Thurgood Marshall College Fund "Preparing the Best of the Best" 2009.

Thurgood Marshall College Fund
"Preparing the Best of the Best" 2009

If you have followed me on Twitter or Facebook for the past couple weeks you have seen that I have been ranting and raving about Thurgood Marshall College Fund. I did that because the organization is amazing!

"In 1987, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (formally Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund) was founded under the leadership of Dr. N. Joyce Payne, Director of the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges (a division of the National Association of State Universities and Land- Grant Colleges), in cooperation with Miller Brewing Company, Sony Music, NBA, Reebok, and the American Association for State Colleges and Universities.

TMCF is the only national organization to provide merit scholarships, programmatic and capacity building support to 47 public HBCUs. Since TMCF inception they have raised over $68 million in scholarships and programmatic support to students attending our 47 member public HBCUs and 6 Historically Black Law Schools." -TMCF

I had the GREAT pleasure of being invited to three amazing events that TMCF held. See below.

TMCF Front Row Fashion Show Launch Party
October 5, 2009
Moet Headquarters, NYC

This was the first event I attended which kicked off an amazing journey that TMCF would take through the month of October. This also was the first time I met the President of the organization, Mr. Dwayne Ashley. During the event some of the designers had a chance to display their pieces as a preview before the fashion show.

TMCF 4th Annual Front Row Fashion Show
October 24, 2009
Roseland Ballroom, NYC

This event, hosted by Sherri Shepherd, showcased many designers such as Asmsale, Ana Segura, Dean Zign, Francis Hendy, Kai Milla, Montgomery, Nico & Adrian, Russell Simmons Argyle Collection and Walmart. Also at the event TMCF took the time to salute their honorees which were Michael Jackson (Avant-Garde Award), Dr. Joyce Brown (President of FIT), Naomi Campbell, Sam Fine (Celebrity Make-Up Artist) and Andre Walker (Celebrity Hair Stylist-Oprah). The fashion show was top-notch. I could easily see it being apart of Fashion Week NYC.

TMCF 22nd Anniversary Awards Dinner
October 26, 2009
Sheraton Hotel and Towers, NYC

This AMAZING event was hosted by Mr. Danny Glover, who did an outstanding job that night, might I add. Amongst the guest were many celebrities such as The Jackson Family, Mary J Blige, Anthony Anderson, Fantasia, Jasmine Guy, Kerry Rhodes; New Jersey Jets, Lynn Whitfield, Monica, Raheem Devaughn, Tasha Smith and more. It was nice to see all of the college students dressed in their black tuxedos and elegant dresses coming out to support one another.

During the event, R&B singer, Raheem Devaughn, performed some of his hit tracks. Raheem wasn't the only performer to grace the stage. Fantasia took the stage and the crowd was in awe. She did a rendition of "Purple Rain" that would have made Prince very proud. "Tonight was my first time seeing Fantasia LIVE, and SHE went INNNNNNNN.... She turned Purple Rain into a Gospel Song!!!" says Rae Holliday of StuffFlyPeopleLike.com.
One of the highlights for me was seeing Monica introduce Mary J. Blige. This was clearly an emotional time for Monica. She shared how MJB impacted her life as a friend and also a mother figure. MJB speech was outstanding. She spoke on her life and growing up seeing men abuse all the mother figures in her life. She also noted that she had to overcome that and stay strong which lead her to open a Center for Women in Yonkers, NY (link). Her speech below:

If that wasn't enough TMCF raised over 5 million dollars in ONE WEEK!! Very Impressive! I look forward to volunteering with TMCF!

There sponsors were Moet & Chandon, Mercedes Benz, Bleu, Coors Miller & Wal-Mart

For more information please visit ThurgoodMarshallFund.net

Also, if you are interested in donating to TMCF please click the Donate Now button below.

Some photos via StuffFlyPeopleLike.com

-Phaon Spurlock, The Southern Gentleman