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player ready...The 54th annual Golden Fellowship Dinner benefiting the Chicago Urban League drew a sellout crowd of over 1,600 to the Hilton Chicago on Nov. 7. The dinner supported the League’s economic development, social justice and educational programs.
Comedian Damon Williams served as emcee and introduced gala chair Melvin Williams and Shari Runner, CUL interim president and CEO. They welcomed the audience to the grand ballroom for dinner, an awards presentation and a musical performance by Grammy Award-winning artist Brandy (Norwood).
During the program, Melvin Williams stressed the importance of the League and its impact on the African-American community. He spoke about his childhood growing up in the first public housing project in Georgia. “I have a personal understanding of the value of those who give back. What the Urban League does is not hard work; it’s heart work,” he said.
Themed “Inspiration for the Next Generation,” the evening included the presentation of the Edwin C. “Bill” Berry Civil Rights Award to Isabel Wilkerson and Timuel Black.
Wilkerson won a Pulitzer Prize for her work as Chicago bureau chief of The New York Times in 1994 and is the author of “The Warmth of Other Suns.” Black is a Chicago historian, philanthropist, educator and philosopher.
Wilkerson spoke about her book, which took 15 years to complete, describing it as “the story of the great migration of 6 million African-Americans defecting the Jim Crow South to get to all points of our country, particularly to Chicago, and that it was not about migration at all, but rather about seeking freedom and how far people are willing to go to achieve it.” She offered advice for the youth of today, “Young people need to search for heroes within their own families, rather than outside in pop culture.”
Black, 96, shared the connection he and his family had with the League beginning in 1919 when they moved from Birmingham, Ala., to Chicago. “At that time, the League was specifically designed to help people from rural and Southern areas to learn how to live in the big cities of the North.” He reflected on the legacy he hopes to leave. “I helped people, black, white, brown, Christian, Catholic, Jews, whatever, to believe that a change was gonna come, as Sam Cooke so brilliantly sung.”
Cheryl Jackson, Andrea Zopp and James Compton served as honorary co-chairs for the event that raised more than $1.7 million for Chicago Urban League’s programming.
Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.
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