At the upcoming “Power 100” gala, Chicago-based Ebony magazine not only will toast the 100 most powerful and influential African-Americans for 2013, but also honor Motown founder Berry Gordy. The event — being held at New York’s Lincoln Center on Nov. 4 — will feature Gordy being persented with a lifetime achievement award and will include musical tributes from the Jackson family, plus the cast of “Motown The Musical,” the hit Broadway show based on Gordy’s life and career — set to open in Chicago next spring. Gordy originally signed the group — then known as the Jackson 5, led by the late Michael Jackson, when he was not yet a teenager.
Among those named among the “Power 100” are President Obama, Kerry Washington, Harry Belafonte, Michael B. Jordan (star of “Fruitvale”), Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Marian Wright Edelman, “The Butler” director Lee Daniels and Nick Cannon, who also will serve as the evening’s emcee.
Ebony also unveiled it’s upcoming December/January issue (our the week of Nov. 4) — featuring two separate “dueling” covers — an expected matchup of two likely best actor Academy Award nominees this year: Chiwetel Ejiojor of “12 Years a Slave,” and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker of “Lee Daniel’s The Butler.”
