On November 6th, The Root hosted The Root 100 5th Annual Awards Dinner at Espace in New York City. The annual event featured an insightful panel discussion with four of this year’s honorees, Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, Transgender activist Janet Mock, Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson and CNN Crossfire co-host Van Jones, who moderated the panel and also served as co-host of the dinner, along with CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin.
Each year, The Root, the #1 black news site in America, releases its The Root 100 (link to this year’s list), a list of the most influential African Americans ages 25–45 whose accomplishments in the arts, entertainment, politics, law, athletics, medicine, philanthropy and culture have truly set them apart.
Among those in attendance included event hosts Donna Byrd (Publisher, The Root), Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Editor-in-Chief, The Root), and Lyne Pitts (Managing Editor, The Root), Today Show co-host Tamron Hall, Newark mayor Ras Baraka, Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Ebony editor-in-Chief Mitzi Miller, Ebony senior editor Jamilah Lemiuex, White House senior member Yohannes Abraham, Executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans David Johns, Planned Parenthood executive director Lori Adelman, Claudia Gordon, Twitter’s Mark Luckie, author Peniel Joseph, Blood, Sweat & Heels star Demetria Lucas, Black Girls Rock founder Beverly Bond, Beats Music’s Bozoma Saint John, blogger Luvvie Ajayi, Pastor Michael Walrond, Amtrak’s Darlene Abubakar, Team Ignition CEO Danielle Austin, Infiniti’s Tom Cocolin, and more.
The Root 100 Awards Dinner – presented by Acela with Infiniti as a supporting sponsor – also featured a reception, dinner and awards presentation, which was followed by dancing with music provided by DJ Jon Blak.
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