You are Cordially Invited to a Gala
Celebrating and Commemorating
the 20th Anniversary of the Brown Foundation
and the 54th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Saturday, May 17, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Ramada Inn Regency Ballroom
6th and Jefferson • Topeka, Kansas

Banquet Reservation: $30
Dressy Attire
RSVP by Wednesday, May 14, 2008
(get the RSVP form)

Celebrity co-hosts
Richard Roundtree
Crystal Thornton

Musical Selections
The M.R. Tribute Band
David Basse, Greg Carroll, Todd Wilkinson & OJT

Oleta Adams
Grammy Nominated Recording Artist

Keynote Speaker
Theodore Shaw
Former Director Counsel, NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund

For more information contact the
Brown Foundation at
(785) 235-3939 or brownfound@juno.com

Get the RSVP form

Celebrity co-host Richard Roundtree received international fame when Gordon Parks chose him to star as John Shaft, private detective and supercop hero in the feature film "Shaft." That role catapulted Roundtree to one of the hottest new actors on the scene. He continued the franchise with "Shaft's Big Score," "Shaft in Africa," and the television series, "Shaft." His recent work in the Warner Bros. Film "Speed Racer" with John Goodman and Susan Sarandon, adds to his resume of over 70 feature films. He is recipient of an NAACP Image Award and a Peabody for his documentary narration, on the PBS project "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow."

Celebrity co-host Crystal Thornton is an award-winning journalist and former 2002-2005 co-anchor for WGHP-TV News in North Carolina. She produced the weekly franchise, "What's Right with Our Schools." Her awards are numerous including the Inaugural "Women of Faith" Award and the American Heart Association's Paul R. Ellis Media Award which she received for her series devoted to the awareness of how women are affected by Heart Disease. She is the daughter and niece of Topeka natives, Carol Kay Nutter and Victoria Benson, whose mother was a plaintiff in the Brown case on their behalf.

Musician David Basse, for the past twenty years, has been at the forefront of the music scene in the legendary jazz capitol that is Kansas City. He carries on a tradition started by icons Charlie Parker, Count Basie and Jay McShann. David Basse has played his special kind of Kansas City jazz at concerts and private parties throughout the world. It has been said of him - "I love the soul that is your voice" Maya Angelou.

Muscian Oleta Adams runaway success began with her 1990 debut platinum selling album Circle of One and the impassioned hit single "Get Here" (that became an unofficial anthem of the 1991 Gulf War). She has inspired growing legions of fans in the U.S. and Europe via songs that draw from her roots in gospel, crossing into the realm of soul, R&B, urban, and popular music. Her talent has been repeatedly acknowledged with four Grammy nominations.

Keynote speaker Theodore Shaw is noted for his work as Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He is one of only five people to hold this position since it's founding under Thurgood Marshall. He was lead counsel in a coalition representing African American and Latino students in the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action admission case. Ted serves on the Legal Advisory Network of the European Roma Right Council based in Budapest, Hungary. He recently joined the faculty of Columbia University Law School in New York City.

Get the RSVP form

Co-Sponsored by the Brown Foundation,
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site and Washburn University