Dead prez Honored At Imagenation’s Revolution! Awards

Hip-Hop duo dead

prez was honored last week at this year’s Imagenation’s Revolution! Awards.

The second annual

event, which was held at the Apollo

Theatre in Harlem

, recognizes artists and industry leaders of color who

use their work as vehicles for social change, to foster solidarity and blaze

new trails.

"Dead prez

is tremendously proud to debut our film as part of Imagenation’s Revolution!

Awards," said M1, the event’s co-host. "We are also honored to

receive a Revolution! Award in recognition of our dedication to using music

to assist our peoples’ liberation and empowerment."

In addition to

picking up an award,

dead prez performed and hosted an invitation-only screening of its new documentary

concert film Dead Prez: It’s Bigger than Hip Hop.

The one-hour feature,

which shows the group sharing their thoughts on various topics such as world

politics, urban poverty, Black pride, healthy living and the power of Black

women, premiered June 9 on Starz.

Other honorees

include producer/director Lee

Daniels;

Warrington Hudlin, producer and president of the Black Filmmaker

Foundation; Thomas Allen Harris, director, editor, cinematographer, producer

and screenwriter; and Keith

Beauchamp

, director and writer of the documentary film The Untold Story

of Emmett Till.

Previous Revolution!

Awards recipients are Chuck D., Stanley Nelson, Erykah Badu, Roger Guenveur

Smith, Talib Kweli, Sherry Simpson Dean and Joe Brewster.

Established in

1997, Imagenation works to counteract negative images and stereotypes of people

of color, through mass media; as well as establish a chain of independent art-house

cinemas.

"Imagenation

plays an important role in building awareness of contemporary black independent

film," said Hudlin. "I look forward to its future initiatives and

am extremely pleased to be a 2006 Revolution! Awards recipient."

Power 105.1 FM

personality Doctor Dre, Damon

Dash

, Living Color member Vernon Reid and music producer Keith Shocklee

were among those who attended the event, which was hosted by M1 and journalist

Michela Angela Davis.

Other performers

included Martin Luther, Burnt Sugar, Kameko featuring Narock and Arkestra Chamber.

Proceeds from the

ceremony benefited the creation of Imagenation Soul Cinema, Harlem’s first independent

movie house dedicated to showcasing films from the African Diaspora

Real estate developer

Carlton Brown of Full Spectrum of New York announced the coming of the tentatively

titled: Imagenation at the Micheaux Film Center, an independent cinema slated

to open next year.

The site will be

located in The Kalahari, a condominium complex located on 116th Street between

Lenox and Fifth.

This year’s

event marked the beginning of a campaign to raise $1 million toward the development

of the venue.

For more information

on Imagenation, visit www.imagenation.us.