With the Pride Awards on the horizon, I wanted to take a moment to share with you why this event is so important for the city of Charlotte. The Pride Awards is Pride Magazine’s annual gala where we celebrate achievements in the Queen City’s African American community. Words cannot express how excited we are to present the 2011 Pride Awards winners January 15, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Weekend. This year’s Pride Awards celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans with regard to cultural diversity and building social capital.
Pride Magazine has honored the achievements of African-Americans in our community with a black-tie gala called the Pride Awards for over 17 years. This prestigious event also serves as a fundraiser with a portion of the proceeds donated to a worthy cause. Since inception, over $200,000 has been donated to local nonprofits such as Samaritan’s Feet, The Battered Women’s Shelter, A Child’s Place, Goodwill and many more. Also, since 2008, each youth Pride Award winner has received a $5,000 academic scholarship.
When I look at this year’s winners, Cidney Holliday, Denise Howard and Eric Watson, I feel a sense of PRIDE. And I am confident that you will too. Cidney Holliday, our Youth Diversity Champion Award winner, is a jewel. This young lady is an honor student at South Mecklenburg High School who founded a service organization called P.E.A.R.L.S which stands for Preserving Equality, Academics, Relationships and Sisterhood. P.E.A.R.L.S. was designed by Holliday to promote sisterhood and unity at South Mecklenburg High School by bringing together girls of all ethnic backgrounds.
Then we have Denise Howard, this year’s Community Diversity Champion Award winner. Denise is a community outreach nurse practitioner who is co-chair of the Bloodless Medicine Committee, which she helped form in an effort to support patients whose personal and religious beliefs prevent them from receiving blood product transfusions. She is an amazing community advocate who is positively impacting our community.
It’s almost impossible to have a conversation about diversity without the name Eric Watson coming up. Eric, Vice President of the Office of Diversity & inclusion, Delhaize America/Food Lion, is our Corporate Diversity Champion. He has been working tirelessly in the diversity and inclusion arena for more than 17 years.
We hope that you will celebrate with us this year as we honor these deserving individuals on January 15. We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of Cidney, Denise and Eric and we believe Dr. King would be as well.
