FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Grason
Tel: 770.367.8378
email: info@youthofhonor.org
January 30, 2009
Actors Louis Gossett Jr. and Raven-Symone Provide YOHCAST Inte rviews to Inspire Youth
Atlanta, GA – The Youth of Honor Foundation was thril led to have been given the opportunity to be blessed with words of encour agement from Legendary Academy Award Winning Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. and Trumpet Pinnacle Award Winner, Singer, Dancer, and Actress Raven-Symone. In taped interviews this past weekend, while in Atlanta for the 2009 Tru mpet Awards, these two individuals shared their take on GETTING Y OH JUMP ON LIFE. ‘True happiness lies in helping people, and you don’t have to follow people going down the wrong path,’ said Raven. ‘Don ‘t do the wrong thing to justify yourself, you’re wasting your life.’ Ms. Symone has spent her entire life growing up in front of our eyes on The Cosby Show and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. She keeps her family around her a nd people who tell her the truth. She encourages everyone to ’see the goo d in mentors to help you be a better you.’
Mr. Gossett echoes that sentiment. He is certainly no stranger to drea ming big and living out that dream. With numerous blockbuster movie credi ts such as An Officer and a Gentleman and Tyler Perry’s 2007 Movie Daddy’ s Little Girls, Mr. Gossett is the true epitome of success. ‘You must hav e a roadmap for success,’ he said. ‘Man is subject to disappointment. The re are no more excuses guys. We have a new President. He is our new role model.’
You can tune into both YOHCAST interviews in their entirety one of two ways: You can view them directly on our homepage at http://www.youtho fhonor.org/ or you can visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube. com/yohcast We encourage you to even post a comment on our YouTube si te to be shared with youth around the world. Let’s face it. President Bar ack Obama has said it time and again throughout his campaign and even aft er he gave his oath of office on that monumental, historic Inauguration D ay, January 20th. He made it clear that ‘Change will come,’ but only afte r we join together and do our part. What better echo of his sentiments th an to have two generational trailblazers, Raven-Symone and Louis Gossett, Jr. simultaneously offering their messages of inspiration to today’s you th and future generations.
We encourage you to tune in NOW and be inspired.
The Youth of Honor Team
Actor Louis Gossett Jr. and Colette Phillips attend the 17th Annual Trumpet Awards at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on January 25, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Picture courtesy of WireImage. Click here for more!
From the Jewish Journal:
This week, actor Louis Gossett Jr. will fly to Washington, D.C., to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama, where he will celebrate with an inner circle of African American celebrities who campaigned for the president-elect. But in between those festivities, he will make a more personal stop — to deliver the toast at the National Inaugural Jewish Ball sponsored by Ohev Shalom — the National Synagogue, a thriving Modern Orthodox congregation in the capital.
Click here to see the full paper.
By Andrew Gans
07 Jan 2009
Stage and screen star Louis Gossett, Jr., who was seen in the Kennedy Center’s 2008 production of Fences, will be part of an upcoming tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Entitled “Raising the Roof!,” the Jan. 19 performance – the eve of the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama - at Boston’s Jordan Hall will feature actor Gossett as well as The Young People’s Chorus of New York City and the Boston Children’s Chorus.
The program is described as a “tapestry of words and music honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Francisco J. Nuñez, artistic director and founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, said in a statement, “We are delighted to be taking part in this annual tribute to Martin Luther King on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama. It is not only Dr. King’s birthday we are celebrating today, but his dream of all God’s children uniting together in brotherhood and our hopes and prayers for our nation under our new president.”
Gossett added, “It is the responsibility of every generation to raise the quality of life for the next one . . . This [event] is progress. This is great progress and a model for the rest of our nation.”
The show will air live at 7 PM ET in Boston; Washington, DC; Tampa; St. Petersburg; Phoenix; Cleveland; Miami; Ft. Lauderdale; Sacramento; Orlando; Daytona Beach; St. Louis and Pittsburgh. In New York, the show will air on WABC Jan. 25 at 1 PM ET.
Louis Gosset, Jr. has appeared on Broadway in Chicago, Murderous Angels, Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, My Sweet Charlie, The Zulu and the Zayda, Golden Boy, Tambourines to Glory, A Raisin in the Sun, The Desk Set and Take a Giant Step. Gossett won an Academy Award for his performance in “An Officer and a Gentleman.” Gossett also founded the Eracism Foundation in 2006, which seeks to “promote education and awareness of racism, ignorance and social apathy.”
For more information visit www.bostonchildrenschorus.org.
