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This past weekend, the Greater NY Chapter of the Links, presented the Dr. Marcella Maxwell –“Black Swan” Luncheon at Pier 60 Chelsea Piers. The event celebrated the extraordinary rise and empowerment of women who are driving change across industries and communities. Joy Reid, former political commentator on MSNBC, kicked off the event with inspiring and uplifting words of hope for the future of this country. She said, “We Black folk have always been the voice of morality in this country. We have community and community is our strength.” She also announced that she plans to launch her own new show soon.
The Links members were dressed in Black to represent this year’s theme “Black Swan,” a theme chosen to represent Black women who lead – rare, resilient, elegant and powerful.
“The Greater New York Chapter of The Links, Incorporated proudly hosted a sold-out Dr. Marcella Maxwell Annual Luncheon, welcoming over 800 guests to celebrate excellence, sisterhood, and service under the inspiring theme Black Swans. The afternoon raised more than $120,000 in scholarship funds to support the education and empowerment of future leaders. We honored Tanya Lewis Lee and Satchel Lee with the Trailblazer Award for their tireless work in maternal health, recognized American Ballet Theater’s Project Rise with the Breakthrough Award for building a pipeline to ballet careers for youth of color, and presented Joy-Ann Reid with the Vanguard Award for her transformative voice in journalism and national discourse. We also paid tribute to three women whose generosity continues to shape the future of dance—Susan Fales-Hill, Arielle Patrick, and Karen Phillips—true champions of equity and access in the arts,” said co-chair of luncheon Mignon Epsy.
Lastly, there was spectacular fashion show featuring designers Andrea Iyamah, Kaphill and Fe Noel.
The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. The membership consists of more than 17,000 professional women of African descent in 299 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Incorporated was organized by Dorothy Reed and Bernia Austin at the invitation of Margaret R. Hawkins and Sarah S. Scott of Philadelphia, co-founders of The Links, Incorporated. The Greater New York Chapter was chartered with eight members on May 21, 1949 at an installation service held at the Hotel Theresa in New York City.
Photos by:
Karlie Louis
