|
Usher will
be honored at CORE’s 22nd Annual Martin
Luther King Ambassadorial Reception and Awards
Dinner at the New York Sheraton Hotel and Towers on
Monday, January 16, 2006. The Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE) holds the preeminent Martin Luther
King Celebration in the country. In years past,
attendees have included the First Lady Laura
Bush, Robert DeNiro, and former Mayor Rudy
Guliani. Notable honorees have included Elie
Weisel, Janet Jackson, B.B. King,
Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, and
Secretary of State James Baker III.
This year’s celebration will focus on
the state of our nation. We are concerned about the
role that hip-hop culture plays in today’s society.
We are pleased that a young artist like Usher
can set such a positive example for young people
through music. This is the legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., the 60’s civil rights
movement, and martyrs like Chaney, Goodman,
and Schwerner, young CORE civil rights
workers.
Roy Innis,
National Chairman of CORE, calls Usher” a breath of
fresh air: “ At a time when many hip hop
entertainers profit by using ‘criminal chic’ to
market themselves, Usher has consistently
projected core values of hard work, respect and
self-discipline. As a father and a grandfather, I
admire his courage. It’s a challenge for a young
man of such fame and fortune to stay on the straight
and narrow.” The Chairman praised Usher’s mother,
Jonnetta Patton, for managing his career in a
way that is consistent with her family’s values.
Family values, hard work and respectability is the
right message, especially at this time.
Usher
Raymond IV was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in
l978. He moved with his mother to Atlanta, Georgia
at age 12. At 14, Laface Records discovered him at a
local talent show. He released his first album
“Usher” less than a year later in l994. The rest is
history; Usher has 3 Billboard Music Awards,
2 Grammy Awards, and 3 Soul Train Awards.
This year, CORE will also honor the
people of Mississippi for the strides they have made
in race relations. The Honorable Haley Barbour,
Governor of Mississippi, will accept the award for
his state. Other Honored guests include
Ambassador John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to
the United Nations.
For more information call CORE. |
