Common, #MeToo’s Tarana Burke, MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid & More Honored At “Keepers Of The Dream” Awards
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: 2018 National Action Network’s Keepers of the Dream dinner at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in New York, NY, USA. (Photo by Aaron J. / RedCarpetImages.net for NAN)
Awards Dinner A Highlight Of National Action Network’s Annual Convention
Common said that while on the set of “Selma,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s contemporary gave him some advice that changed his life.
He said Ambassador Andrew Young asked him, ‘What are you willing to die for? Live for that.’ He said, ‘We were willing to die for justice, freedom and equality, so we lived for it.”
The Chicago conscious rapper was among a half dozen honorees who were lauded this week for their commitment to working towards the dream of Dr.King at the “Keepers of the Dream” awards Wednesday at the National Action Network’s annual convention in NYC.
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: 2018 National Action Network’s Keepers of the Dream dinner at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in New York, NY, USA. (Photo by Aaron J. / RedCarpetImages.net for NAN)
“That day, I went home and said, ‘Man, I gotta live more,” Common reflected. “People are calling me an activist, but I ain’t really living as an activist. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. I knew I was in a position with a platform, so I just started to seek out things. It’s amazing that when you take one step towards God, he takes two steps towards you.”
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: 2018 National Action Network’s Keepers of the Dream dinner at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in New York, NY, USA. (Photo by Aaron J. / RedCarpetImages.net for NAN)
Also honored was #MeToo founder and activist Tarana Burke, Richelieu Dennis, Essence Magazine’s new owner, billionaire Robert F. Smith, human rights activist Kerry Kennedy, Joy-Ann Reid of MSNBC, AT&T CEO John Donovan and the Rev. Charles E. Williams.
