On the Saturday before Labor Day, Atlantans proved that the city’s nickname “Hotlanta” is appropriate. The Woodruff Arts Center in conjunction with The Collective Renaissance Guild and the Andrew Young Foundation brought together civil rights leaders and contemporary powerhouses to dialogue about the future of leadership and social activism in the African American community. The result: The Power Generation Conference 2009 was a historic and moving culmination of icons — past and present — acknowledging the importance of contributions already made and promising to increase their efforts to address social ills.

Ludacris and Rev. Joseph E. Lowery presented Jamie Foxx with the CRG’s prestigious Phoenix Award. Onlookers erupted in laughter when Rev. Lowery complimented Foxx for his extraordinary talent, particularly his Oscar-winning portrayal of R&B great, Ray Charles, but counseled the former “In Living Color” star about his use of profanity and sexual innuendo. “I do want to talk to you about one or two of your raps. And that BET performance, I'll pray for you. You don’t need to embellish your gifts … you detract from the message [when you contaminate it with cursing], ” said the 87-year-old former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

CRG’s mission is to expose, promote and infuse the arts, philanthropy and social responsibility into the cultural landscape of the Power Generation (aka Gen-X or the hip-hop generation), while educating and providing models for subsequent generations. –roz edward blog comments powered by Disqus