Senate Concurrent Resolution 546

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SALUTING MR. AYUKO BABU AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER OF THE PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL ON THE OCCASION OF THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL AND FOR NAMING THEIR "RISING STAR" AWARD IN HONOR OF VICKSBURG NATIVE BEAH RICHARDS.

WHEREAS, the 21st Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) is being held in Los Angeles, California, on February 7-18, 2013. Co-produced by the Africa Channel, the Night of Tribute honors world-renowned actors, filmmakers, community leaders and fine artists for their contributions on stage, television, film, the arts and the community. PAFF's "Rising Star" awards are named after actors Canada Lee and Oscar-nominee Beah Richards, who pioneered roles for African-Americans in film, television and stage, and sparked civil rights activism in their work. A feature presentation during the Night of Tribute is the presentation of the Pan African Film & Arts Festival "Beah Richards Rising Star Award"; and

WHEREAS, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, America's largest and most prestigious Black Film and Arts Festival, is in its 21st year of screening more than 150 films made by and/or about people of African descent from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific, Europe and Canada. Pan African Film & Arts Festival holds the distinction of being the largest Black History Month event in America; and

WHEREAS, PAFF was founded in 1992 by award-winning actor Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon movie franchise), Emmy Award-winning actress Ja'Net DuBois (best known for her role as Willona in the television series Good Times, and Executive Director Ayuko Babu, an international legal dedicated to the promotion of ethnic and racial respect and tolerance through the exhibit of films, art and creative expression. The goal of PAFF is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images, help to destroy negative stereotypes and depict an expanded vision of the Black experience. PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times; and

WHEREAS, born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1920, actress Beah Richards studied at Dillard University in New Orleans before pursuing an acting career on-stage in New York City. She appeared in Louis S. Peterson's off-Broadway Play Take a Giant Step and in the film Adaptation in 1959. In 1965, she received a Tony nomination for her role as Sister Margaret in James Baldwin's play The Amen Corner, and two years later she received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. She continued playing matriarch characters in the feature films Hurry Sundown, In the Heat of the Night and The Great White Hope. During the 1970s, she took over for Lillian Randolph as Bill Cosby's mother on The Bill Cosby Show, played Aunt Ethel on Sanford and Son, and played several grandmotherly characters in made-for-TV movies. More television appearances followed in the 1980s, with recurring roles on Designing Women, Beauty and the Beast, Hill Street Blues, Roots, The Next Generation, and L.A. Law. In 1987, she received her first Emmy Award for playing Olive Varden on Frank's Place. She has also directed plays at the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center, appeared in her own one-woman show, and published several plays and novels, including the poetry collection "A Black Woman Speaks" and other poems. After playing the substance abuse counselor in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy, she made a bit of a comeback as Dr. Benton's (Eriq LaSalle) mother on the NBC medical drama ER and as Grandma Baby in Jonathan Demme's Beloved, based on the novel by Toni Morrison. She received an Emmy for her final television appearance as Gertrude Turner on the ABC drama The Practice; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we commend this elite arts event and organization for remembering a famous Mississippian in their awards presentation:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and salute Mr. Ayuko Babu as Executive Director and Founder of the Pan African Film & Arts Festival for naming their "Rising Star" Award in honor of Vicksburg native and international actress, the late Beah Richards, and extend our best wishes on this auspicious 21st Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival event.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Mr. Babu at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles, forwarded to the Mississippi Arts Commission, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.