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Ron stops into Pepper Jay Studios to chat with host, voice over extraordinaire, legendary radio and TV host Kurt Kelly. These two go back many years together, and Kurt opens the show by explaining how they first met. Kurt tells the audience that after the two had a lengthy conversation, Ron gave Kurt a silver dollar as a memento, and Kurt asked Ron to tell the tale behind the silver dollar. Ron told Kurt that when he gives them to people he calls it STD- Something to do. Ron got in the habit, or ritual of giving silver dollars to anyone he encounters years ago while working as an entertainment reporter in LA. One day, he was on his way to doing an interview with Grammy Award winner and R&B legend Anita Baker and he stopped at a 7-Eleven before the interview. When he went to pay at the register the clerk told him his total was three dollars and some change, Ron gave him a five, but the clerk didn’t have a paper dollar in the register so he gave Ron a silver dollar and change. Ron then went off to do his interview with Anita and when the two finished, Ron placed his hand in his pocket and felt the silver dollar. He then thought it would be nice to give Anita the silver dollar as a token of good luck. The two went their separate ways, and ran into each other again two weeks later at a Grammy nomination ceremony. Anita spotted Ron there and spoke out to him saying, “Where’s my dollar?!!” Brewington responded saying, “What do you mean?” Anita said, “You gave me a dollar!” Ron then exclaimed, “Well I don’t have it, but I will get you a dollar, and not only will I get you a dollar, I’ll get you two dollars, one for now and one for the next time we meet.” And that’s how the tradition of the silver dollar was born. Ron Brewington and his twin brother were born in Harlem USA and attended Aviation High School. There he trained to be an airplane mechanic. As a teenager, he and his brother went on a tour of a US Naval Base in Brooklyn, NY, he enjoyed the tour, and even more than that, the food! He enlisted in the Navy and served for 20 years, and his brother enlisted in the Marine Corp. When his brother retired from the Marines he joined the Army Reserves, and worked in radio broadcasting. For quite a while he would encourage Ron to get into broadcasting as well, because he felt that he had the voice for it. While stationed in Corpus Christi a position at a station opened up and Ron applied and got his start in radio as a disc jockey. He has since had a long successful career in radio, working with American Urban Radio Networks, KGLA, KLON which is known as KJAZZ, and has also worked in news with the Associated Press. Ron encourages all beginners to get a degree and start in smaller markets for radio, television, or newspapers, and work their way up. Ron received his degree in broadcasting and journalism, and has worked as a Professor at Santa Monica College, USC, and UCLA. He teaches a course for Broadcasting Announcing & Production where he promotes integrity and professionalism. The course is a seventeen week program that offers students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge in both television and radio production. The students are given five assignments, three radio assignments and two for television. The radio assignments consist of a script for a thirty second Sears commercial, a script for a three minute radio newscast, and a script for a two minute and thirty five second disc jockey audition to put together a demo that the students can use to find employment. The television assignments consist of a three minute newscast where the student is front of an actual camera with a teleprompter. Ron explains that if an individual can master the art of the teleprompter they can easily have a six figure salary position with any broadcasting company. Lastly, the television interview, where the students are on a set, in front of a camera as both the interviewer and the interviewee. “We teach them how to be a good interviewer like Kurt, he’s good!” Brewington exclaimed. “I like a student who has a thirst, a desire to make it in this business. They want to be an actor, they want to be in Hollywood, they want to enjoy themselves, and you can do that, you can meet people in this town that can make everything happen for you!” In addition to all of his work as a broadcaster, radio personality, reporter and educator, Ron also serves on the National and Regional Board of Directors and is the First Vice President of the Local LA Chapter for the Tuskegee Airmen, where he works to maintain and preserve the legacy of the first black pilots of the US military. There he also works to introduce youth to aviation, provide scholarships, and flying instruction. He also worked indirectly with George Lucas when he was filming Red Tails, the 2012 film that told the story of the Tuskegee airmen to audiences worldwide. Ron also is a National Vice President of the MOTOWN Alumni Association which consists of MOTOWN alumni and ex-employees. Another interesting thing that Mr. Brewington takes pleasure in is helping African American entertainers receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He started twenty years ago and the first entertainer he helped get a star for was none other than MOTOWN legend Marvin Gaye. Others include Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Funk Brothers, and The Supremes. Ron handles the paperwork involved and is active in finding the sponsors that help on the financial end of the process, for it is very costly to get a star on the Walk of Fame. Mr. Brewington is also a proud two time survivor of prostate cancer and is a member of The Real Men Cook Foundation. The Real Men Cook Foundation started a program that recruits people that go out with students from USC to community churches and raise awareness on prostate cancer.
To learn more about Ron Brewington, he can be found on Facebook, Twitter @ronbrewington, and to learn more about the Tuskegee airmen please visit www.tuskegeeairmen.org. More episodes hosted by the legendary Kurt Kelly can be seen weekly fromlivevideoinc.com, www.ustream.tv, kurtkelly.com, and for more on Kurt Kelly go to his site kurtkelly.com and livevideoinc.com. His profile can see on IMDb as well. Kurt also has a personal Facebook page and Facebook Fan Page. Kurt, along with Pepper Jay from Pepper Jay Studios, continue to bring you entertaining and informative programming featuring the finest and brightest figures in entertainment today.
Written By: Brian Harper and Melissa English
