Sonya's SpotLight Celebrity News Reviews and Interviews

The 19th Annual Trumpet Awards black-tie ceremony, sponsored by the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc. and hosted by Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker, and Niecy Nash, was another smash hit on the Atlanta entertainment scene. The event, held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, January 29, 2011 brought excitement and celebration to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Performers at the Trumpet Awards show included award-winning recording artists Eric Benét, Angela Brown featuring Richard Smallwood, James Ingram featuring poet Hank Stewart,Ledisi, Melvin M. Miller, NFL Players Choir featuring Donnie McClurkin & Myron Butler, SILK featuring Angie Stone, Kelly Price & Kandi Burruss , Stax Academy of Music All Stars, and Charlie Wilson.

Presenters for the Trumpet Awards included Johnny Gill; Cathy Hughes; Butch Lewis; Bernice King; Martin Luther King III; Roland S. Martin; Kenya Moore; Richard Parsons; Ambassador Andrew Young and others.

Jonathan Slocumb, the Christian comic, kept the audience in stitches during intermissions during The Trumpet Award ceremony. Slocumb also emceed High Tea with High Heels along with Delta Air Lines’ Sacarlet Pressley-Brown.

Events and activities during Trumpet Awards week included a Race Relations Symposium, a Prayer Breakfast and High Tea with High Heels, all at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. An induction of ten new footprints was placed into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, National Park Service.

The Annual Trumpet Awards was created to celebrate and honor African American achievers and those who support the African American experience. The Awards honor achievement in diverse fields including law, medicine, business, politics, community service, civil rights, sports and entertainment.

The following is a complete list of the 2011 TRUMPET AWARDS honorees:

Drs. Andre’ Churchwell, Keith Churchwell & Kevin Churchwell – Medicine
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. – Legal
Alfred C. Liggins III – Media
Paula Madison – Corporate Leadership
Judge Greg Mathis – Humanitarian
The O’Jays – Lifetime Achievement
Richard Roundtree – The Arts
Rev. Al Sharpton – Civil Rights
Chief Justice Georgina Wood – International
Harry E. Johnson, Sr. for The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Project – President’s Award

Founder, president and CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc., Xernona Clayton is the executive producer of the Trumpet Awards. She was the innovative mind behind the first Trumpet Awards held in 1993 and has built the Awards and Awards Foundation into a prestigious testimonial around the world. “We have come so far since we started this project and I am very grateful to those individuals who saw the vision and who have worked with us for nearly twenty years. We are overjoyed to bring this event to the world and to celebrate the achievements of those who had an impact on our community.”

The Trumpet Awards will air on Sunday, April 24th on TVOne.