26th Annual Trumpet Awards – Honorees, Presenters and Performers

ATLANTA (Jan. 17, 2018) – The 2018 Bounce Trumpet Awards, the prestigious annual event celebrating African-American achievements and contributions, will air exclusively on Bounce on Sunday, February 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
 
Larenz Tate, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award-winner and Power series star and Erica Ash, who appears on Survivor’s Remorse and stars in the upcoming BET legal drama series In Contempt, will serve as this year’s hosts. The gala black-tie ceremony will be held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on Sat. Jan. 20, 2018.
 
2018 Honorees announced today: Jermaine Dupri, Cameo, Richelieu Dennis, Tamika Mallory, Marley Dias, Dr. Lonnie Johnson and Rhyon Brown.
 
Performers at the event will include: Doug E. Fresh, Keke Wyatt, Anthony Hamilton, Bow Wow, Sir the Baptist, Arrested Development, Estelle, Bilal, Big Daddy Kane, V. Bozeman, Donald Lawrence, Major, We’ McDonald, Mr. TalkBox, Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling, Rhyon Brown, Michel’le, Stokley Williams and Carl Thomas.
 
Cee Lo Green, Omar Gooding and Angell Conwell will be among the presenters.
 
About this year’s honorees and awards:
·      GRAMMY®, Award-winning record producer, songwriter, hip-hop artist, Jermaine Dupri will receive The Music Innovation Award. Dupri has worked with Mariah Carey, Usher, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Anthony Hamilton and Alicia Keys. He founded So So Def Recordings in 1993 which launched the careers of Bow Wow, Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge and many others.
 
·      Founder of Sundial Brands and Essence Ventures Richelieu Dennis will be recognized with The Entrepreneur Award. Driven by his passion for entrepreneurship and sustained by a vision to fill unmet consumer needs, Dennis founded SheaMoisture in 1991 which has grown into one of the world’s most recognized beauty brands. Just this month, it was announced that Dennis’s Essence Ventures, LLC will acquire Essence Communications, Inc. which includes Essence Magazine.
 
·      Activist and National Co-Chair of the Women’s March, Tamika Mallory, will receive The Impact Award. In 2009, Mallory became the youngest Executive Director of the National Action Network (NAN). She gained recognition as one of four co-chairs of the Women’s March on Washington, which saw participation from five million people worldwide. Her role in the March landed her on the 2017 Time 100 Pioneers List and Fortune’s 2017 List of the World’s Greatest Leaders.
 
·      13-year old social activist behind the #1000BlackGirlBooks, Marley Dias, will be given The Trailblazer Award. Dias has appeared on Ellen, CBS This Morning and BET’s Black Girls Rock and recently became the youngest person featured on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List. 
 
·      Nuclear Engineer and Inventor Dr. Lonnie Johnson will be honored with The Innovator Award. Dr. Johnson holds more than 80 patents, including his most famous invention, the Super Soaker® water gun, which is one of the most popular toys in the world with sales approaching sales of $1 billion. 
 
·      Actress, singer and dancer Rhyon Brown will receive the Rising Star Award presented by McDonald’s.  Brown is best known for her role as Elizabeth “Lizzie” Sutton on the ABC Family series Lincoln Heights and has had recurring roles on That’s So Raven, Judging Amy and Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse. 
 
The Trumpet Awards were conceived to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of African Americans and those who have succeeded against great odds and inspired success in others. Founded in 1992 by American Civil Rights leader Xernona Clayton, The Trumpet Awards were acquired by Bounce in 2016. The list of prestigious honorees over its 26-year history includes Muhammad Ali, Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Stevie Wonder, The African-American Women of the United States Congress, Steve Harvey, Martin Luther King III, Janelle Monáe and Spike Lee. Visit www.trumpetawards.com for more information.