Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is pleased to announce the honorees for his 11thAnnual “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” Black History Month celebration which will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts, 35 Winans Street, East Orange, NJ. The event celebrates and honors the contributions and legacies of African Americans to history and society across New Jersey and the nation.
This year’s honorees are six-time GRAMMY® ® Award winner and East Orange native, Dionne Warwick, and retired New Jersey State Senator Ronald L. Rice. The event emcee is ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Toni Yates.
“A single month during the year is not enough time to truly celebrate, honor, and commemorate the enormous contributions of Black Americans throughout our country’s history,” said Sen. Menendez. “From civil rights activists, to engineers, musicians, and leaders – there is a lot to be thankful for, and the best way to demonstrate true appreciation is by continuing to fight tirelessly to end inequality and racism in this country. Our responsibility is to be the shoulders our future generation stand on, just as we stand on the shoulders of giants like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.”
Dionne Warwick, six-time GRAMMY® ® Award winner, will be honored for her astounding voice and humanitarian actions throughout her 60-year career. Warwick has received the Lifetime Humanitarian award, SupportMusic Appreciation Award, and has been honored by the American Red Ribbon AIDS Foundation.
Retired NJ Senator, Ronald L. Rice will receive an honorary award for his extensive, life-long service to the State of New Jersey. Rice, the longest-serving Black representative in the New Jersey Senate, served the 28thLegislative District for 35 years from 1986 to 2022.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will also include performances by the Cicely L. Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts Choir. Moyo Kehinde, a Nigerian born singer and alumni of the Cicely L. Tyson School of Performing & Fine Arts, will perform the National Anthem.
“We are proud to join Senator Bob Menendez in celebrating and recognizing the significant impact and central role of African Americans in U.S. history. Our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the resilience, ingenuity, perseverance and intelligence of African American people,” said East Orange Mayor Ted R. Green. “East Orange is home to an exceptionally diverse group of people from the Black Diaspora who celebrate black excellence every single day. During this Black History Month, as I reflect on how much we have achieved standing upon the shoulders of giants like our own Dionne Warwick and Senator Ronald Rice, I also am reminded of how far we still have to go to fulfill the dreams of our ancestors.”
Also participating in the Black History Month Celebration are Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver who will deliver remarks and the Reverend Maria Crompton of Elmwood United Presbyterian Church of East Orange who will perform the invocation. The East Orange Public Safety Honor Guard will present the colors for the event and Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Bobbi and Haden Wilson of Caldwell, New Jersey.
Members of the public wishing to attend the event should RSVP HERE. Members of the press wishing to cover the event should RSVP to Jennifer_Morrill@menendez.senate.gov.
About Dionne Warwick
Six-time GRAMMY® ® Award winning music legend, DIONNE WARWICK is a cornerstone of American pop music and culture. Warwick’s career, which currently celebrates over 50 years, has established her as an international music icon and concert act. Over that time, she has earned 75 charted hit songs and sold over 100 million records. Warwick received the 2019 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at a special awards concert, “Grammy Salutes the Legends.”
She began singing professionally in 1961 after being discovered by a young songwriting team, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She had her first hit in 1962 with “Don’t Make Me Over.” Less than a decade later, she had released more than 18 consecutive Top 100 singles, including her classic Bacharach/David recordings, “Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Message to Michael,” “Promises Promises,” “A House is Not a Home,” “Alfie,” “Say a Little Prayer,” “This Girl’s in Love With You,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Reach Out For Me,” and the theme from “Valley of the Dolls. “Together, Warwick and her songwriting team of Burt Bacharach & Hal David, accumulated more than 30 hit singles, and close to 20 best-selling albums, during their first decade together.
About Sen. Ronald L. Rice
Senator Rice won his seat in a special election Nov. 18, 1986, for the unexpired term of the late John P. Caufield, who died on Aug. 24. Mr. Rice was sworn and took his seat Dec. 4, 1986. He was elected to a full term in 1987, and re-elected nine times.
Senator Rice has sponsored legislation in the areas of criminal justice, healthcare, affordable housing, tenant rights, employee rights and education.
The senator has been a Democratic County Committee member since 1976. He won the West Ward seat on the Newark City Council in 1982, and was re-elected in 1986, 1990 and 1994. In July 2002, he was appointed deputy mayor of Newark. Senator Rice is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and holder of Presidential and Navy Unit Citations. He was in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. He served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.
About Toni Yates
Toni Yates was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, where she graduated from Bishop Kenny High School. She is a proud Seminole, having graduated from Florida State University with a major in Communications. After working at news stations in Georgia and Virginia, Toni landed a General Assignment reporter job at WGAL in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She came to WABC after spending several years at WB 17 in Philadelphia, where she was promoted from weekend anchor-medical reporter to weekday anchor.
Toni has three children, Austyn, Alexis, and Gabriel. She lives in New Jersey, and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Through most of her career, Toni has been involved with the Girl Scouts.