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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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W.E.B. DuBois Corporate
Campaign:
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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