. yes. people don't care about it. but i think it's because of a failure of leadership to actually put what the stakes are out the. i hope you'll join me thanking our input and show strong willed people in the arena on a frank discussion. thank you, guys. thanks. it's funny■ladies and gentlemenu now please welcome to the stage. sheila, with donna brazile brazile. oh, hello, everyone. yeah. well, we have such a big ■audience and i would like come

up c p37 filling up and well before s down,o just say how pleased or honored i am to introduce a phenomenal woman sheila johnson and is a woman who have blazed man trails. she's an entrepreneur. she'a philanthropist. she's in the hospitality all of my decorating ideas have come from. oh, right. because she understands people humanity■ when. you think of the arts, you should think of sheila johnson of course television entertainment. she's been a producer of films and now you know amazing film fest in middleburg, virginia. so i am deeply honored that i

get a sheila. the name of this, i guess in the program books, women of wisdom, that she's wise woman here. the first african american femalelire knows knows and we'reabout sheila's lr journey, because if you book, yd right now. just go ahead. say, i got the money. book. all right. and now i will tell why sheila, first of all, thank you for being who you are thank you for being phenomenal woman. and as yo gras stuff, but i want you to know that you are g call the red pump ard here's your. oh, wow, red pp.

i even know what you were going to wear, but have earned a girl. you have earned it, and you've earned it. i love it been very intentionalabsolutely. the three acts. but i got to start by asking you, who says today and some of you might not know. oh, it's groundhog day. no, valentine's present, no, not mardi gras. black history month. we've got the whole month. so sheila. is a trablazer for women, for americans but during this unique where the theme is celebrating black culturbl you been someone who prayed helped to create it to create it tot.

sheila what black history what t mean to you? what is black really puts apotlight on people of color. we're never celebrated. the other 11 mohs out of the year. we try, we try. that we have to abachievements of black folks. . and it's the time where i get called the most viewed anythingt it's just real focus throughout the entire nation where we're able to celebrate that's right.nd our and people of zero zero is, you. this book has so many different layers. and in the book there are three

at. so ih the first act right because that was your upbringing that was that's how you found why but it also made your life more complicated in many ways can you tell us about that first act. yeah. wh w my parents, my father. every actthrough all three actsy life,role. but in the first act was the timeafter moving 13 time, because my father was one of eight neurosurgeons ofb[ color n the united states and was not allowed to practice in white practice white patients. so every time he was stationed at a hospital and we had to, tho another hospital. now people will, you know, that's really think it it was an

adventure, it built resilience in me. i got to a lot of people all color boundaries like us. i was able to learn how with ev. so it was really anthat started and ilocated in maywood, illinoy ■rfather decideduddenly to just leave us and would have to understand. and donna talked about earlier in her in her early discussion about how women back and this was back ithe sixties. yes. because my father's status the african-american community, we were pretty high up on the social ladder leaves. that plummets. my mother see, it affects the women all the way down to the

ttom. she has no credit cards. she didn't have a bank account. support. and it was a time where our family just went into shock. have a younger brother now. what had happened is time slowly passed by. ■=once h to get a job. i was suddenly thrown into adulthood where i had to take all of the family. and i was mopping floors atjcpe. i tell you, if i lost everything mopping floors. you so then anyway, came home, found my mother the floor with a nervous breakdown. and that was the beginning of how i had to start rethinking rebuilding my life. but it was a pivotal moment where iáz realized that i never wanted to find myself in a situation that i found my mother

in. now we talk about that as women, but life is funny because you end up going right back around and finding yourself in the same position. and so what lesson did you learn from your mother bein thfloor a? but i also want to because i read your book. i read it twice. butcalled 911i don't know, backe day was 0911. i know what i call back now. wo someone an ambulance? all right, i had to call ambulance and i had no idea that the ambulance driver was going to me. i didn't have a and they weren't going to take her unless i could pay them.

