 |
May/ June 2002
ESSENCE Entertainment announced today the honorees for the 2002 ESSENCE Awards and the
return of Steve Harvey as host. Honorees include Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, India.Arie, James "Jimmy Jam" Harris & Terry Lewis, Terry McMillan, Kenny Gamble and Cathy Hughes. It was also announced that Janet Jackson will be honored with
the first-ever 'Entertainer of the Year Award,' chosen by more than 35,000 readers of ESSENCE magazine through a national
reader's poll. "We're thrilled to recognize the remarkable achievements of this year's ESSENCE Award honorees
as we mark 15 years of commemorating excellence in the African-American community," said Clarence O. Smith, CEO of ESSENCE
Entertainment. "The merit of this year's awardees honors the legacy of the ESSENCE Awards and continues to demonstrate the
ongoing need for such recognition." Actor/comedian Steve
Harvey will return for the second consecutive year to host the star-studded celebration, being taped for the first
time in Los Angeles at the Universal Amphitheatre on Friday, May 31, to air Thursday, June 6, 2002 on FOX. Performers, presenters
and celebrity attendees will be released in an upcoming announcement. "Steve is a natural choice for host of
this year's ESSENCE Awards because of his phenomenal talent as well as his poignant contributions to the welfare of the L.A.
community," said Candace Bond-McKeever, ESSENCE Entertainment vice president and general manager. The ESSENCE
Awards brings together celebrity honorees with community humanitarians and activists to honor the achievements of preeminent
African-Americans who have transformed their lives or made a dramatic impact on the lives of others. This year's honorees
are being awarded as follows:
Academy Award winner Halle Berry will be honored for illuminating
the power, beauty and complexity of Black women on screen and off. With grace and perseverance, she has proven that our hopes,
dreams and, indeed, our lives are worthy of celebration.
Music icon Janet Jackson will be honored with
the first-ever readers' choice "Entertainer of the Year" award for a lifetime of sharing her talent in unforgettable performances
with trendsetting style. More than 35,000 ESSENCE readers chose her as "Entertainer of the Year."
Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys will be honored for mixing
it up musically and stylistically, from hip-hop to Haydn, blending cornrows with couture. As Keys stirs it up with soulful
hits, she does so to the delight of audiences worldwide.
Seven-time Grammy Award nominee
India.Arie
will be honored for writing the anthem for Black womanhood, for celebrating our strength, courage and wisdom and illuminating
our beauty-naturally.
Multiple Grammy Award winners James
"Jimmy Jam" Harris
& Terry Lewis
will be honored for bridging genres and generations with their music and for their alchemistic ability to transform artistry
and innovation into platinum and gold.
Best-selling author Terry McMillan will be honored for
her creative genius, which celebrates the power and passion of Black womanhood and has forever elevated the place of African-American
women in the worlds of literature and film.
Grammy award winning songwriter,
producer & composer Kenny
Gamble will be honored for giving birth to a soulful new sound, for breathing new life into the soul of Philadelphia,
and reminding us that charity begins at home.
Media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes will be honored for her
bold spirit, which has shaped the landscape of urban radio, changing the game forever, and proving that Black women cannot
only run the show, but own it.
The ESSENCE Awards was first held in 1987
and has become one of the country's most important award shows, honoring such luminaries as Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Bill
and Camille Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosa Parks,
General Colin Powell, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey and many more, along with dozens of community leaders who
have worked to improve the quality of life for others.
|
