ADL 'Concert Against Hate' at Kennedy Center will Honor Four who Stood up to Confront Hatred and Bigotry

ADL 'Concert Against Hate' at Kennedy Center will Honor Four who Stood up to Confront Hatred and Bigotry

JOHN LEWIS

DANIEL PEARL

JUDY AND DENNIS SHEPARD

JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS

ATTN: ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

PRESS AND PHOTO ADVISORY

COVERAGE INVITED

PRESS CREDENTIALS REQUIRED

NOTE: ALL MEDIA MUST RSVP

WHO: Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

WHAT: ADL in Concert Against Hate with theNational Symphony Orchestra

WHERE: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 8:30 p.m.

As the capstone to its 2013 centennial year celebration, the Anti-Defamation League will honor four heroes in the fight against hate and intolerance during the 19(th) annual ADL in Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

The ADL concert recognizes individuals for extraordinary acts of courage in confronting intolerance, injustice, extremism and terrorism. More than 2,400 Washingtonians are expected to attend the program, which will feature celebrity appearances and narration by stage and screen actors Harvey Keitel, Omar Epps, Charles S. Dutton and Gabrielle Union, and performances by the National Symphony Orchestra with conductor Emil de Cou.

At the ADL In Concert Against Hate, inspiring musical selections are interspersed with uplifting stories of personal heroism and courage in the face against hatred, prejudice and extremism. Each of the four heroes will be asked to stand and be recognized by the audience after their story is vividly recounted. The 2013 Concert Patron Chairs are Joy and Ron Paul (Chairman, Eaglebank).

The honorees, who will receive the ADL Kay Family Award, include:


-- U.S. Rep John Lewis, D-GA, who played a central role in the pivotal
events of the Civil Rights era, from the Freedom Rides to the March on
Washington, where, at 23 years old, he delivered one of the keynote
addresses. Congressman Lewis risked his life repeatedly and bravely and
with a philosophy of nonviolence, to achieve the dream of equality.

-- Jose Antonio Vargas, the founder of Define American and an outspoken
advocate for immigration reform. Vargas, who came to the U.S. from the
Phillipines when he was 12 years old, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning
former Washington Post reporter who, in 2011, wrote a personal essay in
The New York Times in which he revealed for the first time publicly that
he too was an "undocumented immigrant."

-- Daniel Pearl (posthumous), the Wall Street Journal reporter who was
kidnapped and beheaded by a Pakistani terrorist group working with Al
Qaeda just four months after the 9/11 terror attacks. A gifted reporter
and journalist, Pearl, was covering the U.S. "war on terror" as the
Journal's South Asia Bureau Chief when he was abducted in Pakistan and
slain by anti-American Muslim extremists. The award will be accepted by
his sister, Tamara Pearl.

-- Judy and Dennis Shepard. For a more than a decade after their
21-year-old son Matthew's death in a tragic hate crime in Laramie,
Wyoming, Judy and Dennis Shepard dedicated their lives to advocating for
meaningful hate crimes legislation at the federal level. Matthew, a
student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten and murdered by two men
because he was gay. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Matthew
Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act named in
memory of their son and another victim of hate.
EDITORS NOTE: All media must RSVP to adlmedia@adl.org. A limited number of seats have been reserved for media at the 8:30 p.m. concert and will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. The honorees will have media availability prior to the concert.

More information on ADL In Concert Against Hate, including a list of previous honorees, is available online at www.adlconcert.org.

CONTACT: Elise Jarvis (202) 261-4612, Todd Gutnick (212) 885-7755, adlmedia@adl.org

/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Nov. 18, 2013/

SOURCE Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

Web Site: http://www.adl.org


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