FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FUND DINNER

54th Annual

Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner

Theme: "Facing The Rising Sun Of Our New Day Begun!"

May 3, 2009

5:00PM
Cobo Conference Center

Keynote Speaker:

Reverend Jesse L. Jackson,
Founder & President - RainbowPUSH Coalition

For ticket information please call (313) 871-2087

History

The Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner of the Detroit Branch NAACP was launched in April 1956 under the leadership of Branch President Edward M. Turner, Arthur L. Johnson and Dr. Lionel F. Swan, co-chairman. Today, The Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner is the Largest sit down dinner of its kind in the world. Serving approximately 10,000 guests with a first class meal, world-class entertainment, and some of the world’s renowned keynote address speakers.

In response to the direct appeals of Drs. Alfred Thomas, D.T. Burton, Lionel Swan and the Detroit Branch Officers, Turner, Johnson and M. Kelly Fritz, Branch Treasurer, 59 members of the Detroit Medical Society became the Freedom Fund Dinner's first 59 subscribers, thereby guaranteeing the success of this significant new venture. Members of the medical society had been called to a meeting in the Holiday Room of the Detroit's famed Gotham Hotel.

The Freedom Fund Dinner was founded in a period of renewed national hope and determination among Black Americans, even in the face of continuing racial violence and tragedy. The National Chairman of the NAACP, Dr. Channing H. Tobias, had called for the establishment of a one million dollar fighting fund for freedom.

In Detroit, housing segregation, job discrimination and police brutality against Blacks were fixed patterns in the city's way of life.

As the tentative plans for the Freedom Fund Dinner were being developed, a brutal racial killing took the life of Dr. Thomas Brewer, a prominent physician in Columbus, Georgia. Dr. Brewer's immediate family and close relatives were very active and well known in Detroit. In part, motivated by the tragic murder of Dr. Brewer, Black physicians as a group in Detroit came together to support the Detroit Branch NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner.

The first dinner (held at the Latin Quarter) was a magnificent success. At $100 per couple, 300 subscribers and 600 guests attended the dinner. Approximately, $30,000 was donated.

Beginning with Thurgood Marshall as the first keynote speaker, the Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner has brought to its platform a virtual constellation of distinguished speakers and entertainers, among them, Barbara Jordan, Roy Wilkins, Howard Thurman, Senator Edward Brooks, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, Governor Mario Cuomo, Senator Ted Kennedy, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Joint Chief of Staff, Chairman, General Colin Powell, Ron Brown, Kweisi Mfume, Lee Iaccoca, Sammy Davis, Jr., Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Dick Gregory, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Vice President Al Gore, President Bill Clinton, Danny Glover, Julian Bond,Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, Manning Marable, Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee, and Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

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Platinum $50,000

• Photo With Keynote Speaker
• 60-Second Video Shown At Dinner
• Two (2) Dais Seats WIth Keynote Speaker
• Spokesperson has opportunity to give 1- minute remarks
• Special recognition in Corporate Campaign video
• Five (5) Tables of 10 (Three (3) in Priority Seating)
• Website Link - Over 10,000 Visits Per Month
• Promotional materials for attendees
• Stand Alone Signage At Event
• Double Page Spread, preferred placement in Souvenir Journal
• Ten (10) Invitations To VIP Reception & President's Reception
• Recognition As Co-Sponsor Of President's Reception
• One Full Page Color Ad In Souvenir Journal
• Sponsorship Of Six (6) Youth Tables With Signage
• Video Credits
• Comcacst Cable Re-Broadcast

Diamond $35,000

• Photo With Keynote Speaker
• 60-Second Video Shown At Dinner
• Two (2) Dais Seats WIth Keynote Speaker
• Special recognition in Corporate Campaign video
• Four (4) Tables Of Ten (10) - Two (2) Of The Four (4) In Priority Seating
• Website Link - Over 10,000 Visits Per Month
• Banner Recognition
• Eight (8) Invitations To VIP Reception
• Eight (8) Invitations To President's Reception
• Recognition As Co-Sponsor Of President's Reception
• One Full Page Color Ad In Souvenir Journal
• Sponsorship Of Five (5) Youth Tables With Signage On Each Table
• Video Credits
• Comcacst Cable Re-Broadcast

Gold $25,000

• One (1) Dais Seat WIth Keynote Speaker
• Three (3) Tables Of Ten (10) - One (1) Of The Three (3) In Priority Seating
• Website Link - Over 10,000 Visits Per Month
• Banner Recognition
• Six (6) Invitations To VIP Reception
• Six (6) Invitations To President's Reception
• Recognition As Co-Sponsor Of President's Reception
• One Full Page Color Ad In Souvenir Journal
• Sponsorship Of Three (3) Youth Tables With Signage On Each Table
• Video Credits
• Comcacst Cable Re-Broadcast

Silver $15,000

• One (1) Dais Seat
• Two (2) Tables Of Ten (10)
• Banner Recognition
• Four (4) Invitations To VIP Reception
• Four (4) Invitations To President's Reception
• Recognition As Co-Sponsor Of President's Reception
• One Full Page Color Ad In Souvenir Journal
• Sponsorship Of Two (2) Youth Tables With Signage On Each Table
• Video Credits
• Comcacst Cable Re-Broadcast

Bronze $7,500

• One (1) Table Of Ten (10)
• Banner Recognition
• Two (2) Invitations To VIP Reception
• Two (2) Invitations To President's Reception
• One Full Page Black & White Ad In Souvenir Journal
• Sponsorship Of One (1) Youth Table With Signage On Each Table

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Keynote Speaker
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson,
Founder & President - RainbowPUSH Coalition

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2009 Awardees:

James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award:
Aretha Franklin,
Queen of Soul

Mary White Ovington Freedom & Justice Award:
Reverend Al Sharpton,
Founder & President - National Action Network

Ida B. Wells Freedom & Justice Award:
Reverend Edwin A. Rowe,
Pastor, Central United Methodist Church
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2009 Dinner Chairs:

General Chair:
Avinash N. Rachmale
Chief Executive Officer,
Lakeshore Engineering Services, Inc.
www.lakeshoreeng.com

General Co-Chair:
Alice G. Thompson
Chief Eexecutive Officer,
Black Family Development, Inc.
www.blackfamilydevelopment.org

General Co-Chair:
Willie Hampton
Labor Consultant

Corporate Chair:
Anthony F. Earley Jr.
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
DTE Energy
www.dteenergy.com

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