Youth Radio Photographer Ayesha Walker : UCLA and Egypt Bound

From left to Right: Trina Barton - Mayor Staff, Ceirra Williams - KEDS Organization, Ayesha Walker, Patti Trainer - Community Charities, Marisol Lopez - Mayor Staff.

By Tasion
Kwamilele

For Ayesha Walker, a native of Richmond, CA, this is starting out to be a very good year.
Walker, 21, was recently accepted at UCLA, where she start in the  fall as a major in world arts and cultures.  Could there be anything greater?
How about a trip to Egypt?
On May 28, Walker will embark on a 19-day excursion to Egypt. She will fly to JFK airport in New York and then board an 18-hour flight that will take her to the motherland.
“I am very excited, but I don’t believe it will hit me until I am actually there,” she said.
A graduate of El Cerrito High School in 2006, she has been attending Contra Costa College and last year took a picture with  Barack Obama at the San Francisco’s Women’s Building.
The trip to Egypt began when her passion for photography brought her attention to an advertisement for individuals interested in traveling to the country on a photojournalism assignment.
Taken aback by the cost, $5,000, she hesitated but was not discouraged. She made up in her mind that she was going to go and began to do everything possible to raise the funds.
“My mother is my biggest support. My father passed away when I was younger, and my grandmother died last year. So only able to depend on my mother, I’ve always felt like my support system was minimal,” she said.
“But with the outpouring of supporters, I now know I have a huge support system,” Walker explained.
Her favorite number is nine, and this is  2009; maybe this trip was destined, she said. And with all the great opportunities coming her way, Generation neXt agrees and wishes Walker the best.

Celebrating Malcolm X

In honor of the 84th birthday of Malcolm X, May 19, Sylvie Bayeaux and The Malcolm X Theater Project present Michael Lange in a one-man performance re-enacting Malcolm’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech.
Michael Lange has made hundreds of appearances nationwide performing speeches of Malcolm X over the last two decades. Lange, an Oakland native, teaches at San Jose State.  He is an accomplished actor, playwright, director, and musician. He is also the son of author and former television personality, Jerri Lange, and brother of actor Ted Lange.
An Oakland performance will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2 p.m., at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St.  The cost is $15 or $10 for students and seniors at the door.  Advance tickets are available for $10 at brownpapertickets.com.
A San Francisco performance will take place on Saturday, May 30, 2 p.m., at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) at 685 Mission St.  The cost is included in the $10 general or $5 student and senior admission to the museum.
For information contact (510) 485-6338.

Pioneering Booking Agent Ruth Bowen, 84

Ruth Bowen, founder of The Bowen Agency Ltd., passed away at the age of 84 in New York City on Tuesday, April 21 after battling a brain tumor.  Bowen was the first black female booking agent and first black female to establish a theatrical booking agency.
For 55 years, Ruth Jean Bowen-Bryant booked and guided the careers of some of the most well-known and successful entertainers in the world.  Bowen’s musical journey began in 1944 when she met and married William “Billy” Bowen, one of the original Ink Spots, one of the first black entertainment acts to break the racial barrier.
While traveling and handling her husband’s business affairs, he introduced her to Dinah Washington. Soon, Washington offered Bowen a job as her publicist.  Bowen accepted and began handling the blues/R&B/jazz singer’s publicity and management.
Washington insisted on Bowen obtaining her booking license and in 1959, with the help of her lawyer, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Bowen founded Queen Booking.
The agency grew rapidly, with Dinah Washington as her best salesperson.   By 1968, her company had become the largest black-owned entertainment agency in the U.S. - if not the world - with a roster that included “The Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., The Isley Brothers, Dionne Warwick, The Four Tops, Kool and the Gang, Bobby Womack, Teddy Pendergrass, and others.
In addition to running the agency, now called the Bowen Agency Ltd, she was one of the co-founders of a civic and social club called the Rinkydinks which encouraged and supported minority children to advance in their education pursuits.
Bowen-Bryant leaves behind her husband Billy, brother James Edward Goode and sister-in-law Jean, other relatives and loving friends.  Services were held in New York City.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.  Checks can be made payable to:  Rhythm & Blues Foundation, in care of The Bowen Agency Ltd. attn: Mr. Gary James, 301 E. 79th Street, New York, NY 10075.  All checks will be presented to the foundation.

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