The second annual Philadelphia Tribune’s Christopher J. Perry/Carter G. Woodson Black History Awards Luncheon served as both a notable learning experience and networking opportunity for the 400 guests this week at the venerable Union League. Daniel J. Hilferty Jr., President/CEO, Independence Blue Cross and Michael A. Rashid, president/CEO, AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies co-hosted the informative program covering key points in Philadelphia's African-American history.

The Philadelphia Tribune was established in 1884 by Christopher J. Perry (1854-1920), a pioneering Black businessman who championed racial equality. The Tribune is recognized as the oldest continuously published African American newspaper in the nation.

Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson (1875–1950) launched Negro History Week in 1926 as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of Black people throughout American history. Since 1976, the week has expanded to Black History Month.

“We celebrate the 103rd anniversary of the NAACP, the 107th anniversary of Bright Hope Baptist Church, the 100th anniversary of the Seventh Day Adventists at 15th and Christian Streets and the 128th anniversary of The Philadelphia Tribune,” said Robert W. Bogle, president and CEO of The Philadelphia Tribune.

“Black History Month, which started out as a week, and is now a month and I'd like to suggest that every day is a Black history day in Philadelphia and in the United States of America,” remarked Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “Let us never forget our past, nor the expectation of a glorious future ahead of us for African Americans.”

Founded during the Civil War in 1862, the Union League's mission was to highlight the policies of Abraham Lincoln. During the latter decades of the 20th century, the League resolved its issues with minorities and women, and now boasts a diverse membership. It was a matter that keynote speaker speaker, H. Patrick Swygert, President Emeritus Howard University, recalled from his boyhood days in the city. “Kater Street was not six and a half blocks from Lincoln Hall here in the Union League, it was a universe away, because the idea and the notion that we might have the opportunity to meet today to enjoy each other's company and celebrate what is good about this great nation was unthinkable when I was a youngster in South Philadelphia,” said Swygert.

“The honorees today have made significant history, not only in our city, but in the nation,” said Rashid as Bogle presented History Makers Awards Episcopal Reverend Canon Thomas W. S. Logan, Pulitzer prize winning newspaper columnist Acel Moore and Radio One co-founder Cathy Hughes.

Father Logan, who is just weeks away from his 100th birthday, demonstrated his longevity when he spoke of horse drawn buggies circling City Hall. Moore reflected his longtime news roots: “Being able to live some of the history that has been announced today is significant. In the past few weeks, though, there have been some history makers that have gone too soon, from Fatimah Ali, to Whitney Houston, to others not as well know but to many of us as equally precious.” A visibly touched Hughes credited the Delaware Valley region as an important start to her career. “I'm grateful,” said Hughes as she held her award. “I'm honored. I live in DC, but I'm a Philadelphia girl.”

Contact Tribune Staff Writer Bobbi Booker at (215) 893-5749 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) President Sarah J. Glover thanked everyone, on behalf of the PABJ Board, for an amazing show of support for the sold out 2012 PABJ 7th Annual Awards Ceremony. The organization’s signature event took place at WHYY TV Studio in Center City on Saturday May 19.

Distinguished 2011 PABJ honorees were: Fatimah Ali, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, WURD 900AM (posthumously); Sarah Hoye, Journalist of the Year – Online, CNN; Jericka Duncan, Journalist of the Year – Broadcast, CBS3; Phillip Dixon, Trailblazer Award, formerly of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Howard University; and Todd Bernstein, Community Service Award, Global Citizen/MLK Day of Service. A very special highlight of the evening was the

presentation of videos shared by each recipient which provided an in-depth look at their professional achievements as well as their personal interest.

This year’s PABJ scholarship winners are: Derrick Q. Lewis, a journalism major at Temple University and aspiring broadcast journalist, and Brianna Taylor, a senior at Absegami High School in Galloway Township, N.J., who plans to study journalism at Hampton University in the fall. Both will receive scholarships to further their education.

Elmer Smith, renowned and retired columnist from The Philadelphia Daily News, served as master of ceremonies. Smith said, “The remarks by Marc Lamont Hill, this year’s special guest speaker and host of the nationally syndicated television show “Our World With Black Enterprise,” were a call to young journalists.

For me, the tribute to Fatima Ali was most moving. She was a respected journalist who I worked with at The Philadelphia Daily News and WHAT-AM Radio,” Smith said. He also noted how Ali’s family acknowledged how her late husband and broadcast journalist, Brahin Ahmaddiya, had helped her break into the field of journalism.

