The 15th annual Salute THEM Awards celebrated Black creatives, students, alumni, and supporters of HBCUs at The Howard Theatre.
This post was originally published on The Washington Informer. By Jada Ingleton
In a nod to generational Black storytelling, dozens of creatives, students, alumni and supporters of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) gathered at The Howard Theatre on Thursday, Nov. 6 for Café Mocha Radio’s 15th annual Salute THEM Awards, a momentous kickoff to the HBCU First Look Film Festival (HFLFF) hosted in Northwest, D.C., Nov. 7-8.
The highly attended event, which also recognized 15 years of the women-led radio show, brought Hollywood’s A-listers and Washington’s activists to the stomping grounds of creativity and community, all driven in a mission to preserve African American stories in media.
“A film festival where filmmakers are being amplified by students [is] so important because there’s so much activism in storytelling,” said actress, Howard University alumna, and Salute THEM Award recipient Lynn Whitfield on Nov. 6. “It is an amazing place to be a warrior, it’s an amazing place to be a philosopher, an entertainer, a comedian, all of those things. But through all of it, we have a possibility to serve humanity through storytelling – and maybe make a lot of money from it.”
With guests donning glitz and glamour, Nov. 6 set the tone for a weekend rooted in Black excellence.
Award-winning writer, producer and director Ryan Coogler walks the red carpet of the 15th annual Café Mocha Salute THEM Awards at Howard Theatre on Nov. 6, later taking home the I Aspire Global Impact Award. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Of the eight honorees awarded on Thursday included: award-winning actresses Marsai Martin and Whitfield; Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Kenny Lattimore; Edna Kane Williams, executive vice president and chief diversity officer at AARP; Ben’s Chilli Bowl co-founder Virginia Ali; D.C. “Spice Girl” and entrepreneur Angel Gregorio; and award-winning writer, producer and director Ryan Coogler, who took home the I Aspire Global Impact Award.
Additional influencers touted in the film festival lineup included actors Lauren E. Banks, Keith D. Robinson, and Morehouse College alumni Dasan Frazier, all of whom celebrated the value of Black spaces and the ancestral prowess of resistance in storytelling.
“In a very specific time in this country where Black stories are being oppressed, suppressed and ignored, I think it’s really important that we invest in ourselves, and HBCU First Look is doing that,” Banks, a 2013 graduate of Howard University, told The Informer. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the undergrad filmmakers are up to… what those stories are that come from the imaginations of those who are not so jaded by society.”
For Martin, who served as creative ambassador of the HFLFF, the celebratory weekend was about more than a moment of honor, but a movement towards a better future with the guide on how to achieve it.
“We rise higher when we rise together. Using your connections, your voice, your gifts to help each other, that is the real work,” Martin told the room during her acceptance speech. “To everyone dreaming, creating, hustling and trying to find their place in all of this: Build your community, lean on your people…don’t be afraid to walk the path God is laying out for you…and I’m so excited for every path we’re about to create together.”
Hosted at Howard University, the HBCU First Look Film Festival delivered a prime exploration of the next class of Black creatives.
HBCU First Look Film Festival Creative Ambassador Marsai Martin (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Notable activities part of the two-day event included a Banks-led acting masterclass, career and craft conversations, film screenings and fireside chats, and the HBCU Joy Awards, hosted by Café Mocha’s own Loni Love, to name a few.
Beyond interactive and educational sessions, many of the celebrities donning the streets of Northwest were armed with words of encouragement and tools of the trade, much of which starts directly in Black communities, said Banks.
“The preservation is in our commitment and recommitment every year to our community,” the “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” actor explained. “It’s important as an alum to come back to be here with us…with anybody that’s in D.C.”
A third-generation Howard graduate, Whitfield echoed her fellow Bison as she lauded the formerly known “Chocolate City” as a pivotal platform to forge Black leadership and changemaking.
The Emmy Award winner noted the legacies of Roberta Flack, Debbie Allen, and Phylicia Rashad, who also previously served as Dean of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, in a case for her alma mater’s deep roots in barrier-breaking, set in a city “that Black people built.”
“We are right here, where…you just see the majesty and complexity of Black people, where we have established ourselves as a place of education and a place of excellence,” Whitfield said during Thursday’s red carpet. “For [the festival] to be here…you just feel an energy of innovation and a hope for the future–the future that we will come out of.”
According to Frazier and BET producer Chris Bivins, paving that future means Black creatives taking responsibility to drive the community forward.
While the Morehouse graduate plans to leverage his own career to positively “cultivate the culture,” Bivins said part of his role is to simply show up in support of up-and-coming producers and directors – including through moments like the HFLFF.
“It’s not about the glitz and the glam— it’s really about just [being] here and [being] a resource,” Bivins told The Informer. “We’re seeing so many young filmmakers, from Howard, from Morehouse, from all the HBCUs. It’s all about collaboration… and if you’re not collaborating, you’re missing out.”
Meanwhile, in the closing remarks of her acceptance speech, “Spice Girl” Gregorio offered a motivational tip to all youth looking to make their mark in the world.
“There are other young people in the space who feel like you’re working really, really hard and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to pay off,” said Gregorio, a Howard University alumna. “I promise you that there is an opportunity for something beautiful on the other side of that.”
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