Shine a Light: Vy Higginsen
Take a look at the life of our Shine a Light recipient.
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Harlem Girl - Born and raised in Harlem, NY, Vy Higginsen became the first female advertising executive at Ebony magazine shortly after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology. (Photo: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)
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Telling Our Stories - She went on to become a contributing editor for Essence and created her own African-American lifestyle magazine titled Unique NY. (Photo: Courtesy Essence)
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On the Mic - Vy spent a decade working at various NY radio stations such as WWRL AM, WRKS FM, and became New York's first Black female radio personality in primetime when she worked at WBLS FM. (Photo: Courtesy WWRL-AM)
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The Silver Screen - Vy has also appeared on television as a contributing reporter for WNBC-TV and the Metro Channel. (Photo: Courtesy WNBC-TV)
Photo By Photo: Courtesy WNBC-TV
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Off-Broadway and Beyond - In 1983, Vy co-wrote, produced and directed the classic gospel musical "Mama, I Want to Sing," which ran for eight years (becoming the longest-running African-American off-Broadway musical in history) and went on to play a three-year tour through the U.S. as well as London, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Caribbean and Japan. (Photo: Courtesy The Mama Company)
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Bringing the Gospel - She created the Mama Foundation for the Arts in 1998 to present, preserve and promote gospel, jazz and R&B and in 2006 founded Gospel for Teens to support the community's musically gifted children and offer a substitute art program for schools that cut them from their curriculum.(Photo: Rebecca D'Angelo/For the Washington Post)
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Harlem Sings - Not one to rest on her laurels, this year Vy also founded Harlem Records, an independent record label whose mission is to help restore Harlem to the musical prominence it once held. Its premiere recording is Cissy Houston's "Walk on By Faith." (Photo: Courtesy Harlem Records)
