October 18, 2014 - October 24, 2014, The Afro-American
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o one could have anticipated the high time of celebration that evolved at the Oct. 7 breakfast at the Reginald Lewis Museum when the AFRO honored the Rev. Jamal H. Bryant with the John H. Murphy Sr. Award, only the second given. The Rev. Cecilia Williams Bryant, the honoree’s mother, regaled the audience with tales, beginning with his birth, sharing the assurances she received along the way that he’d be much more than she’d ever expected. Participants came from his church, the Empowerment Temple, as well as Bethel AME, the church in which he grew up, nurtured by the pastoring of his
Rev. Dr. A.C.D. Vaughn offered the invocation
Honoree, Rev. Dr. Jamal H. Bryant
grandfather, the late Harrison Bryant and his father, the Right Rev. John R. Bryant, senior bishop of the AME Church. Former colleagues from his days as national youth leader for the NAACP, news commentator Jeff Johnson and Kia Pearson, gave remarks and served as emcee respectively.
Rev. Bryant accepting the John H. Murphy Sr. Award from AFRO Publisher and CEO Jake Oliver The honoree and his mother, on the right, along with Linda Foy, BGE and Jake Oliver Kia Pearson, emcee
Journalist Jeff Johnson talked about how much he learned from Rev. Bryant
AFRO President Ben Phillips with Rev. Bryant
Photos by J.D. Howard
Betty Clark brought greetings from Bethel AME Church, the honoree’s home church AFRO editor Rev. Dorothy Boulware and Rev. Bryant
The Bryant Family
AFRO Baltimore Circulation Manager Sammy Graham and AFRO Archivist Ja-Zette Marshburn
Dr. Vaughn and daughter, Cassandra Fox
The thousands of visitors to the annual Baltimore Book Festival, this year held Sept. 28, at the Inner Harbor, downtown, attest to the love for the written word and the people who write them. It’s one of those times when Baltimore is one city and everyone finds something to their liking, even the youngest residents.
Author Norwood Holland
Author Vernell Chapman
Dr. Bryant and Dr. Sandra Conner
Author Teresa E. Mack
Author Robert Blake Whitehall There was something for every age and reading interest
Caprece Jackson-Garrett and Emelda DeCoteau
Choreographer and Author Bill T. Jones
Apostle Dr. June H. Lawrence
Author Claudia Dobson-Largie
Koli Tengella and his twins, Omage and Nkosi
The AFRO was there
Cartoonist KAL
Beverly Wimbish-Jackson and grandson Sage Jackson
Author J. A. Rollins
People are attentive as they listen to a guest speaker
Reading in Baltimore is not complete without the Enoch Pratt Library participating Author Curtis Black Photos by Anderson Ward
Author John B. Barkowiak Jr.
Author Angela Brown Ware
Author Benjamin and Susan Hemme from Philadelphia
Baltimore Artist Martha Dougherty