Congratulations to Dr. Jamie Foster Brown: Majic’s Phenomenal Woman for the Month of June 2012!
Jamie Foster Brown, known as “The Barbara Walters of Print.” She is publisher and sole owner of Sister 2 Sister magazine and like many pioneers who have broken new ground, has won numerous accolades as a trailblazer in the entertainment industry. Her talent, tenacity and toughness have made her one of the most prominent Black women in entertainment journalism and her monthly publication a staple for entertainment industry insiders. Since launching Sister 2 Sister in September 1988, she has become the consummate confidant to the stars, and is often the first to get interviews with major celebrities.
Dr. Brown began her career in entertainment in 1979 when she founded the Washington Theater Group, a service group focusing on theater group sales. Later, she worked for Black Entertainment Television as an advertising secretary to its founder, Robert Johnson, and was subsequently promoted to producer for their flagship shows “Video Soul” and “Video LP.”
Since her modest beginnings, Dr. Brown has proven herself to be more than just another female journalist with a quick wit. Making the crossover from pop to politics, she was selected by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics to be its keynote speaker on the effect of popular music on American culture. Her open moral outrage over the excessive violence in gangster rap lyrics and its increasing negative influence on young people served as the catalyst that began dialogue between members of Black leadership and music industry moguls. She was also entered in the Congressional Record as “one of the most accomplished and respected women in the field of entertainment journalism,” and the mayor of Washington, DC, officially named August 18, 1998, “Jamie Foster Brown Day” in the nation’s capital.
Now a 20-year veteran producing Sister 2 Sister, Dr. Brown is frequently quoted by major news organizations all over the world. Quotes from Brown have appeared in People magazine, the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, on “EXTRA,” “ABC News.com,” “Celebrity Justice,” and numerous local newspapers, radio and TV stations across the globe. Even the Indian website OnlyPunjab.com quoted Brown’s 2004 interview with rapper Lil’ Kim, while the New Zealand Herald and UK Flava quoted her 2005 interview with Shar Jackson. Newsweek magazine once lauded Brown’s influence as one of the nation’s top buzz makers. She was listed along with such notables as Oprah Winfrey, Regis Philbin, Madonna and Charlie Rose.
Other than being quoted, Dr. Brown is often invited on radio and television programs for her charm and energetic delivery of entertainment’s controversies and triumphs. Syndicated talk show hosts Steve Harvey, Russ Parr and Doug Banks consistently feature Brown on their shows, while Court TV and big television programs like “Access Hollywood,” Court TV, “CNN Talk Back Live,”” “MSNBC,” “Entertainment Tonight” and “Inside Edition” keep Brown on their radar for hard-to-get information.
Dr. Brown was honored at the Midwest Radio & Music Association for her lifelong commitment to enriching the lives of others through her work. The Support Network also honored her for educating young people through her magazine and on radio networks. She has also received the Anheuser Busch Eagle Award as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award for Outstanding African-American Women in the ’90s.
Brown is a graduate of the University of Stockholm in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2008, she received a Doctorate in Humane Letters from Bennett College. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, she currently lives in Maryland with her husband, Dr. Lorenzo Brown, who is an economist and the Managing Editor of Sister 2 Sister magazine. Their two sons Randy and Russell Brown are, respectively, Associate Publisher and Business Operations Manager for Sister 2 Sister.
