Society`

EVENTS New York’s UNCF raises over $300K for HBCUs via “A Mind Is...”® Gala

By Audrey J. Bernard Society Editor

On Thursday, March 4, 2021, over 350 guests participated in the New York United Negro College Fund‘s (UNCF) virtual gala to raise critical funds to help students earn college degrees at the organization’s annual “A Mind Is...”® Gala. The online fundraiser was one of many across the United States raising funds to help students realize their dreams of a college education via HBCUs and many other colleges and universities across the United States. The success of the event exceeded all expectations raising over $300,000 to help local students in need get to and through college at some of the nation’s most important resources for students of color—historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

This event is always one of New York’s finest but due to the pandemic, UNCF’s vital fundraising events have had to scale down and move online. However, the virtual production did not lose its luster and was fabulous as ever even raising the bar for others to follow!

Black magnificence prevailed from start to finish! Infinity Song, a group on the rise recently signed by Roc Nation, got the evening started with “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Michelle Miller, co-host of CBS This Morning: Saturday, kept the event moving without missing a beat! Miller’s team at CBS provided a great video featuring HBCU alumni Stacey Abrams. Kudos to the Taylor Company for the fabulous gala video featuring UNCF Scholar Sydney Green. Miller also introduced esteemed presenters Michael R. Bloomberg, Mellody Hobson, and Dr. Michael L. Lomax.

During the program filled with pomp and purpose, honorees were recognized for helping to advance educational opportunities for African Americans and their commitment to UNCF’s mission of uplifting HBCUs and empowering deserving, talented students to earn college degrees. This year’s honorees included: Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO, Chase Consumer Banking, received the Leadership Award; PepsiCo, was presented with the Corporate Partner Award; and Dennis M. Walcott, president and CEO, Queens Public Library, was recipient of the Shirley Chisholm Award for Community Service. “UNCF is the premier organization that is helping to level the playing field for all,” stated Walcott.

In his greeting to the audience, Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF referred to profound challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Honestly, I thought that UNCF and some of our HBCUs would be permanently damaged. But across our country, hundreds of thousands of donors, allies, and New Yorkers like you stepped up to ensure that our HBCUs and our students would have much needed support. Because we share a profound belief, namely, that “A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in.”®

The success of an event of this size draws from many supporters and sponsors. Sponsors for the UNCF “A Mind Is…” New York Gala included: Presenting Sponsor, JPMorgan Chase; Gold Sponsors —American Express, Bloomberg Philanthropies, BNY Mellon, Citi, Colgate, Delta Air Lines, PepsiCo, Taylor; Silver Sponsors— Foot Locker Foundation, Sony Corporation of America; Bronze Sponsors— AlixPartners, Penguin Random House, Schroders, Sourcepass, and Walton Family Foundation.

“We thank our sponsors for their support of this important and vital event,” Diego Aviles, vice president, development, UNCF said. “Especially during the pandemic, their critical efforts on our behalf will certainly help enable better futures for our students.” The exquisite evening ended with Grammy award-nominated singer and songwriter, Kenny Lattimore’s beautiful rendition of “Smile.”

To learn more about UNCF’s work in the Northeast, contact Diego Aviles at diego.aviles@uncf.org.

About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding near-

ly 20% of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students atover 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.

Honoree Thasunda Brown Duckett

Corporate Honoree PepsiCo Honoree Dennis Walcott

Presenter Mike Bloomberg

Presenter Mellody Hobson Performer Infinity Song

Mohammed Fayaz Lola Flash KT Pe Benito

Virtual Roundtable from the Brooklyn Museum: We Are Here

The Brooklyn Museum is continuing its online outreach to the community with a program: Virtual Roundable: We Are Here. This online event takes place Thursday, March 18, and you can register at a link from www. brooklynmuseum.org/ calendar, and pay what you wish. Celebrate the release of We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World, which profiles 50 influential artists and art entrepreneurs who are transforming the art world in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Compiled by Jasmin Hernandez, founder and editor in chief of the beloved art blog Gallery Gurls, We Are Here presents the bold and nuanced work of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) creators who are challenging the status quo in contemporary art.

In this program, three of the artists and changemakers featured in the book—Mohammed Fayaz, Lola Flash, and KT Pe Benito— join Director of Public Programs Lauren Argentina Zelaya to discuss the ways they imagine and create more radically inclusive worlds through their artistic practice. Register and pay what you wish to join us on Zoom and participate in a Q&A with the speakers after the talks. There will be a Questions & Answers session and you can add a signed copy of the book at checkout.

Featured artist, Mohammed Fayaz was born in 1990 in Brooklyn. He was raised in the Jamaica Estates and Middle Village neighborhoods in Queens. As a young adult, he channeled his creativity into art, with a particular focus on depicting people of color. Mohammed created early promotional materials for the group Papi Juice, which was founded to celebrate queer and trans people of color and became one of their core organizers. For more info see, https://www. thecut.com/2020/01/ they-seem-cool-illustrator-mohammed-fayaz.html

The next artist, Lola Flash uses photography to challenge stereotypes and offer new ways of seeing that transcend and interrogate gender, sexual, and racial norms. Flash works primarily in portraiture with a 4x5 film camera, engaging those who are often deemed invisible. In 2008, she was a resident at Light Work and in 2015, she participated at Alice Yard, in Trinidad. Flash has work included in important public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Brooklyn Museum. The Pen + Brush Gallery’s inaugural exhibition in 2018 featured a 30-year retrospective of her significant photographs. For more info see https:// www.queer-art.org/lola-flash

Finally, KT Pe Benito (they/them) is a time-based interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator, caregiver, and organizer navigating access and dismantling dominator culture. Their work in writing and art making is diaristic and concerns their late Filipino grandmother’s hypothesized existence.

KT Pe Benito earned a BFA from Cooper Union (2016), and was a recipient of the Osage Nation Higher Education Scholarship. They have exhibited their work internationally including group exhibitions in Glasgow, Scotland at the Gallery of Modern Art and David Dale Gallery along with exhibitions in New York City at Abrons Arts Center, Queens Museum, and Flux Factory. See more at https://ktpebenito.com

Access information is available at email: access@brooklynmuseum.org.