JET D.C. Bureau Chief Presented 1999 Shriners' Thurgood Marshall Award

Jet, Nov 20, 2000

Simeon Booker, the Washington Bureau Chief of EBONY and JET Magazines, recently was presented the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Inc.

The award was initiated in 1989 and awarded first to Justice Marshall and given in recognition "for personal commitment for improving the quality of life for all Americans, in particular, African-Americans."

Booker was invited to receive the 1999 Thurgood Marshall Award in August of that year at the Shriners' convention in Kansas City, MO, but could not attend.

The organization conducted the recent presentation at Booker's office in the JET Washington, D.C., bureau officiated by Imperial Potentate James E. Poe and a Shriners delegation.

Past recipients of the prestigious award include former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, Gen. Colin Powell, EBONY Magazine Executive Editor Lerone Bennett Jr., Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Rep. Louis Stokes, Dr. Benjamin Hooks, Dr. William A. Gray III and Julian Bond.

The Prince Hall Shrine family represents 224 temples, and its women's auxiliary, the Daughters of Isis, are active in 200 courts in the U.S., Japan, the Bahamas, Canada and Western Europe.