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 its members.
| Abbreviation | BESLA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1980[1] |
| Purpose | "BESLA is an international organization of lawyers and other entertainment and sports industry executives that supports a more diversified, expert and informed group of entertainment and sports industry professionals." |
| Headquarters | Fort Washington, Maryland |
Membership | >2,000[2] |
Chairman of the Board | Lawrence C. Hinkle II[3] |
| Website | http://www.besla.org/ |
Organization
editBESLA's headquarters is in Fort Washington, Maryland. Lawrence C. Hinkle II serves as chairman of the board and Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard serves as president.[4]
History
editIn 1980, during the first annual Black Music Association Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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 inroads into sports representation, the name of the organization was changed to the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA) in 1986.[5]
Today, the organization has over 2,000 members.[6] Each year, BESLA holds a conference on entertainment and sports representation.[7]
References
edit- ^ "History".
- ^ "Membership".
- ^ "Officers/BOD".
- ^ "besla | OFFICERS & BOD". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
- ^ "besla | HISTORY". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- ^ "besla | MEMBERSHIP". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
- ^ "besla | ANNUAL CONFERENCE". besla. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-20.