EBONY Magazine Hosts Mothers & Daughters Day Celebration In New York City

Jet, July 10, 2000

EBONY Magazine hosted a celebration of the special bond between mothers and daughters during the first annual EBONY/Colgate-Palmolive Mothers & Daughters Day event at the Hilton New York and Towers.

The recent, day-long affair, co-sponsored by the Colgate-Palmolive Co., featured panel discussions, speakers and seminars on such topics as health care, beauty, preparing for college, mothers and daughters working together, careers and money management.

Participants included Dr. Javette C. Orgain, president of the National Medical Assn.; Angela Coleman Dixon, president and CEO, Sisterhood Agenda; Rev. Jacqueline E. McCullough, executive director, Daughters of Rizpah; Victoria Cochran, International trainer, makeup artist, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, and Dr. Judith A.W. Thomas, chair and professor of education, Lincoln University.

Guest host for the event was Cheryl Washington, reporter/interviewer, FOX-TV. Entertainment included performances by the Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Reach Ensemble.

The highlight of the EBONY/Colgate-Palmolive Mothers & Daughters Day was an awards luncheon that honored outstanding mothers who worked with their daughters.

The honorees were Dorothy K. White, Coreen Simpson, Rita Owens, Vy Higginsen and Sylvia Woods.

White is a partner in Blackberry, an Afrocentric merchandise store in New York City with other sites on the East Coast. Her daughter, Diane White, is its founder and president.

Simpson, a noted professional photographer, is also designer/president of the popular jewelry design business Cameo Designs Ltd. Her daughter, Suzanne Simpson, is its vice president and operating manager.

Owens is a teacher at Irvington High School in New Jersey, and senior vice president of Flava Unit Entertainment, the production company owned by her famous daughter, singer/actress/TV show host Queen Latifah.

Vy Higginsen, author, playwright and producer whose acclaimed musical Mama, I Want to Sing has toured worldwide, currently heads Mama Foundation for the Arts, which cultivates young musical and theatrical talent. Her daughter, Knoelle, works at the foundation and sings gospel in her mother's productions.

Sylvia Woods owns the world-famous Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem. Her daughters, Bedelia and Crizette Woods, are her partners continuing the family legacy of more than 30 years in the restaurant business.

More than 700 women from throughout the New York City area participated in the day's events held in May to coincide with the month in which Mother's Day is celebrated.