Honorees & Performers
Honorees
Xernona Clayton, a trailblazing leader in civil rights and broadcasting, is renowned as the Founder and President of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc., and the Creator of the prestigious Trumpet Awards. Graduating from Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in education, she later pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago on a scholarship.
Xernona Clayton, a trailblazing leader in civil rights and broadcasting, is renowned as the Founder and President of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc., and the Creator of the prestigious Trumpet Awards. Graduating from Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in education, she later pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago on a scholarship.
Spike Lee, born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose groundbreaking work has reshaped filmmaking and cinema. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Lee's artistic upbringing, with a jazz musician father and a schoolteacher mother, laid the foundation for his career.
Spike Lee, born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose groundbreaking work has reshaped filmmaking and cinema. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Lee's artistic upbringing, with a jazz musician father and a schoolteacher mother, laid the foundation for his career.
Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel Emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has left an indelible mark on civil rights advocacy. Serving as the seventh President and Director-Counsel from 2013 to 2022, Ifill provided visionary leadership during pivotal moments in American history.
Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel Emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has left an indelible mark on civil rights advocacy. Serving as the seventh President and Director-Counsel from 2013 to 2022, Ifill provided visionary leadership during pivotal moments in American history.
Performers
MC LYTE - a legend in music and entertainment – is a pioneering artist and a formidable actress in television and film. Her most recent acting credits include ANGEL, whereby Lyte takes on the role of Detective Monroe, Viacom's Hip Hop Family Christmas, B.E.T.'s Favorite Son's Christmas, a series regular on last year's New York Undercover pilot (a reboot of the original Dick Wolf series), and she has recurred on S.W.A.T. (C.B.S.), Power (Starz), and Queen of the South (U.S.A.). Lyte's film roles include acclaimed Sundance Winner Patti Cakes, the Universal hit Girls Trip; Bad Hair, from Director Justin Simien; and the features Loved To Death, and Sylvie, with Tessa Thompson and Eva Longoria. She has taken on the show Creator & Executive Producer role alongside Lynn Richardson & Bentley Evans for AMC/ALLBLK TV's sitcom, "Partners In Rhyme." Recently, MC Lyte made her award- winning directorial debut with a feature short film, Break Up In Love, that garnered several awards during the festival season. This past spring, MC Lyte joined the cast of ONE NIGHT STAY, a thriller set to film this spring in New Jersey. MC Lyte is the Executive Producer of the Netflix docuseries, Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop.
MC LYTE - a legend in music and entertainment – is a pioneering artist and a formidable actress in television and film. Her most recent acting credits include ANGEL, whereby Lyte takes on the role of Detective Monroe, Viacom's Hip Hop Family Christmas, B.E.T.'s Favorite Son's Christmas, a series regular on last year's New York Undercover pilot (a reboot of the original Dick Wolf series), and she has recurred on S.W.A.T. (C.B.S.), Power (Starz), and Queen of the South (U.S.A.). Lyte's film roles include acclaimed Sundance Winner Patti Cakes, the Universal hit Girls Trip; Bad Hair, from Director Justin Simien; and the features Loved To Death, and Sylvie, with Tessa Thompson and Eva Longoria. She has taken on the show Creator & Executive Producer role alongside Lynn Richardson & Bentley Evans for AMC/ALLBLK TV's sitcom, "Partners In Rhyme." Recently, MC Lyte made her award- winning directorial debut with a feature short film, Break Up In Love, that garnered several awards during the festival season. This past spring, MC Lyte joined the cast of ONE NIGHT STAY, a thriller set to film this spring in New Jersey. MC Lyte is the Executive Producer of the Netflix docuseries, Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop.
Deborah Cox is a Grammy-nominated recording artist, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee, and international talent spanning the worlds of music, Broadway, television, film, and fashion. An established songstress, Cox has scaled the R&B and Pop charts with six top 20 Billboard R&B singles and an impressive thirteen No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart. Her sophomore album spawned 2 No. 1 R&B songs including the record-breaking “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” that spent 14 weeks at the top (the longest in history at the time) and “We Can’t Be Friends.”
Deborah Cox is a Grammy-nominated recording artist, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee, and international talent spanning the worlds of music, Broadway, television, film, and fashion. An established songstress, Cox has scaled the R&B and Pop charts with six top 20 Billboard R&B singles and an impressive thirteen No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart. Her sophomore album spawned 2 No. 1 R&B songs including the record-breaking “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” that spent 14 weeks at the top (the longest in history at the time) and “We Can’t Be Friends.”