JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Journalist, writer, speaker and founder of Women Love Power, Ayesha Faines died unexpectedly last Friday. Her family said she had battled asthma and multiple severe food allergies for years and never recovered from an anaphylactic reaction she suffered in late June.
Ayesha was best known for being a featured panelist on “The Grapevine Show,” a millennial web series with international acclaim, according to Insider.
Recommended Videos
Ayesha was also a former TV journalist for WJXT4 News4Jax in 2008 and My9TV/FOX in the New York City media market.
News4Jax anchor Melanie Lawson remembered Ayesha as an incredible woman.
“Ayesha was such a bright light,” Lawson said. “She was so young when she came to News4Jax but very intelligent and mature beyond her years. When she spoke it was like listening to poetry. I was always so proud of her accomplishments after she left the station. Ayesha was also a fierce supporter of women. She never said a disparaging word about any woman so I wasn’t surprised to see her use her voice for women’s rights. She was a wonderful friend and journalist. This news is just devastating. My heart is broken for her family. I know she meant the world to them. I’ll never forget how her father lit up when he talked about his baby girl. I can’t imagine the pain they feel.”
Faines graduated from Yale University and was a competitive salsa dancer.
Ayesha has been featured in a number of media outlets, including MTV, Essence, Entertainment Tonight, Hot 97, Afropunk, and The Michael Baisden Radio Show, and she’s lectured before international audiences and a number of universities, Insider said.