Harlem Arts Alliance Presents: On the “A” w/Souleo
High profile and powerful positions, virtually always demand that the people in those positions operate with a sense of integrity, responsibility and courage. These are the attributes of the women celebrated during the 4th annual “ASCAP Presents … Women Behind the Music” series. The event which kicked off at New York’s chic club Tenjune, honored women working in all facets of the the music industry. Honorees included: DJ and BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Inc. founder Beverly Bond; Island/Def Jam Music Group vice president of business and legal affairs, Nicole Wyskoarko and Universal Music Publishing senior vice president of East Coast Operations, Jessica Rivera.
Bond has been one of the most vocal opponents of controversial depictions of women in hip-hop and mass media. At the event she shared her hope that more women in the music industry will stand up against misogyny.
“Women are participating in the destruction of women and their images. There have to be more women who do stand up and say even though I am in here, I am still gonna say something. I watch what I play, where I play and there has to be a distinction between what the youth absorb,” she advises.
ASCAP Vice President, Membership – Rhythm & Soul, Nicole George wants the series to remind young women of their potential to make positive contributions in the music business. “This event is for them to see what they can be and that they have positive role models and something to aspire to.”
Securing the role of a lifetime is one of the aspirations of actress, Pauletta Pearson Washington. She shared those sentiments as she returned to the stage in Harlem last week in Lorey Hayes’ production Power Play, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “I want to do the definitive piece,” she shares. “I want to express everything I’ve experienced as a woman and human being in life and through my art as a healing experience on the stage.”
While she awaits her breakthrough role, Washington has nothing but praise for her husband, Denzel Washington’s performance in the upcoming film, Flight, which has generated Oscar buzz. “I must say my husband did some incredible work in this movie. When I saw it I couldn’t’ tell him anything. I was just so full.”