oh, he was had long gone. but your mom wasn't just a homemaker. she was. indeed. she was. she was an account. ye that's right. she was an accountant. she went back to work. but i also had to help supplement the income. but at that point, she could not work because of her mental state right. case i had to call a friend of hs to, get my mother to the hospital and that's when decided that i never, ever want to find myself that position again. and something just hardened in me and was never going to depend on a man whom i to chart my own cour life. so that was that was part of your first actinding your legs learning how to standu develop r wings? because pretty soon you found your passion being a

little awkward, not as awkward as your■a dad but you found your passion. what an instrument. yes, i was a i picked up the violin some from the moment i picked up that qzinstrument, fell in love the y it felt, the way it sounds. and i just remember my father saying, why did you pick the most difficult instrument of all? but i was determined to becoming a good violin. i didn't know whether i could be violin was that i was really good. but you got it. you although you did not do so well. me explain this. this is another layer in the book and this is all part of the racial divide that we have in our country. i was living in a neighborhood, segregation where we couldn't live in the best of neighborhoods. i never the truth about

s.a.t. nobody talked to me about it. i didn't even know really what. an s.a.t.as. and so i was just to i said, i want tothey told me to report oa nearby.y morning and i took this test. i didn't ow in with the lowest . scores. u have ever seen in your life because i didn't know what i was doingcared me. when i finally the reality hit that i wasn't going to be able to get in■÷!z college. these sat scores. yes. so had happened. my orchestra she said, sheila, i've never seen anything like get your violin. we're going to come and you arer paul roland. mm. and when i did the audition for him, he says you're going to get full scholarship to the university of illinois and t

it also allowed you ■xto find yr own rhythm in your own voice. it did. beuse even though everything that we were going through and me having to really take the family and them under my wing, i found a safety net in music, classical musi i loved it. i would listen to it at night and believe it or not, would go to work, go to school, go to rk get my homework done, get a few hours of sleep and get up midnight and practice because i was deterred en was going. i was out for the illinois all state orchestra and also for the chicago youth orchestra. but whappened with"" the illinois all state? because you are competing against every talented musician in state and i won and got the first chair and i'll never forget it because this girl came up to me and she said the only 're in the first year

because you're and she gave me . so i mean these are things that i had to deal and deal with them with grace she never stepped stoop to their level right? that i just proved that i could do it. th violin absolutely. the violin your parents saw this remarkable gift and they did something. i thought that was quite extraordinary. yeah, they mortgage the ho they. yes, very fine violin. yeah. i mean, that just and you had this remarkable instrument you could play it and you know there was part in the book i forget what now you jelly hips that when i was a cheerleader. we ius wanna what a jelly hip is because you know is is ranting outside my neck a lot of a of padding there. oh jelly help y'all remembe jely

thatioli i got to transition you. you're in college and you meet this guy. mm hmm. and he was really into i mean, i don't, you know, i don't want to say swept you off. if you want to prove. but he was into you. he followed you. he wanted to be in a little. this is anotherthe daughter of . okay. all right. ■)he was 1299 children. i think he wanted to have a girlfriend, you know they said, oh, you married up. i so these are the layers of conflicts that you deal with. now see all this now because i had to go through a lot of thera it that i'm light skinned. oh i know what it'lithen. okay. so these are things if read the book, there's just layers, layers of issues that really are

inour community that men go after certain wom r. when i look back on it i don't think i think it was just to bee to do that. okay. ■0but. johnson yes. bob johnson. to marry you. he although you said you have recollection of the proposal or. but you do have recollection of your wedding day. wedding day and you have recollection of your graduation ■because while you completed yor courses, earned your degree, you did not■3 attend graduation because he would not let me what irted see was beginning of a lot of abuseçn naissi and this was one of the most dangerous of all personal politics. so it was that.

