On Sunday, May 16th, Urban One presents Urban One Honors. This year is all about celebrating the remarkable accomplishments of women in the fields of business, media, health, politics, leading to impactful change within the Black community. Honorees include:
Make sure you tune into Urban One Honors, hosted by gospel artist, author, and syndicated radio personality Erica Campbell and award-winning journalist, author, and news anchor Roland Martin on Sunday, May 16th at 9P/8C on TVOne and Cleo TV. Check your local listings and Cable providers for more.
2. Voting Rights Champion: Stacey Abrams
Stacey Abrams is the New York Times bestselling author of Our Time Is Now and Lead from the Outside, an entrepreneur and a political leader. She served as Democratic Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives for seven years prior to running for Governor of Georgia, winning, at the time, more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s history. She launched Fair Fight Action after the 2018 gubernatorial election to ensure every American has a voice in our election system, Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi and were raised in Georgia. Her novel, While Justice Sleeps, will be released in May 2021.
Nikole Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and creator of the landmark 1619 Project. In 2017, she received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, known as the Genius Grant, for her work on educational inequality. She has also won a Peabody Award, two George Polk Awards, three National Magazine Awards, and the 2018 John Chancellor distinguished journalism award from Columbia University. In 2016, Nikole co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a training and mentorship organization geared towards increasing the numbers of investigative reporters of color.
4. Health Equality Advocate: Dr. Ala Stanford
Dr. Ala Stanford, a practicing physician for over 20 years, is board certified by the American Board of Surgery in both pediatric and adult general surgery and a health care advocate. She is the Founder of The Black Doctors COVID19 Consortium, BDCC. The consortium was formed in response to the disproportionate number of African-Americans being diagnosed and dying from coronavirus in Philadelphia, PA and the lack of swift intervention to mitigate disease spread. The mission of the consortium is to educate, provide advocacy and barrier free coronavirus testing in an effort to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Her research in basic science, clinical research and public health have been published in peer reviewed medical journals. Dr. Stanford also serves as a medical correspondent for local and national news outlets. She serves on the CDC Philadelphia Department of Public Health COVID19 Vaccine Advisory Committee.
5. Reparations Ambassador: Robin Rue Simmons
Robin Rue Simmons is a strategist, civic entrepreneur and alderman of Evanston’s 5th Ward. Ald. Rue Simmons began her career 22 years ago when she launched her first business as a real estate broker. Troubled by the wealth disparities and concentrated poverty in urban communities, she wanted to help young adults build wealth early through homeownership. Over the course of her entrepreneurial career, she has launched and operated multiple businesses, including a bookstore that offered free afterschool programming and a construction firm that employed dozens of minority skilled tradespeople, and has developed dozens of affordable homes funded by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
6. Business Alchemist: Roz Brewer
Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA) has named Roz Brewer as CEO as of March 15, 2021, at which time she will also join the board of directors. This is a historic appointment. Ms. Brewer will be only the third African American female executive to lead a Fortune 500 company with WBA ranking Fortune #19.
7. Family Needs Ambassador: Kim Ford
Kim R. Ford serves as President and CEO of Martha’s Table. Ford previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. Ford provided leadership, direction, and management on over $2 billion dollars in career and technical education, adult education, correctional and re-entry education and community college initiatives, which collectively serve over 25 million students annually.
8. Urban One Honors Performer Jazmine Sullivan
A Jazmine Sullivan record can go down like a shot of cognac—spicy, yet full-bodied and smooth as butter—or it can swathe you in the warmest embrace like your favorite pashmina. It’s why we fell in love with her a dozen years ago when she first burst on the scene with fiery records about the push and pull of romance. At the center of every Jazmine Sullivan album—from her 2008 debut Fearless to 2015’s Reality Show—is the point of view of a modern Black woman. She could be your sister, your girlfriend, your homegirl, or the woman you’ve judged based on the curated life she presents on IG or reality TV. Jazmine has spent her career painting vivid worlds of everyday women through poetic records that are unflinchingly raw, vulnerable and poignant. And it’s that commitment to giving it to us straight, no chaser, that serves as the foundation of her new project Heaux Tales (RCA Records).
9. Urban One Honors Performer Da Brat
Shawntae Harris, better known by her stage name “Da Brat,” is an American rap artist, profound writer, television and radio personality, executive producer, and actress. Harris attended Kenwood Academy and The Academy Of Scholastic Achievement where she played seven different instruments in band. Harris’ stage name was inspired because she was an only child and often referred to as a “brat.” DaBrat’s debut albumFunkdafiedwas released in 1994 and entered the rap albums chart at #1. The album went platinum, making her the “first” female solo rapper to sell one million units. The eponymous single reached #1 on the rap singles chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her follow-up hit from the same album, “Give It 2 You,” reached #26 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
10. Urban One Honors Performer Avery*Sunshine
Some people have a calling that is undeniable and Avery*Sunshine is no exception. Yet the former church pianist/musical director, who scored a #1 Billboard chart hit, was at once a reluctant warrior. “I had no idea that my work in the church would prepare me to do what I do.” Bringing people together through her riveting stage performances, cnadid and often humorous stage banter and optimistic anthems about love and life is what Avery*Sunshine does best. In fact, she does it so well, that she has garnered praise from iconic musical figures like The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who raves, “I love Avery*Sunshine!” The Atlanta based singer’s no holds barred signature soul/R&B sound has also made believers of such luminaries as Patti LaBelle, Berry Gordy and Boy George who proclaimed on Twitter “@averysunshine love this woman’s voice.”
11. Urban One Honors Performer Le'Andria Johnson
GRAMMY® and multiple Stellar Award-winning artist Le’Andria Johnson is hailed for her brilliant vocal gifts and artistic interpretation, with her powerhouse performances and inspiring story leading her to winning the BET competition “Sunday Best” in the show’s third season (2010), and becoming the first “Sunday Best” winner to win a GRAMMY® Award, less than two years after her win. Since then, Le’Andria has become one of the top voices in Gospel, celebrated by her peers and fans for her richly-textured performances and a top draw, go-to collaborator, creating hit performances on soundtracks and sought after in featured performances, recording songs with chart-topping peers including GRAMMY®-winning Gospel artists Donald Lawrence and Charles Jenkins, as well as GRAMMY® winners PJ Morton and Rodney Jerkins, among others.
