ICON MANN Brings Out Men of Color in Hollywood During Emmy Week

Emmy award winning actor Wayne Brady (Let’s Make A Deal), Laz Alonso (Jumping The Broom) and Richard Roundtree (Being Mary Jane) were just a few of the stars that attended ICON MANN™’s Black Men in Entertainment & Multimedia Pre-Emmy™ dinner on Friday, September 20, 2013 at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Numerous other notable men of color gathered to celebrate the trailblazing contributions of black men to television, film and media. Attendees included: actors Aldis Hodge (Leverage), Blair Underwood (Ironside), David Oyelowo (The Butler), Dorian Missick (Southland), Gary Dourdan (Mistresses), Glynn Turman (House of Lies), James Pickens Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy), Jason George (Grey’s Anatomy), Jay Ellis (The Game), Lance Reddick (Fringe), Mykelti Williamson (Justified), Omari Hardwick (Being Mary Jane) and Rockmond Dunbar (The Game); producer Cash Warren (Being Terry Kennedy); directors Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and Anthony Hemingway (The Newsroom); TV anchors Kevin Frazier (OMG! Insider) and Don Lemon (CNN); talent agents Charles King (WME), Cameron Mitchell and Ryan Tarpley (CAA); film executive James Lopez (Screen Gems); marketing agency owner Aaron Walton (Walton Issacson); magazine executive editor Datwon Thomas (Vibe magazine); television executive Jubba Seyyid (TV One); tech innovators Tristan Walker and Hamet Watt; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive Vicangelo Bulluck and the National Executive Director for SAG-AFTRA™, David P. White, who co-hosted the dinner with Brady.
“Television, through the years, has given us some of the most diverse representations of black life, as well as black male characters, than any popular medium. It is only natural that ICON MANN™ creates the platform to celebrate these men, and their contributions, on-screen and behind-the-scenes,” says Tamara N. Houston, Founder and CEO of ICON MANN™. “The opportunity to bring the ICON MANN™ spirit represented by some of the most powerful and impressive black men of today, as Marvin Gaye said, ‘makes me want to holler’ – with sheer delight!”
ICON MANN™’s philanthropic partnership with Peace4Kids, a scholarship program benefitting young black boys in foster care, was announced and will debut in 2014. The theme for the dinner was inspired by the film Coming to America and the vision was brought to life by event designer William P. Miller for WP Miller Special Events. Target, Morgan Stanley and SAG-AFTRA™ were the official sponsors of the star-studded experience.