Bill Text: MS SC564 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognize Pan African Film & Arts Festival for naming "Rising Star" Award for Vicksburg native Beah Richards.
Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2012-03-05 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC564 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2012-SC564-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Hopson
Senate Concurrent Resolution 564
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SALUTING 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 BEAH RICHARDS.
WHEREAS, the 20th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival is being held in Los Angeles, California, on February 9-20, 2012. 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, Actress Meagan Good will be honored with the "Beah Richards Rising Star Award" by the Pan African Film & Arts Festival. Miss Good rose to fame in the family drama "Eve's Bayou" with Samuel L. Jackson. Today, she is one of the most sought-after actresses with a string of film credits, including "Jumping the Broom," "The Unborn," "The Love Guru," "35 & Ticking," "Video Girl," as well as fan favorites "Stomp the Yard" and "You Got Served." Good will appear in the film adaptation of "Think Like a Man," based on Radio Host Steve Harvey's best-selling book; and
WHEREAS, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, America's largest and most prestigious Black Film and Arts Festival, is in its 20th 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, 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 Generations, 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 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 occasion.
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.