Ali’s (formerly Susan Hughes) sudden death at age 56 in January was a shocking loss. I spoke with her mother, Mrs. Mary Hughes who accepted the award on her daughter’s behalf. She helps you understand the source of Fatima’s tremendous fortitude. Mrs. Hughes stressed, “As my daughter grew as a journalist, she also grew as a person. I am so proud that she will not only be remembered as an exceptional journalist but also as an outspoken activist for women and the homeless.” Hughes also credited the PABJ for opening the doors for Fatima and other aspiring, young black journalists, mentoring, and providing professional development.

Among the hosts of relatives attending the ceremony to pay tribute to Fatimah were: her father, Dr. Deurward Hughes and his wife Terri Kriedman who traveled from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; one of her two sisters Diane Webster from northern New Jersey and her eldest daughter, Arielle Hughes.

Duncan joined CBS3 and the CW Philly’s Eyewitness team in 2010 as a general assignment reporter. She quickly became one of the city’s most recognizable reporters and has covered news ranging from Hurricane Irene to exclusive interviews for the story about three mentally challenged adults held captive in a basement. Before coming to Philadelphia, Duncan was a reporter for WIVB-TV, the CBS station in Buffalo, where she had been on air since 2007. Previously, she was an anchor/reporter for WETM, the NBC station in Elmira, N.Y.

Duncan grew up in newsrooms shadowing her father, Ronnie Duncan, a popular sports anchor in Huntsville, Ala. She received a New York State Broadcasters Association Award for

Best Spot News Coverage in 2007 and a local Emmy Award in the Best Morning Show category for winter-storm coverage in 2008.

Hoye joined CNN in 2010 as an all-platform journalist based in Philadelphia, covering regional assignments and breaking news. She has reported on several prominent national stories, most recently, the Penn State scandal, the disabled adults held captive in a basement, Philadelphia’s violent teen mobs and the Catholic priest sex scandal. She was among CNN’s first team on the ground during the Gulf oil spill, which earned the company the prestigious 2011 Peabody Award.

In 2008, Hoye was named Emerging Journalist of The Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. She previously worked at the Tampa Tribune/WFLA News Channel 8, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Dixon is an award-winning journalist, editor and educator who has made his mark in the industry for more than three decades. He held top leadership positions at The Philadelphia Inquirer as a reporter, assistant city editor, city editor, deputy suburban editor and its first Black managing editor. He was on the team of Inquirer reporters that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for coverage of the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. He was an instructor in the first Acel Moore High School Journalism Project. Dixon also worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. In 2002, he joined the faculty at Howard University as chairman of the journalism department. He retired in 2011.

Bernstein, president of Global Citizen, has dedicated his career to public service. He has had a tremendously positive on the entire community. Bernstein is founder the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King of Day of Service, which mobilized more than 109,000 people this year to participate in community volunteer programs. The MLK Day of Service involves a broad spectrum of projects, including cleaning up neighborhoods, sprucing up schools and empowering young people. Bernstein also founded MLK365, which transformed the King Day of Service into a year-round civic engagement initiative. This program provides volunteer opportunities, educational programs and community partnerships across the region. He has also adopted a project to restore historic Eden Cemetery, the oldest Black public cemetery in the United States, to its former prominence. In January, Bernstein was honored at the White House by President Obama as a “Champion of Change” for his outstanding community service.

Among other distinguished journalists attending the awards ceremony were National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Gregory H. Lee Jr.; Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and history maker, Acel Moore and his wife; and outstanding broadcast journalist and columnist, Linda Wright Moore.

Proceeds from the awards banquet support PABJ’s scholarship program and its year-round

community activities. For more information, visit www.pabj.org.

Congratulations and vey best wishes to renowned journalist Elmer Smith. Smith was recognized for his years in the newspaper industry on Friday at the Sheraton Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia by a host of family, friends, and colleagues.

Profits from the dinner, by Smith’s request, will be contributed to the Brandywine Print Workshop. He is the board chairman there. Fellow board members in attendance included: Dr. Lorraine Brown Long, Dr. Marie L. Young; PABJ members, Melanie Burney, Chris Murray, Germaine Edwards, Rod Hicks, Joe Davidson, Annette John-Hall, Michael Days, Acel Moore and his wife, Linda Wright-Moore. Also attending were Smith’s daughter, Cheryl Smith Arnold, grandson Ashley Arnold, Judge John Braxton and Linda Braxton, Crystal Jacobs, Sandra Dungee Glenn, Thera Martin Milling, Velma Goode, Carole Green, Marcia Pena Cummings, Anne Frazier, Alma Goodwyn, Dorothy Sumners Rush and Alicia Perkins.