it's really7á0m interesting bece he went on to princeton for i stayed back in illinois. he did not ask me to marry him. someone else and i remember him coming back. got so angry that he put his fist through a wall, scared me to death. so there were these red that just started popping uand my mother kept saying, sheila, do not dotell mom i, love him. i think he loves being as a you these complicated and wrong decisions. alright. so these are the things and see, this is all the stuff i had to work out through therapy. mm hmm. so it's life went on and especially, you know, i'full sc. he wanted me to follow him to princeton, and i no, you don't say no to a narcissist that i said no. okay. he says, okay, well, then i'll

call him. came back 500 at illinois and then he ng to go to your graduation i waited for you long enough. ■&s heart. so we got married, followed him to princeton. i then got a job in princeton and also taught at princeton day school and all upún route one and junior highs, which are musicalent, i understand. orchestra direc arts. and i again had to keep a roof bob johnson and not one year not 550 almost 330 years of your life. yeyou're you know, you are struggling to keep bob dreams alive the same time. and that's but it was your creativity and brilliance that helped with

creation of black entertainment existed in america, that you had to table when it was being drafted and developed. that's right. so you have to understand, betty was born during the birth of all cable it was a case where he was a lobbyist for the national cable television association, was taking a senior citizen up on the hill. and he, tneeded government appr, money and, so forth a s it throe proposal in the trash bob picked up, brought it home. he says, i need you to read this'm i'm also now senior put black in there and i just said you know this is a perfect idea look at all the stations that are starting up cnn, mtv came about two yearsnickelodeon all , but no one is real the african american voice. and i said, this is an opportunity where, yes, there's

ebony magazine, the's jet, but there's no one in the black media, televion. and i just that this would be a brilliant idea. t proposal. he went to john malone in denver. john malone thought it was the greatest idea and immediately invested in company and continued to put money in the company until we sold it to viacom. john malone of new york right, is that you? no. denver. denver, go■= right more back. i'll have. yeah. so, betty, i see h to to one m. okay. that. all right. put a pencil inyou. 30 years. how would you describe your relationship? i think that's the only way put it's shaped you and somehow youwas the

lesson and spending 30 years with somne not have appreciated you, not only did he noprrespect for me because whole time that we were building this company and i wanted to keep putting him first because in the african-american community, men are held back. and i really him to shine. i put all of his needs first. i was in back really being the cheer keep attacking me. he said, you just need to pipe down. you need to be m cheerleader, but i needed to help help shape the vision of what we needed to create. okay and i didn't want us to sight of our end goal. and so is, you know, we went on a week. we were only and remember, it was the worst program. and i don't remember petey greene. i was on one of those shows. okay,ul.

chainmail it was the worst thing i'd ever seen, but he was sitting up there andre chops. i was on one of those,■x■f so terrible girl you might have helped me with my tv career. come on, i play in front center, it was the worst programing. and the reason we■a were only on for 2 hours a week. we couldn't get advertising. vertisers believed in a black channel. we couldn't we couldn't get anybody even the black hair careadvertising on t. no one would do it. and f finally, mcdonald's steppd up to the plate. but the door that open all of a sudden was went in. we're going into two years later, right is when the video markets up and. i remember i was on the treadmill and watching michael n. paul mccartney. yeah. and it was the greatesti'm unbeg

throughould have never thought about this. it was just fabulous. ere was more and more videos that were coming out that we just loved that mtv would no- ay black program me at all. and twh opened and we were able to capture that maet wonderful and that's when the advertisers started to 8íeyeballs on the channel. huh. so the other thinghat happened about hate to say it's about eight or nine months later, the videos that were being aired were coming on the market but eyer going downhill. the women we raying women in th. it was it s cle to pornography. and i just could not stand it anymore. and this went on for a while. i complained it and iithin the t if you turn the volume off, what

does it look like? live pornography? yeah. and i said, i don't like our young people watching this stu'y they're going to behave and going out on the street, d that's right. so what i did is, i created a show called teen summit. teen summit s a format show. we shot live and it went on noon every saturday.