About Ayesha
Ayesha K. Faines
A brilliant and exceptional star, Ayesha K. Faines, was born on December 30, 1985, and departed her earthly vessel on Friday, July 2, 2021. The beloved daughter of the El Hajj Judge Bahir Kamil and Dr. Ruby Sampson Faines, Ayesha, which means life in Arabic, fully embodied the meaning of her name. Ayesha lived her life boldly, unapologetically, and selflessly.
In her younger years, Ayesha excelled in academic and artistic endeavors and local and regional extracurricular activities. She was a John Hopkins and Telluride Scholar and the first Colombia High School student to attend the New Jersey Governor's School for Film. She was also an Emma L. Bowen Foundation fellow–placing her at CNBC as a financial journalist.
She was an accomplished dancer, having studied classical ballet for twenty-plus years. Ayesha was a New Jersey Ballet School's traveling company member and was a scholarship recipient to The Dance Theater of Harlem. Ayesha was also a reigning pageant queen - winning the local and state Hal Jackson Teen Pageant Contest, the national title for the Shriners, Miss Black Connecticut Pageant, and placing as a runner up for the Miss Black USA Pageant, held in Gambia, Africa. These experiences fostered Ayesha's poise and zeal, which led her to share her voice to empower others, traits that would be hallmarks of her shortened but full life.
Ayesha graduated from Columbia High School (Maplewood, NJ) with honors and attended Yale University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization.
Ayesha enjoyed expressing herself through writing, media, and production. Shortly after graduating from Yale, she landed her first job as a news reporter at WJXT, a major television station in Florida. After returning to New Jersey, she fearlessly seized opportunities to challenge accepted norms on race and gender as a freelance writer and speaker.
Often, unbeknownst to her, her statements and comments would immediately go viral. As a result, she was called to weigh in on controversial topics on syndicated radio and television stations. She was recently employed as a columnist for Zora Magazine and a featured panelist on the digital talk show, The Grapevine TV. As a writer, teacher, and brave voice for feminine power and social change, Ayesha founded Women Love Power, a digital educational platform to help women rise within themselves and the world by redefining and reimagining what it means to be feminine and powerful. She is an author of a collection of poetry entitled Smoke. In Ayesha's career as a public figure, she was invited to participate in numerous panels and present at several colleges and universities, such as the University of British Columbia, Columbia University, Indiana, Temple, Rice, FIT, and many more.
Alongside her best friend and mother, Ayesha was an active member of the Girl Friends, Inc.–one of the oldest African American social clubs–and served various local and national offices, including Corresponding Secretary and National Chatterbox Editor.
Ayesha is survived by her loving parents El Hajj Judge Bahir Kamil and Dr. Ruby Sampson Faines; her brother Shaquan, and sister Adiyla Faines; two nieces Amani and Camille Faines, one nephew Ameen Faines. She leaves her maternal grandparents Ola and Franklin Barnette; six uncles: Odell, Larry, (Adrienne) Kirk, Latif (Lena), Greg (Joanne), Wyane (Nicole) Faines; four aunts: Debra Adams (Waymon), Ethel Hayes (James) Louetha and Louella Sampson; and a host of cousins, relative and friends.
Words cannot capture how much Ayesha's beautiful, warm, loving, and kind spirit will be missed. However, reflecting on her amazing life, it is clear–she has undoubtedly impacted all of us forever.