CEA expects a sell-out crowd at our 32nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Dinner. The event will be held Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, at the Hyatt Regency Columbus, featuring keynote speaker Rev. Al Sharpton.

Rev. Sharpton has been involved in numerous civil rights issues since emerging onto the scene in the late 1960s. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he joined Operation Breadbasket, which sought to encourage diversity in the workplace by applying social and economic pressure on businesses. In 1969, he became its youth director; and he participated in protests against the A&P supermarket chain. Sharpton later served as Director of Ministers for the National Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

In 1991, Sharpton became the founder of his own broad-based progressive civil rights organization, the National Action Network (NAN), one of the leading civil rights organizations in the nation, with numerous local chapters around the country. NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for social justice and one standard of justice and decency for all people regardless of race, religion, national origin and gender.

During his colorful career as an activist, Al Sharpton has gained much television exposure, not only on talk shows such as "Larry King Live" and "The David Letterman Show," but also by making cameo appearances in "Law and Order" and in "Boston Legal." He was also a guest celebrity on "Saturday Night Live."

Please join CEA for this inspiring evening. Get your tickets early. The price is $30. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the CEA office at 253-4731.