Local man overcomes racial barriers to create opportunities for Tampa's next generation of artists
Overcoming racial barriers and inspiring others
In What's Right with Tampa Bay, FOX 13’s Mark Wilson highlights Fred Johnson, whose life took him from the foster system to the Navy, to the newsroom, to the stage, and ultimately to the heart of the Tampa Bay community.
TAMPA - A Bay Area man's journey took him from the foster system to the Navy, from the newsroom to the stage, and ultimately to the heart of the Tampa Bay arts community.
Fred Johnson was born in Morristown, New Jersey, but life didn't start easy. At just 18 months old, he became a ward of the state.
"I was kind of in and out of foster homes and orphanages," said Johnson. "And I can remember a few instances where people would, you know, people would I guess I was a cute little kid, right?"
At 5-and-a-half, his life took a turn when he was adopted by Robert and Pearl Johnson and moved to Trenton, New Jersey.
His father, a retired U.S. Army veteran, instilled in him a sense of discipline and perseverance.
"I had a good life. You know what I mean? I don't have any horror stories to tell. The interesting thing for me was again trying to figure out who I was," Johnson said.
Johnson later served in the Navy, but when he returned home in 1971, he faced a harsh reality.
When he applied for a photography job at The Trentonian newspaper, he was told he could only work as an apprentice for three months because of the color of his skin.
"I left there, and I went in and I went and joined the Marine Corps," he stated.
After two years, he left the Marine Corps and turned back to his first love: music.
He moved to St. Petersburg, where he found success in the vibrant music scene.
Fred Johnson overcame racial barriers to create opportunities for Tampa's next generation of artists.
His talent took him on the road, where he sang backup for the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
"She's amazing, so I mean, she was really talented. She was just a beautiful, beautiful soul," he said.
But Johnson's greatest legacy wouldn't be in photography or music, it would be in the community.
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He founded the Fred Johnson Community Project, a theater program giving children from public housing the opportunity to perform at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
In 1995, the center asked him to officially join their staff, expanding his project into the Community Arts Ensemble.
"It went from maybe 65 or 70 member folks, from just public housing, to over 300 young boys and girls and their moms and dads throughout Tampa Bay as a part of this community arts ensemble," Johnson explained.
Fred Johnson overcame racial barriers to create opportunities for Tampa's next generation of artists.
His personal story took another dramatic turn in 2016 when a New Jersey law allowed adoptees to access their pre-adoption birth certificates.
Johnson applied and discovered an entire family he never knew existed.
He had an older sister, Carlene, a younger sister, Christine, and a younger brother, Eric.
Pictured: Fred Johnson and his siblings, who he met after a change to New Jersey law in 2016.
Sadly, he also learned of an older brother, David, who had passed away.
"It was absolutely a life-changing thing for me because, for the first time in my life, albeit I have a beautiful family, I have beautiful children." he said. "But it's a really, really powerful thing to not know who your mama is."
For Johnson, his life's work has been about more than personal success. It has been about lifting others up, whether through music, photography or theater.
Fred Johnson overcame racial barriers to create opportunities for Tampa's next generation of artists.
As he reflects on his journey, his hope is simple.
"I hope that my legacy will be that I was kind to people, that I did good things and created spaces for us to feel and know the best that we have to offer each other. And I participated in the best of what life and living can be in the small way that I could do that," he said.
From overcoming racial barriers to creating opportunities for the next generation, Fred Johnson's story is a testament to the power of perseverance, and the impact the arts can have on transforming lives.
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Bryan Gray.
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