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Onji Brown, ‘25, Wins Herbert L. Bellamy Sr. Media Scholarship Award

Last weekend, digital media and communications major Onji Brown, ‘25, was honored with the Herbert L. Bellamy Sr. Media Scholarship Award from Buffalo Black Achievers, Inc. 

“[Last] weekend the Black Achievers community honored Onji Brown, one of our current Fokus’d Kreatives, [with the Herbert L. Bellamy Sr. Media Scholarship Award],” said Aitina Fareed-Cook, founder of Get Fokus’d Productions. “What an achievement! It’s been an honor to have you on the Fokus’d team! Keep glowing and growing. This was an easy recommendation.” 

Aitina Fareed-Cooke is the Creative Arts Strategist, Buffalo’s Poet Laureate, National Recording Artist, and the founder of Get Fokus’d Productions (GFP), an internationally award-winning media arts production company. 

During her junior year at Villa Maria, Onji worked closely with Aitina as part of the College’s first-ever Artist in Residence program. Through the program, Onji and her fellow DMC students gained hands-on experience working alongside Aitina and the Get Fokus’d team. Together, they developed and implemented a digital marketing plan for the 2024 “Tales from the Porch IV: Art is a Language” series. It ran July 26-September 7, 2024 at the Buffalo Art Studio. 

The team also worked on the creation of a music video for the song, “Privilege,” by A.I. the Anomaly. The video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjQyqtQKYrM. 

View photos of Onji and her DMC cohort working alongside the Get Fokus’d team: http://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBiFt8