Black History Month: The Women of Crenshaw & Around
Ashley Derby is the owner and operator of the Chick-Fil-A Restaurant South Los Angeles near the University of Southern California (USC). Derby has been with the company since she was a fifteen-year-old high school student in her hometown of Marietta, Georgia. Derby initially went to Spelman College as a theatre major. While in college, she was introduced to career opportunities within the company and changed her major to Economics. Upon graduation, Derby was accepted into one of the pipeline programs that Chick-Fil-A has for aspiring business owners. After an intensive interview process, Derby was selected to be a franchisee and spearhead the immensely popular Chick-Fil-A USC In-Line location, which opened in August 2010. She took over the restaurant in August 2011.
Lula Washington is founder and artistic director of the Lula Washington Dance Theatre. Washington founded the company in 1980 with her husband Erwin Washington to provide a creative outlet for minority dance artists in the inner city. Today, Lula and her Company are revered across the United States and around the world. Lula’s work attracted the attention of the acclaimed film director James Cameron, who hired Lula to choreograph his hit movie “AVATAR”. She asked that he hire her entire dance company for the project and he did. The dancers worked on Avatar for more than a year. Lula also choreographed “The Little Mermaid” movie. LWDT has danced in over 150 cities in the United States, as well as abroad in Germany, Spain, Kosovo, Mexico, Canada, China, and Russia.
Denise Loulendo is the founder/owner of Copy City in the heart of the Crenshaw District. She began her career in Human Resources (15 years), and when she left the corporate world in 1988, she began writing resumes and offering typing services for different businesses. Loulendo quickly discovered that much of her training in corporate America was very useful in serving individuals and businesses – it seemed that everything she learned in HR management was meant to be used in her own community. In 1988, she bartered for 100 square feet in a furniture store and Images Arise’n Business Centre was born. Twenty-seven years later, Loulendo still enjoys serving the community giving them the best in letter writing, resume, graphic design copies, faxes, graphic design, and notary.
Debbie Allen wears many hats, but she’s best known as a dancer, teacher, director, producer, philanthropist and founder of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA). In 1980, starring in a Broadway revival of “West Side Story”, Allen earned herself a Tony nomination and landed a role as a dance instructor in the movie “Fame”. The film evolved into a cult classic and successful television spin-off in 1982, in which Allen co-starred and won three Emmy awards for choreography. She also starring in the sitcom “In the House” (1995-99), “Grey’s Anatomy” (2005-13) and wrote, produced and directed countless TV shows. In 2001, Allen opened the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles. Located in the heart of the Crenshaw District, the nonprofit school offers a comprehensive dance curriculum for students ranging in age from 4 to 18, regardless of financial status. Today, DADA is one of the top dance schools in Los Angeles featuring multiple programs focusing on a variety of dance genres.
Berlinda Fontenot-Jamerson is a retired corporate executive with an impressive resume which includes a career with SoCal Gas Company and Sempra Energy, HealthNet, and Disney-ABC Television Group. She currently serves as President of the Museum of African American Art (MAAA). Community service and the arts have always been among Fontenot-Jamerson’s passions. More than 20 years ago, while employed by SoCal Gas, Fontenot-Jamerson was recruited and became a member of the MAAA Board of Directors. Her background and preparation in corporate leadership positions and her involvement, over the years, in numerous nonprofit professional and community-based organizations served her well in her effort to help sustain the MAAA, expand existing, and develop and present new, innovative, and high impact MAAA programming for the community at large. She chaired various committees on the MAAA Board during her tenure, and ultimately ascended to President. The MAAA’s 40-year history and legacy is to present art by and about African descent people and their contribution to world culture. Exhibits and programs at the MAAA allow artists and their art to inspire new thinking about issues that intersect with the shared experience of people throughout the African diaspora and beyond.
