Legendary basketball player, author, U.S. Cultural Ambassador, civil rights icon and social justice advocate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will receive the Los Angeles Press Club’s Legend Award. The ceremony will take place at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards Gala on December 3 at the Biltmore Hotel, downtown Los Angeles.
Following Mr. Abdul-Jabbar’s award presentation, he will sit down for an in-depth conversation with the 7 time Emmy Award winning sports commentator and renowned interviewer Roy Firestone in what promises to be the zenith of a momentous evening.
The Legend Award honors individuals within the Entertainment Industry for both their Lifetime Achievement and their Contributions to Society– artistically as well as on a humanist level.
“I am honored just to be in the presence of professional journalists because in these dark times of alternate truths from our elected officials and their immoral minions, you are America’s best hope for the voice of reason and truth to nurture our democratic ideals,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“We are honoring a man who is not only a basketball Titan but, a paragon of strength, courage, humility and social justice. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an institution in Los Angeles. He has contributed to the betterment of our society since arriving here,” said Press Club President Robert Kovacik.
On the same evening, New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, will be bestowed with the Los Angeles Press Club’s Inaugural Impact Award; Sesame Street’s Co-Creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett will receive the Club’s Distinguished Storyteller Award and Variety’s Co-Editors-in-Chief Claudia Eller and Andrew Wallenstein will be honored with the Club’s Luminary Award for Career Achievement.
The club established the NAEJ Awards in 2008 to recognize quality journalism in the fastest growing segment of the modern media revolution. It remains the sole award of its kind in the nation.
More information, tickets and sponsorship levels at www.LApressclub.org.
Photo credit: Dan Winters
About Los Angeles Press Club
The Los Angeles Press Club stands as an organization devoted to improving the spirit of journalism and journalists, raising the industry’s standards, strengthening its integrity and improving its reputation all for the benefit of the community at large. Serving the Southland since 1913, it is the only Southern California journalism group that speaks for all journalists working for daily and weekly newspapers, radio & TV, magazines, documentary films and online.
