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Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association

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Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association
AbbreviationBESLA
Formation1980[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."
HeadquartersFort Washington, Maryland
Membership
>2,000[2]
Chairman of the Board
Lawrence C. Hinkle II[3]
Websitehttp://www.besla.org/

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.

Organization

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BESLA'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

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In 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

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  1. ^ "History".
  2. ^ "Membership".
  3. ^ "Officers/BOD".
  4. ^ "besla | OFFICERS & BOD". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  5. ^ "besla | HISTORY". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  6. ^ "besla | MEMBERSHIP". besla. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  7. ^ "besla | ANNUAL CONFERENCE". besla. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
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