| Suggested
Topics:
- Tribute to Dr. Martin L.
King
- Additional topics to following
later this week
AMBASSADOR OF FREE ENTERPRISE AWARD
COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR
EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
•TV JOURNALIST/COMMENTATOR
•SELF-HELP ADVOCATE •RADIO TALK SHOW
HOST •KEYNOTE SPEAKER •MEDIA ENTREPRENEUR
•FILM DIRECTOR •EDUCATOR
Tony Brown is the commentator of
the PBS series Tony Brown’s Journal, the
longest-running of all PBS series. In 2002, Brown
also became the first recipient of the National
Director’s Legacy Award for Journalism from
the U. S. Department of Commerce’s Minority
Business Development Agency (MBDA).
Within weeks of that honor, this
widely recognized out-of-the-box thinker was inducted
into the National Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences’s prestigious Silver Circle. With
this honor, he joins such television icons as
Walter Cronkite who “have made enduring
contributions to the vitality of the television
industry and set the highest standards of achievement
for all to emulate.”
This media entrepreneur has been
an innovator in many areas. He was the first and
founding dean, as well as professor, of the School
of Communications at Howard University, where
he established a highly distinguished academic
and professional record. Tony Brown has distinguished
himself as a producer writer, educator, television
commentator and film director.
This television commentator and self-empowerment
advocate’s life embodies the American dream.
In his powerful and highly personal upcoming April,
2003 book, What Mama Taught Me, he describes the
seven core values, given to him by his Mama, that
have sustained his life and given it meaning.
In other words, he writes, “Mama,”
a maid and dishwasher in Charleston, West Virginia,
gave him health, wealth and happiness.
Also written with Brown’s signature
strength and vitality, he previously authored
two powerful books, Black Lies, White Lies: The
Truth According To Tony Brown which sold 100,000
copies, and Empower The People, both published
by William Morrow & Co., Inc. Brown is an
active advocate of market solutions to social
problems.
But it is for his work as a journalist
that he is best known. He is the commentator of
the PBS series Tony Brown’s Journal, the
longest-running of all PBS series. Brown’s
weekly television series was selected in the New
York Daily News as one of the top 10 television
shows of all time that presents positive Black
images. Tony Brown’s Journal was the only
current program ranked in the top 10. The TV series
was also nominated for the l991 NAACP Image Award
for “Outstanding News, Talk or Information
Series/Special.” Adding to Brown’s
many exploits as a media expert, Tony Brown Chicago
can be heard on WLS (890 AM), the Chicago ABC
Radio Networks affiliate and Disney ABC-owned
station. He was selected by Talkers, the prestigious
radio trade magazine, as one of “the 100
most important radio talk show hosts in America.”
Called “Television’s
Civil Rights Crusader” in a cover story
by Black Enterprise magazine, this educator and
lecturer coordinated a march in Detroit that featured
Martin Luther King, Jr. and drew an estimated
500,000, perhaps the largest civil rights march
in America. It is also believed to be the first
time Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have
A Dream” speech. USA Today recently selected
him as one of the top five leaders to analyze
the status of Black America.
The Sales and Marketing Executives
International Academy of Achievement awarded him
the Ambassador of Free Enterprise Award because
of his “interest in creating jobs and business
through the Buy Freedom Network.” Previous
Academy inductees include: Henry Block of H &
R Block and J.C. Penney of J.C. Penney Company.
He is the recipient the 1995 Educator of the Year
Award and previously received the Communicator
of the Year Award from the Academy’s national
board of trustees. Previous winners of this prestigious
award include the heads of TBS, CBS, ABC, CNN
and several of the major newspaper chains and
national publications. He is the first Black to
receive either honor. The Institute For American
Business recently recognized Brown’s work
in economic and community development with its
1993 Community Service Award. He received The
Economic Empowerment Award from the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) for “his
vision of economic parity.” Other awards
include the Black Emmy Award, the Image Award
by the NAACP in Hollywood and the Solomon Carter
Fuller Award by the nation’s leading organization
of Black psychiatrists for promoting self-esteem
through education, broadcasting and movie distribution.
Brown also founded the annually-held
Black College Day in 1980 and, as the honorary
chairperson of the National Organization of Black
College Alumni, Inc., spearheads a movement to
preserve Black colleges. The U.S. Congress has
since officially designated Brown’s choice,
the last Monday in September, as a national observance.
His community activities include: member of the
Board of Trustees of The Shaw Divinity School;
member of the National American Slavery Memorial
Advisory Board; advisor to the Harvard Foundation
for Intercultural and Race Relations; and the
Board of Directors of the Association for the
Study of Afro-American Life and History.
Tony Brown was born in Charleston,
West Virginia, where he graduated from Garnet
High School. He received his Bachelor’s
degree in Sociology and his Master’s degree
in Psychiatric Social Work at Wayne State University
in Detroit. He has received numerous honorary
doctorate degrees for his achievements in civil
rights, education, economics and journalism.
His motto is “Self Help.”
His call to action is very explicit: No Black
Lies, No White Lies — Only The Truth!
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