{"id":55670,"date":"2016-01-25T08:37:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=55670"},"modified":"2016-01-25T08:37:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:37:43","slug":"um-empire-star-slated-for-naacp-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/um-empire-star-slated-for-naacp-honors\/","title":{"rendered":"UM, ‘Empire’ Star Slated for NAACP Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apparently, some type of connection exists between the University of Mississippi and the Fox TV megahit drama \u201cEmpire.\u201d<\/p>\n

For starters, a UM broadcast communications specialist once interned for the popular show\u2019s casting director. Then, a former Ole Miss women\u2019s basketball star-turned-actress had a cameo appearance on the program\u2019s mid-season winter finale in December. Now, it appears representatives from UM\u2019s chapter of the NAACP and rising \u201cEmpire\u201d star Jussie Smollett will both be receiving the Chairman\u2019s Award when the 47th annual NAACP Image Awards airs Feb. 5.<\/p>\n

The university’s NAACP chapter is being recognized for its successful student-led campaign to remove the Mississippi state flag, which includes the Confederate battle emblem in its upper left corner, from campus.<\/p>\n

Smollett, who plays singer-songwriter Jamal Lyon on “Empire,” has been an activist for civil rights, HIV-AIDS awareness and social issues since he was 15. He is being honored for his volunteer work with such nonprofits as the Black AIDS Institute, Artists for a New South Africa and the United Negro College Fund. Recently, Smollett interrupted his performance at the BET Awards to speak out about the Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage.<\/p>\n

Other recipients of the Chairman\u2019s Award include the Justice League NYC, the University of Missouri Concerned Student 1950 Collective, Brittany \u201cBree\u201d Newsome, the Rev. Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III and the Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a rare privilege for me to present the NAACP Chairman\u2019s 2016 Award to an outstanding group of trailblazing leaders all under the age of 50 who have given voice and vision to the mantra that black lives matter,\u201d said Roslyn Brock, chairman of the NAACP national board of directors. \u201cThe five individuals and three organizations have raised awareness of social, educational and economic injustice from college campuses, church pulpits and the streets, and exemplify what this award symbolizes: \u2018Courage will not skip this generation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Image Awards will air live from the Pasadena Civic Center on TV One, beginning at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

To read more about the UM NAACP receiving the Chairman\u2019s Award, visit here. To read more about the 47th annual NAACP Image Awards, go to http:\/\/www.naacpimageawards.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently, some type of connection exists between the University of Mississippi and the Fox TV megahit drama \u201cEmpire.\u201d For starters, a UM broadcast communications specialist once interned for the popular show\u2019s casting director. Then, a former Ole Miss women\u2019s basketball star-turned-actress had a cameo appearance on the program\u2019s mid-season winter finale in December. Now, itRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUM, 'Empire' Star Slated for NAACP Honors - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/um-empire-star-slated-for-naacp-honors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UM, 'Empire' Star Slated for NAACP Honors - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Apparently, some type of connection exists between the University of Mississippi and the Fox TV megahit drama \u201cEmpire.\u201d For starters, a UM broadcast communications specialist once interned for the popular show\u2019s casting director. Then, a former Ole Miss women\u2019s basketball star-turned-actress had a cameo appearance on the program\u2019s mid-season winter finale in December. 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