Fayetteville woman shines Bright on the airwaves and in schools

Tameka Bright is an author, Fayetteville radio personality, sports presenter, parent educator, mentor and mother — and now she has her sights set on becoming a TV talk show host.

“All Things Bright,” a live talk show-style event, debuted March 18 at the Arts Council on Hay Street. Bright, 41, and guests Antoinette Bellamy and Tiffany Haywood discussed parenthood, careers and fashion for a studio audience of about 50, she said.

It was free to attend with a donation of socks or toiletries for Fayetteville Manor, an assisted living facility for seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The New York City native said the show is not available to watch online, but she hopes a TV network, cable or streaming platform will pick it up.

Her goal is to empower, inform and inspire women and mothers with a high-energy show, she said.

“We have enough mess in the world,” she said. “Let’s make it as bright as we can.”

Bright doesn’t shy away from serious topics, however. She said she and her guests discussed how and when parents can address subjects like police brutality, school shootings and bullying with their children.

The date for the next event is yet to be announced, but Bright said it will focus on fitness and summer fun.

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Author has a soft spot for foster care kids

Mother to 8-year-old Timothy, who was recently named a Future Black History Maker, Bright was raised in New Bern, about a two-hour drive east of Fayetteville.

She said she was put in the foster care system at 6 months old and was adopted at age 4.

“Anything to do with foster care is near and dear to my heart,” she said.

For the past three years, she has coordinated the donation of Easter baskets for kids in foster care, she said. This year, she said, she donated 50 baskets to the Cumberland County Department of Social Services.

Bright was 15 years old when her adopted mother died, and her adopted father died five years later, she said. Her 2021 self-published book, “Broken for the Purpose,” helped her work through some of the grief of losing her parents by telling the story of her upbringing, she said.

The book also covers her journey in dealing with rejection and embracing self-acceptance.

From athlete to announcer

Sports have long been part of Bright’s life — she danced and ran track as a child and has a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration. A position as head cheerleading coach at Methodist University brought her to Fayetteville just over a decade ago, she said.

She’s no longer a coach, but Bright said she judges cheerleading competitions and is an announcer for Rise Productions, a cheerleading event production company based in Charlotte.

Her affinity for sports does not start and end with cheerleading. Bright hosted the Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball games for three seasons, she said, and now does the same for Fayetteville Stingers basketball games.

No stranger to the airwaves

Talk show stages, basketball courts and cheerleading competitions aren’t the only places to hear Bright on the airwaves.

She hosts “Mid Day Vibes,” a weekday radio show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on WCCG 104.5 FM, where she discusses fitness, personal finance, trending topics, education and women’s empowerment.

In 2020 and 2021, she hosted “Pink Conversations,” a weekly podcast that featured local leaders in sports, education and literature.

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Advocating for parents and students

Bright said she works with parents and students to help both groups get the resources they need to be successful.

Since 2018, she has hosted a mentoring group for middle school girls at Ireland Drive Middle School. Uplift Mentoring meets twice a month and is now at Lewis Chapel Middle School. Each 45-minute session teaches students about topics like self-confidence, hygiene, career paths, conflict resolution and respect, she said.

She hopes to expand the program to include monthly field trips.

Bright is also the coordinator for Parent University, a Communities in Schools program at Cumberland County Schools that provides free educational seminars for parents on topics like money management, stress management and resume creation.

She has a lot on her plate, but she is passionate about using her gift for storytelling and motivational speaking to help others, she said.

“I feel like God has given us a lot of gifts and talents and we need to operate within those,” Bright said.

Reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville woman debuts talk show that she hopes to bring to TV