JOHN LEWIS
DANIEL PEARL
JUDY AND DENNIS SHEPARD
JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS
ATTN: ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
PRESS AND PHOTO ADVISORY
COVERAGE INVITED
PRESS CREDENTIALS REQUIRED
NOTE: ALL MEDIA MUST RSVP
WHO: Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
WHAT: ADL in Concert Against Hate with the National Symphony Orchestra
WHERE: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 8:30 p.m.
As the capstone to its 2013 centennial year celebration, the Anti-Defamation League will honor four heroes in the fight against hate and intolerance during the 19th annual ADL in Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The ADL concert recognizes individuals for extraordinary acts of courage in confronting intolerance, injustice, extremism and terrorism. More than 2,400 Washingtonians are expected to attend the program, which will feature celebrity appearances and narration by stage and screen actors Harvey Keitel, Omar Epps, Charles S. Dutton and Gabrielle Union, and performances by the National Symphony Orchestra with conductor Emil de Cou.
At the ADL In Concert Against Hate, inspiring musical selections are interspersed with uplifting stories of personal heroism and courage in the face against hatred, prejudice and extremism. Each of the four heroes will be asked to stand and be recognized by the audience after their story is vividly recounted. This year's Concert Patron Chairs are Joy and Ron Paul (Chairman, Eaglebank).
The honorees, who will receive the ADL Kay Family Award, include:
- U.S. Rep John Lewis, D-GA, who played a central role in the pivotal events of the Civil Rights era, from the Freedom Rides to the March on Washington, where, at 23 years old, he delivered one of the keynote addresses. Congressman Lewis risked his life repeatedly and bravely and with a philosophy of nonviolence, to achieve the dream of equality.
- Jose Antonio Vargas, the founder of Define American and an outspoken advocate for immigration reform. Vargas, who came to the U.S. from the Phillipines when he was 12 years old, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning former Washington Post reporter who, in 2011, wrote a personal essay in The New York Times in which he revealed for the first time publicly that he too was an "undocumented immigrant."
- Daniel Pearl (posthumous), the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and beheaded by a Pakistani terrorist group working with Al Qaeda just four months after the 9/11 terror attacks. A gifted reporter and journalist, Pearl, was covering the U.S. "war on terror" as the Journal's South Asia Bureau Chief when he was abducted in Pakistan and slain by anti-American Muslim extremists. The award will be accepted by his sister, Tamara Pearl.
- Judy and Dennis Shepard.For a more than a decade after their 21-year-old son Matthew's death in a tragic hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming, Judy and Dennis Shepard dedicated their lives to advocating for meaningful hate crimes legislation at the federal level. Matthew, a student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten and murdered by two men because he was gay. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act named in memory of their son and another victim of hate.
EDITORS NOTE: All media must RSVP to adlmedia@adl.org. A limited number of seats have been reserved for media at the 8:30 p.m. concert and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. The honorees will have media availability prior to the concert.
More information on ADL In Concert Against Hate, including a list of previous honorees, is available online at www.adlconcert.org.
Contact: Elise Jarvis (202) 261-4612
Todd Gutnick (212) 885-7755
adlmedia@adl.org
/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Nov. 13, 2013/
SOURCE Anti-Defamation League
