NATIONAL CONGRESS OF BLACK WOMEN RECENTLY CELEBRATED 24th ANNUAL AWARDS BRUNCH

On Sunday, September 28, 2008, theNational Congress of Black Womenheld its 24the Annual Awards Brunch. Traditionally, women of high achievement are honored. This year's honorees were newly elected Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD), Pastor Cheryl Moore, Johnnie Mae Gibson-Bright (Former FBI Agent), Kathi Wilkes (Consultant), Yvette Cade (Domestic Violence Survivor) and G. Jean Davis (Entrepreneur). NCBW’s “Good Brother"e; awards went to Payne Brown, Vice President of Strategic Markets for Comcast; Pastor Delman Coates of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church of Clinton, Maryland; and Caron Butler (NBA Player with the Washington Wizards).

In addition to the honorees, some of the highlights of the program were music by Joe Coleman (Platters), Gerald T. Smith and Youth N’ Praise, and Lomax Spaulding of Georgia. Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. who serves as National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women says, "e;We're so grateful for all of the support we receive for our community service programs. Among our many supporters this year were Elasta QP, Comcast, General Motors, Coca Cola, Jack Olender Foundation, Fulbright and Jaworski, Pepco, Costco, Johnson & Johnson, Ambi, Ann Hand, and others. We are also grateful for media support from television channels five, nine and Comcast, as well as Radio One, WYCB Radio, the Washington Informer and the Washington Afro American newspapers."e; On Vendors, we were oversold, and we thank them for bringing good quality products to our marketplace. We thank all who purchased ads or tables of tickets.

The theme for this year was “Celebrating Truth: the Year of the Black Woman”. A special tribute was given to Sojourner Truth—who worked to gain the right for all women to vote. She was both a suffragist and an abolitionist. She will be the first African American woman to be honored with a memorial in the Capitol.

Among the special guests were Dr. Dorothy I. Height, Councilmembers Marion Barry and Carol Schwartz. Others included Dr. Vanessa Weaver, Bernadette Stannis of “Good Times”, Kim Gandy, and many more.

At the end of the brunch, a memorial service was held for recently departed NCBW members Jacqui Lee, Sheila High King and Patricia Tyson.

The 2009 Brunch will be heldSunday, September 27th atthe J.W. Marriott in Washington, DC, 10 AM. To get your tickets early, call us at 202/678-6788 or send an e-mail toinfo@npcbw.org.