UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center will sponsor the 2004 Martin Luther King Commemorative Presentation on Monday, Jan. 19. The featured guest speaker will be Tony Brown, acclaimed veteran African American journalist and talk show host.
The program will be free to the public and held from noon to 1 p.m. in the Storz Pavilion, lower level of Clarkson Hospital, 42nd and Dewey Sts. There will be free refreshments available for the first 300 people. Overflow audience members will be able to see a live video simulcast at the Wittson Hall Amphitheater.
Brown was coordinator of a historic march in Detroit, Mich., with Dr. King on June 23, 1963. Official police sources stated that 500,000 people marched that day – making it the largest civil rights march in U.S. history. Moreover, Dr. King made his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech first at this march – 66 days before its historic presentation at the March on Washington on Aug. 28 where the speech was recorded for posterity.
Founder of long-running PBS series
Known as “Television’s Civil Rights Crusader” and considered by many to be a true renaissance man – Tony Brown is a cultural diversity consultant, TV journalist/commentator, self-help advocate, radio talk show host, keynote speaker, syndicated columnist, media entrepreneur, movie director, educator and author.
He is the founder and commentator of the PBS series Tony Brown’s Journal, the longest running of all PBS series. His weekly television series was selected by the New York Daily News as one of the top 10 television shows of all time that presents positive black images. He also was selected by Talkers, the prestigious radio trade magazine, as one of the “the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.”
Spectrum of achievements
Brown is the recipient of the National Director’s Legacy Award for Journalism from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency. He is an inductee into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences prestigious Silver Circle, joining such television icons as Walter Cronkite and others who “have made enduring contributions to the vitality of the television industry and set the highest standards of achievement for all to emulate.”
Brown has distinguished himself as a producer, writer, television commentator, film
director and innovative media entrepreneur in many areas. He was the first and founding dean, as well as professor, of the School of Communications at Howard University, where he established a distinguished academic and professional record. Brown also founded Black College Day in 1980 (now a U.S. Congress-designated national observance celebrated on the last Monday in September). As the honorary chairperson of the National Organization of Black College Alumni, Inc., Brown spearheads a movement to preserve black colleges.
Accomplished author
Brown also is an accomplished author. His latest book, “What Mama Told Me,” describes the seven core values given to him by his mother – a maid and dishwasher – that have sustained his life and given it meaning. In “Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown,” he offers a plan for making America more competitive and helping the country solve its race problem. It also examines his Team America concept and discusses cultural diversity as America’s industrial salvation. Brown also is the author of “Empower the People: A 7-Step Plan to Overthrow the Conspiracy that is Stealing Your Money and Freedom.”
Award recipient
Brown is the only African American recipient of both the Educator of the Year Award and Communicator of the Year Award from the Sales and Marketing Executives International Academy of Achievement. Previous winners of these prestigious awards have been the chief executive officers of TBS, CBS, ABC, CNN and several of the nation’s newspaper chains and national publications.
Brown was born in Charleston, W. Va., where he completed high school. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology and master’s degree in psychiatric social work at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.