NAACP NYC ACTSO to Applaud Luminaries as Olympics of the Mind Competition...

April 22 2005 The NAACP New York City chapter of the AfroAcademic Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics NYC ACTSO will pay tribute to New York City Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis M Walcott Inner City Broadcasting Corporation Chairman Emeritus Percy E Sutton legendary actor and activist Ruby Dee acclaimed author and poet Ntozake Shange and National Cancer Institute Associate Director Dr Harold P Freeman who also is Medical Director of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care - each as a Special Honoree - at the 18th annual NYC ACTSO VIP Reception Awards Ceremony on Monday April 25 2005 at Con Edison 4 Irving Place in Lower Manhattan The VIP Reception invitation only will be from 5 pm to 645 pm and the Awards Ceremony open to the public with ticket purchase will be from 7 pm to 9 pm Jane Hanson and Otis Livingston of NBC NewsChannel 4 will host the ceremony Former President William Jefferson Clinton US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and US Senator Barack Obama are Honorary Cochairs of the event which is made possible through the generous support of Con Edison edGenuiti Worldwide Washington Mutual and media partner WNBC4New York Tickets are $50 $100 and for VIP Reception access $250
Our distinguished and highlyaccomplished honorees are the kind of role models who can have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of New York City's young scholars said NYC ACTSO Executive Director Anton Tomlinson
The Awards Ceremony is the local culmination of NYC ACTSOs annual signature event the Olympics of the Mind competition in which some 200 enthusiastic Black high school students grades 9 to 12 from throughout New York City will converge under one roof to showcase their talents in the humanities performing arts visual arts and sciences two days prior on Saturday April 23 2005 from 9 am to 4 pm at Manhattan's Martin Luther King Jr High School 122 Amsterdam Avenue between 65th and 66th streets
Special Honoree in the Humanities Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis M Walcott is Mayor Michael R Bloombergs point person on education In that capacity he coordinates the mayors reform of New York Citys public schools He also serves as the liaison to the Department of Youth and Community Development New York City Housing Authority Health and Hospitals Corporation City University of New York and the Mayors Office of Health Insurance Access The former President and CEO of the New York Urban League is a product of the New York City public school system He received a Masters of Social Work from Fordham University and a Masters of Education from the University of Bridgeport
Special Honoree in Entrepreneurship Percy E Sutton is a celebrated attorney activist former elected official businessman technology and communications expert and World War II US Air Force veteran Mr Sutton is the founder controlling shareholder and Chairman Emeritus of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation with its principal office in New York City and radio stations around the United States He also is Chairman CEO and principal investor in Synematics Inc a high technology softwarehardware company with offices in New York City and Upstate New York Between 1954 and 1965 Mr Sutton and his brother Judge Oliver C Sutton a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York individually or together served as advisors to and legal counsel for Malcolm X Mr Sutton cofounder of the first Black political caucus served in 1965 and 1966 as a member of the New York State Assembly where he led in the development of early New York State legislation in housing employment civil right human rights access to higher education and other key issues He also served for 11 years as the first elected President of the Borough of Manhattan ran for Mayor of New York City practiced law before various state and federal courts and served as legal advisor in Reverend Jessie Jackson's presidential campaign
Special Honoree in the Performing Arts Ruby Dee - known for her legendary groundbreaking efforts to honestly and positively portray the lives of African Americans - and her husband the late Ossie Davis have been featured in more than 50 films beginning in 1950 with No Way Out featuring Sidney Poitier Her more recent films include Malcolm X Jungle Fever Do the Right Thing and Get on the Bus An alumna of Hunter College in 1961 Ms Dee starred in the acclaimed Purlie Victorious written and directed by Mr Davis Ms Dee was the first Black woman to play lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival Numerous awards she has received include the Obie Drama Desk Emmy NAACP Image Award National Medal of Arts the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award She has been inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame Last year she and Mr Davis were distinguished as Kennedy Center Honorees Always giving back to the African American and indeed the Pan African community Ms Dee coproduced the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Africa by Black professionals Ms Dee and Mr Davis served as masters of ceremonies for the historic 1963 March on Washington with Dr Martin Luther King
Special Honoree in the Performing Arts Ntozake Shange pronounced entozaki shonggay was born Paulette Williams in Trenton NJ on October 18 1948 In 1971 she changed her name to Ntozake Shange which means she who comes with her own things and she who walks like a lion in Xhosa the Zulu language A 1970 cum laude graduate of Barnard College majoring in American Studies she in 1973 earned a master's degree in American Studies from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles While living in California she collaborated with Paula Moss on the poetry music and dance piece that would become her most noted work for colored girlsMs Moss and Ms Shange went to New York and performed for colored girls in a Soho jazz loft and later in bars in the lower East Side Producer Woodie King Jr saw one of these shows and helped director Oz Scott stage the choreopoem OffBroadway at the New Federal Theatre It then moved to the New York Shakespeare Companys Anspacher Public Theatre and then to the Booth Theatre In addition to plays Ms Shange has written poetry novels and essays among other genre She has taught at California State College the City College of New York the University of Houston Rice University Yale Howard and New York University Among her many awards are an Obie a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and a Pushcart Prize Most recently Ms Shange was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for her recent children's book Ellington Was Not A Street
In addition to his leadership roles at the National Cancer Institute and The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention Harold P Freeman MD Special Honoree in the Sciences holds the academic position of Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Dr Freeman also is a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons among numerous other significant professional distinctions Dr Freeman is the chief architect of the American Cancer Societys initiative on cancer in the poor and is a leading authority on the interrelationships between race poverty and cancer Related to this the Harold P Freeman Award was established by the American Cancer Society in 1990 This award may be given annually in ACS divisions throughout America to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the fight against cancer in the poor Dr Freeman pioneered the development of Patient Navigation through his work in Harlem to eliminate any barriers to diagnosis and treatment of cancer Such programs have been initiated at more than 200 sites throughout the nation
Presented with pageantry and excitement the daylong NYC ACTSO Olympics of the Mind competition on April 23 offers students a singular experience and level of recognition that can greatly impact their lives long after high school Students compete in 25 Humanities Visual Arts Performing Arts and Sciences categories At the Awards Ceremony on April 25 the top three winners in each category will receive a gold medal with $500 in cash silver medal with $300 and bronze medal with $200 The NYC ACTSO Olympics of the Mind gold medalists will advance among 1200 gold medalists from local competitions across the country to the national NAACP ACTSO Olympics of the Mind to be held July 711 in Milwaukee where prizes are a gold medal with $2000 silver with $1500 and bronze with $1000 Every national medalist also receives a fullyloaded laptop computer
The NAACP NYC ACTSO program is a 501c 3 volunteer organization funded by public and private donations Founded in 1987 by Anton Tomlinson and Benjamin Duster IV NYC ACTSO is dedicated to promoting academic and cultural excellence among Black high school students Its mission is to overcome the vicious cycle of low scholastic expectations and achievement that plagues minority communities throughout the city More than 98 percent of NYCACTSO students graduate from high school and 85 percent go on to college Since its inception NYC ACTSO has mentored nearly 5000 students through coaching sessions the Olympics of the Mind and other enrichment activities NYC ACTSO proudly carries on the legacy started by the late Vernon Jarrett awardwinning journalist activist and founder of the national NAACP ACTSO program in 1977 With more than 140 chapters nationwide ACTSO is the country's largest program committed to the academic success of Black youth
For more information about the Olympics of the Mind or Awards Ceremony tickets the general public can call NYC ACTSO at 2126669348 or visit wwwactsoorg

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