Contact: Teri L. Sullivan
WKNO-TV Promotions Manager
(901) 729-8735
tlsullivan@wkno.org
January 6, 2012
For Immediate Release
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM’S 2011 FREEDOM AWARDS
TO AIR ON WKNO
The National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) recently celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Freedom Awards and WKNO was there to capture this special occasion for WKNO’s viewers and a national public television audience.
This year’s Freedom Awards honored actors Cicely Tyson, Danny Glover, and Hill Harper; Grammy award winning artists Kirk Whalum and Usher Raymond; NBA superstars Bill Russell and Alonzo Mourning; educator Marva Collins; magazine executive Susan L. Taylor; Senator Dr. Bill Frist; and seven Icons of the American Civil Rights Movement. It will premiere Monday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m. on WKNO/Channel 10.
For the 20th anniversary celebration, the National Civil Rights Museum expanded its honorees to reflect individuals who represented the pioneers or trailblazers as well as the legacy or new generation of contributors to fulfilling the mission and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s event was hosted by Actress Wendy Raquel Robinson who stars in the television comedy The Game and has appeared in several movies.
Award sponsors were NIKE, Hyde Family Foundation, FedEx, International Paper, Cigna, Deutsche Bank, First TN Foundation and ExxonMobil.
Nearly 2,000 people attended the annual event which started 20 years ago with the first three Freedom Awards presented to Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King and James Farmer.
All of the 2011 Freedom Award honorees were celebrated for their work in mentoring youth, education, philanthropy and humanitarian efforts for the disenfranchised. According to Grammy winning artist Usher, who received the Legacy for Philanthropy award, “This award is not the highlight of my career; it is the highlight of my life.”
NCRM Freedom Awards airs Monday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 21 at 4:00 p.m. on WKNO/Channel 10. It also airs Tuesday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m. on WKNO2, available over the air on Channel 10.2 and on Comcast Digital Cable Channel 910.
The Awards include the NAACP, Pioneer Award and the Southern Poverty Law Center, Legacy Award.
NAACP, Legal Justice Pioneer Award, the NAACP is the country’s first and foremost civil and human rights organization. Since being founded in 1909, the NAACP has continued to live its mission: to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society. One of the NAACP's greatest legal victories was in 1954, when Thurgood Marshall and a team of NAACP attorneys won Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Southern Poverty Law Center, Legal Justice Legacy Award, internationally known for its tolerance education programs, legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate groups, militias and extremist organizations. The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education and other forms of advocacy, they employ a three-pronged strategy to battle racial and social injustice:
Cicely Tyson, Pioneer and Kirk Whalum, Legacy, received Freedom Awards for the Arts. Bill Russell received the Sports Community Pioneer Award, while Alonzo Mourning received the Sports Community Legacy Award. Marva Collins was honored with the Education Pioneer Award, while Hill Harper received the Legacy Award for Education. Danny Glover received a Pioneer Award for his activism, while Susan L. Taylor was honored with a Legacy Award for activism. Musical artist Usher Raymond was honored with the Legacy Philanthropy Freedom Award. Dr. Bill Frist received the Humanitarian Pioneer Award. Bios for each of the honoree are included separately.
Icons of the American Civil Rights Movement were named: Rev. C.T. Vivian, Mrs. Leola Brown Montgomery, John Seigenthaler, Dolores Huerta, Rev. Ed. King, Rev. James Lawson, and Rev. Samuel Kyles.
The National Civil Rights Museum is located at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Previous Freedom Award recipients include President Nelson Mandela, President Bill Clinton, Bishop Desmond Tutu, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President Mikhail Gorbachav, President Oscar Arias, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Andrew Young, Stevie Wonder, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Harry Belafonte, Oprah Winfrey, Bono, Myrlie Evers Williams, Julius Erving, Earvin Magic Johnson, Eva Longoria, Dorothy Cotton, Colin Powell, Julian Bond, Al Gore, B.B. King, Wangari Maathai and Elie Weisel.
The NCRM Freedom Awards is presented nationally on public television stations by WKNO/Memphis through NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association).
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