On Sunday, Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network along with TV One presented the 2016 Triumph Awards at the Tabernacle Concert Hall in Atlanta. Hosted by actress and philanthropist Tichina Arnold, the Triumph Awards recognizes distinguished individuals and corporations in civil rights, the arts, entertainment, education, business and sports. The show was taped in front of a live audience and will air Sunday, October 2 at 7PM and 9PM ET on TV One.
Attorney Benjamin Crump was presented the “Chairman’s Award for Historic and Transformative Service” by Clifton Powell (Saints and Sinners); Larenz Tate (House of Lies) presented the “Triumphant Man of the Year” award to Jermaine Dupri; The “Triumphant Woman of the Year” went to FedEx executive Gina F. Adams, who was introduced by legendary singer Dionne Warwick; actor and recording artist Derek “Fonzworth Bentley” Watkins was on hand to present the “President’s Award for Service and Humanitarian Efforts” to Sean “Diddy” Combs (who was not in attendance); Tim Murphy of Mastercard accepted the honor of “Corporate Partner of the Year Award;” and the final award of the evening was the “Activism in the Arts Award” presented to Spike Lee by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vietta Johnson,President of Spelman College Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell and actress Teyonah Parris.
Performers included gospel artist Jekalyn Carr, V. Bozeman, Nick Cannon, BJ the Chicago Kid, the James Brown Academy of Music Pupils, Joe, Eric Benet, Juan and Deborah Joy Winans, and Fantasia. Tichina Arnold, JB Smoove, Carl Payne, Erica Ash and Teyonah Parris also joined forces to perform a “Spike Lee Joint Medley,” a hilarious musical tribute.
Additional appearances by Marc Lamont Hill, Dondre Whitfield, Kandi Burruss, Terri J. Vaughn, Pooch Hall, Denise Boutte, Ebony Steele, Angel McCoughtry; the “Mothers of the Movement;” Gwen Carr (mother of Eric Garner), Lesley McSpadden (mother of Mike Brown) and Sybrina Fulton (mother of Trayvon Martin); and Georgia State House Representative Erica Thomas.
The 2016 Triumph Awards are produced by Bart Phillips of Sunseeker Entertainment. Eric Tomosunas and Keith Neal serve as Executive Producer for Swirl Films. Robyn Green Arrington is Executive in Charge of Production. Lamar Chase serves as Producer and D’Angela Proctor is Head of Original Programing and Production for TV One.
For more information about The Triumph Awards visit the network’s companion website at www.tvone.tv. TV One viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram andFacebook (@tvonetv) using the hashtag #TriumphAwards and catch clips and promos on TV One’sYouTube Channel.
