Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association
Encyclopedia
The Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, usually abbreviated as BESLA is a professional organization of attorneys along with sports and entertainment executives of color to provide continuing education and other support services to help its members compete in a constantly changing and challenging business environment.
. Edward L. Woods, serves as Chairman of the Board and Tamela R. Cash-Curry serves as President.
, a group of prominent African-American attorneys determined that there was a need for a support organization to help individuals survive in a competitive marketplace. This led to the development of the Black Entertainment Lawyers Association (BELA), later that year. One of the founding members was the late David McCoy Franklin, a pioneering African-American entertainment attorney who had represented such talents as Donny Hathaway
, Louis Gossett, Jr.
and Richard Pryor
. He would serve as the first Chairman of the organization. As African-Americans began to make in-roads into sports representation, the name of the organization was changed to the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA) in 1986.
Today, the organization boasts over six hundred members, which include individuals who hold posts at major corporations and representatives of name talent.
Each year, BESLA holds a major conference on entertainment and sports representation. "The conference gets us to focus on the current matters at hand that effect our clients and how we can better serve them,” says Wood, the BESLA Chairman of the Board.
Most recently, the 29th Annual BESLA Conference was held in Palm Beach, Aruba
from October 21-25, 2009. Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin
served as the closing speaker of the conference.
Organization
BESLA's headquarters is in Fort Washington, MarylandFort Washington, Maryland
Fort Washington, Maryland is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland in the suburbs of the capital city of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., south of the downtown district. It is a prosperous community with an African American majority...
. Edward L. Woods, serves as Chairman of the Board and Tamela R. Cash-Curry serves as President.
History
In 1980, during the first annual Black Music Association Conference in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, a group of prominent African-American attorneys determined that there was a need for a support organization to help individuals survive in a competitive marketplace. This led to the development of the Black Entertainment Lawyers Association (BELA), later that year. One of the founding members was the late David McCoy Franklin, a pioneering African-American entertainment attorney who had represented such talents as Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
and Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
. He would serve as the first Chairman of the organization. As African-Americans began to make in-roads into sports representation, the name of the organization was changed to the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA) in 1986.
Today, the organization boasts over six hundred members, which include individuals who hold posts at major corporations and representatives of name talent.
Each year, BESLA holds a major conference on entertainment and sports representation. "The conference gets us to focus on the current matters at hand that effect our clients and how we can better serve them,” says Wood, the BESLA Chairman of the Board.
Most recently, the 29th Annual BESLA Conference was held in Palm Beach, Aruba
Palm Beach, Aruba
Palm Beach, Aruba is a city northwest of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, and is home to the high rise hotels such asHyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino, Aruba Marriott Resort, Occidental Grand Aruba and Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa and a new shopping district that was finished in 2009...
from October 21-25, 2009. Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin
Reginald Hudlin
Reginald Alan Hudlin is an American writer and film director.-Biography:Hudlin is the son of Helen , a teacher, and Warrington W. Hudlin, Sr., an insurance executive and teacher...
served as the closing speaker of the conference.