Hollywood Joins With Members of 109th Congress for THE CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE ARTS honoring CONGRESSMAN CHARLES B. RANGEL with the 2006 CAPITOL HILL SPOTLIGHT AWARD and EDWARD LEWIS, Chairman and Founder of ESSENCE magazine with the 2006 BUSINESS LEADER SPOTLIGHT AWARD CICELY TYSON With the 2006 SPOTLIGHT AWARD

Hollywood Joins With Members of 109thCongress

for

THE CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE ARTS

honoring

CONGRESSMAN CHARLES B. RANGEL

with the 2006 CAPITOL HILL SPOTLIGHT AWARD

and

EDWARD LEWIS, Chairman and Founder of ESSENCE magazine

with the 2006 BUSINESS LEADER SPOTLIGHT AWARD

CICELY TYSON

With the 2006 SPOTLIGHT AWARD

Washington, DC (September 5, 2006) – Hollywood’s leading talent will join with Members of the 109th Congress to honor Congressman Charles B. Rangel, American business leader and philanthropist Edward Lewis and Cicely Tyson when they receive top Spotlight awards at THE CREATIVE COALITION’s Celebration of African Americans in the Arts in partnership with ESSENCE magazine gala in Washington, DC on Wednesday evening, September 6, 2006.  


This VIP event also will pay tribute to the significant contributions of the nation’s greatest African American artists.  The evening brings together national and international leaders from the arenas of entertainment, media, policy, business, arts and letters and is co-hosted by Co-Presidents of The Creative Coalition Tony Goldwyn and Joe Pantoliano, ESSENCE Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Michael Jordan, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Keith Richards, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Seal, Dan Aykroyd, Morgan Freeman, Jason Alexander, Bob Balaban, Bonnie Bedelia, Richard Belzer, Polly Bergen, Phillip Bloch, Judy Blume, Barry Bostwick, David Brenner, Beau Bridges, Connie Britton, Blair Brown, Betty Buckley, Ellen Burstyn, Christian Campbell, Amy Carlson, Stockard Channing, Eleanor Clift, Bob Costas, Peter Coyote, Catherine Crier, Alan Cumming, Chuck D, Blythe Danner, Lisa Davis, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC, Rosario Dawson
Dana Delany, Catherine Dent, Susan Dey, Former Mayor David N. Dinkins, Kirk Douglas, Fran Drescher, Minnie Driver, Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles S. Dutton, Jesse Dylan, ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks, Hallie Eisenberg, Linda Ellerbee, Judge Mablean Ephraim, Giancarlo Esposito, Mike Farrell, Jules Feiffer, Antwone Fisher, Roberta Flack, Vivica A. Fox, Peter Gallagher, Leeza Gibbons, Eric Gilliland, Annabeth Gish, Lauren Graham, Farrah Gray, Seth Green, Robert Guillaume, Harry Hamlin, Marvin Hamlisch, Marcia Gay Harden, Omari Hardwick, Hill Harper, Ed Harris, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Buck Henry, Taraji P. Henson, Carolivia Herron, Lauren Holly, Dennis Hopper, Ernie Hudson, Cady Huffman, Anjelica Huston, Kristen Johnston, Sarah Jones, Alex Karras, Casey Kasem, Nicole Kassell, Philip Kaufman, Julie Kavner, Sue Kramer, Swoosie Kurtz, John Larroquette, Chairman and CEO, BET Holdings, Inc., Debra L. Lee, , Michele Lee, Carol Leifer, Harry Lennix, Juliette Lewis, Delroy Lindo, Eric Lively, Christopher Lloyd, David Lynch, Bill Maher, Penny Marshall, Richard Masur, Christopher McDonald, John Mellencamp, Donna Mills, Alfred Molina, Norah O’Donnell, Yoko Ono, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christopher Plummer, Sydney Pollack, Patrick Quinn, Rex Reed, Star Jones Reynolds, Chita Rivera, Joan Rivers, Laila Robins, Mimi Rogers, Al Roker, Tracee Ellis Ross, Eric Roth, Geoffrey Rush, Jon Secada, Neal Sedaka, Maurice Sendak, Andres Serrano, Lori Singer, Tom Skerritt, Barry Sonnenfeld, Mathew St. Patrick, Kevin Sullivan, ESSENCE Editorial Director Susan Taylor, Marsha Thomason, George Tillman Jr., Robert Townsend, Tamara Tunie, Brenda Vaccaro, Nia Vardalos Frederique van der Wal, Alice Walker, Malcom-Jamal Warner, Sam Waterston, Cornel West, Forest Whitaker, Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington, Charles Randolph Wright, Peter Yarrow, and Daphne Zuniga.

Confirmed Co-hosts Attending:  Phylicia Rashad, Cicely Tyson, Chuck D, Hill Harper,Giancarlo Esposito, Phillip Bloch, Ernie Hudson, Daphne Zuniga, Omari Hardwick, Marsha Thomason, Tamara Tunie.

Congressional hosts include Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Richard Burr, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Senator Tim Johnson, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Blanche L. Lincoln, Senator Trent Lott, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Mark Pryor, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Rep. Benjamin Cardin, Rep. Russ Carnahan, Rep. Julia Carson, Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Joseph Crowley, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. John Dingell, Rep. Eliot L. Engel, Rep. Phil English, Rep. Bob Filner, Rep. Mark Foley, Rep. Harold Ford Jr., Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Gene Green, Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Rush Holt, Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Sandy Levin, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Nita Lowey, Rep. Edward J. Markey, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, Rep. Ed Pastor, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep. Collin C. Peterson, Rep. Tom Petri, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Bobby Rush, Rep. Linda Sanchez, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Christopher Shays, Rep. John Shimkus, Rep. Louise Slaughter, Rep. John Tanner, Rep. Mark Udall, Rep. Diane E. Watson, Rep. Henry Waxman, and Rep. Anthony D. Weiner.


This is a sponsored and ticketed event.  For sponsor packages and ticket information, please contact Kimball Stroud at 202-543-9700/regan@creativeresourcesinc.com or The Creative Coalition at 212-614-2144/www.tcconline.org.

As part of the event, The Creative Coalition has established a fund to support scholarships for underprivileged African American students.  Please donate generously by going towww.tcconline.org and clicking on The Creative Coalition’s Scholarship Fund.  Funds raised will go directly to scholarships for academically talented and highly motivated students who intend to pursue full-time undergraduate, graduate or doctoral degrees. 

With more than seven million readers, ESSENCE is the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African American women. Published by Essence Communications Inc., it is the leading source of cutting-edge information relating to every area of African American women’s lives.  For 36 years, ESSENCE has celebrated personal achievement, chronicled social movement, documented struggles, showcased beauty, defined and set trends and illustrated the incredible journey of a resilient and splendid race. Additional information about ESSENCE is available at essence.com.

#   #   # 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Yael Oestreich

(212) 614-2527 (310)600-6999

YOestreich@thecreativecoalition.org