Representatives from the Conference of Grand Masters Prince Hall Masons Inc., (COGM)

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond and Federal Communications Commission Chair Mignon Clyburn, Curley M. Dossman Jr., the president of Georgia Pacific Foundation; William Hawthorne III of Macy’s; former education secretary John B. King Jr., CBC Foundation Chair and Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Robin L. Kelly (D-Ill.), were among the eight awards recipients honored at the awards reception held at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. on September 27, 2017.

Leon Russell, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attended the reception and announced a renewed relationship with the NNPA.

“It’s time for the NAACP and the NNPA to renew its partnership,” Russell said. “You have to be the voice to the people and let everyone know what’s happening in our communities.”

Pictured: Sis. Rose David, MW Phillip David, Grand Master, (DC), GYD Catrice R. Vandross, PGWM Venecia Bessellieu, PhD, MW Malcolm Harris, Grand Master, (PA); MW John M. Bettis, Bro. William Ewing, Esquire, PGM, (NJ), President, COGM, Frank Lias, Marcy Bettis, and Doni Betts.