70 THE QUEENS COURIER • BLACK HISTORY MONTH • FEBRUARY 21, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
black history month
Borough Hall celebration of Black History Month this Tues.
Borough President Melinda Katz
and the African American Heritage
Committee will host their annual Black
History Month Celebration on Tuesday,
Feb. 26, at Queens Borough Hall in Kew
Gardens.
Th e program is replete with cultural
performances, academic scholarship
awards, honors for civic-minded community
members and more.
“Black history is American history, and
Black History Month is an important
recognition of countless groundbreaking
achievements and impacts made across
every imaginable fi eld and industry,”
Katz said. “Black History Month is also
a time to refl ect on the idea that we are
all human beings deserving of dignity,
respect, equal opportunities and fair
treatment.”
Th e celebration, to be held inside
the Helen Marshall Cultural Center
at Queens Borough Hall, will feature
a number of cultural performances,
including a dance routine by members of
the Edge School of the Arts in Laurelton.
Performers from Get Empowered! will
close the program with a pair of Afro-
Brazilian dances, the capoeira and samba.
Katz will also present more than a dozen
high school seniors with college scholarships
of $1,000 each. More than 150
Queens students applied for a scholarship
through the African American
Heritage Scholarship Competition, with
the entrants being judged on their academic
and civic achievement and the quality of
their written submissions as to what Black
History Month means to them.
Th e winning students will be selected
by the African American Heritage
Committee.
Th e keynote address will be given by
Primetime Emmy Award-nominated
April Simpson — Borough
President Award
President of Queensbridge Houses
Residents Association, April Simpson
has resided in Long Island City more
of her life. Since 2013, she has served
as the President of the Queensbridge
Houses Tenant Association. In this
role, Simpson has advocated for residents
at Queensbridge. She plays
the role of liaison between residents,
management and NYCHA.
She strives to bridge the gap between
youth and seniors as well. Simpson
wants to advocate for positive
change in the development of programs.
Simpson studied social work
at York College. She plays an important
role as an active member of several
community groups and civil
rights organizations. This includes
the New York City Department of
Youth and Community Development
Neighborhood Advisory Board, the
NAACP and the Perkins Advisory
Board at LaGuardia Community
College. She looks to partner with
other organizations to uplift, empower
and encourage youth. Simpson
strives to expand positively on
human and civil rights for all those
living in public housing. She continues
to be a liaison between tenants/
residents and management on providing
services for her community.
She has implemented programs for
ex-felons and the LGBT community.
She wants to expand the mindset
of human beings and encourage them
to think “outside the box” of living in
public housing.
Cynthia Marie Horner
— Journalism Award
Respected journalist, CEO and
publisher Cynthia Marie Horner has
renowned accomplishments recognized
throughout the entertainment
industry. During her tenure as a top
editor for popular newsstand magazines
such as Right On!, she has
been responsible for creating and
producing close to 600 issues of magazines
appealing to the pop, urban
and Latino markets. She has brought
several superstars to public attention
with her writing, such as the
late Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson
and the late Prince. Acclaimed as the
most preeminent hip-hop journalist,
she breaks major news features on the
entertainment industry’s most popular
celebrities, including Beyoncé,
the Kardashians, Kanye West. Horner
wears many hats, one of them being
a philanthropist. She sits on the
boards for Body Sculpt of New York
City Inc., The Foundation Of Youth
Development, Inc. and the Universal
Hip Hop Museum. She graduated
from Seaver College of Pepperdine
University. She was recently honored
by Tiny Tequila’s as a member
of The Class of Greatness and
received recognition by the Borough
of Brooklyn’s Leaders of Tomorrow
Program. Horner makes frequent
television and radio appearances. In
2017-2018, she appeared on the Reelz
Channel, ABC News 20/20, Arise
TV, The Tom Joyner Morning Show,
Sirius XM Radio, VH1’s The Black
Ink Crew, TV One’s Unsung and
other national programs. She continues
to spread her message of her love
for literacy to hundreds of thousands
of fans who admire the strides she has
made in entertainment journalism.
Dennis M. Walcott —
Education Award
President and CEO of Queens
Library Dennis M. Walcott runs one
of the nation’s largest library systems,
with 65 locations in the most
diverse urban area in the world. As
the former Chancellor of the New
York City public school system and a
deputy mayor under Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg, he has had a lifelong
career in public education and
human services. He has made significant
strides in the East Ramapo
School District in Rockland County,
where he initiated a series of reforms
to ensure the equitable delivery of service
and opportunity to the district’s
students. In 2014, Dennis was named
Honorary Distinguished Fellow at
the University of the West Indies,
and became an adjunct professor at
The Fordham Center for Nonprofit
Leaders at Fordham University. As
Deputy Mayor for Education and
Community Development from 2002
to 2013, he oversaw and coordinated
the operations of the Department
of Education, the New York City
Housing Authority, the Department
of Youth and Community
Development and the Mayor’s Office
of Adult Education. He received a
bachelor’s degree in sociology,
and a master’s degree in education
from the University of Bridgeport
in Connecticut. In 1980, he earned
another master’s in social work from
Fordham University. Originally born
in Queens, he and his wife Denise
now live in the borough, have four
adult children and are grandparents.
Donna Edge-Rachell —
Arts & Culture Award.
Emmy Award winning television producer
Donna Edge-Rachell began her
career as a dancer, studying at New
York’s famed High School of Performing
Arts on scholarship. She toured with
the Eglevsky Ballet’s “Th e Nutcracker”,
and learned from elite dancers and
choreographers like Michael Peters,
Ben Vereen and Chuck Davis at the
Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center
in Jamaica, Queens. Aft er graduating
from Wesleyan University with a
degree in Psychology, she had short
stints in advertising and promotions at
Young & Rubicam, administration at
Actor’s Equity and worked as Director
of Distribution for Janus Films. Th is
ultimately led to her becoming a producer
for Th e Voyager Company’s critically
acclaimed Criterion Collection,
where she worked with directors such
as Spike Lee, John Singleton and Martin
Scorsese. Over the years, she has worked
in television, working with stars such as
Martha Stewart, Lee Grant, Mona Scott
Young, T.I., Monica Brown, Letoya
Luckett, Waka Flocka and Funkmaster
Flex. Edge-Rachell has produced for
MTV, VH1, OWN, WE, TLC, CBS,
Lifetime, A&E, ESPN, CMT and PBS.
She has three Emmys and fi ve nominations.
She stays connected to dance
as a Co-Owner and Business Manager
of Th e Edge School of the Arts in
Laurelton, Queens. She enjoys mentoring
students, and passing her love of
dance on to the next generation. She
and her husband Jay Rachell reside in
Rockaway Beach, Queens.
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