Whether she is bringing laughter to millions of television viewers around the world, moving theatre-goers to tears, thrilling movie fans, offering new insights to students by teaching Master Classes at renowned learning institutions that include Howard University, Julliard, and Carnegie Mellon, serving on Boards of prestigious organizations, or breaking new ground as a director, Phylicia Rashad is one of the entertainment world’s most extraordinary performing artists. A native of Houston, Texas, Rashad graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard University. A versatile performer, Rashad became a household name when she portrayed “Claire Huxtable” on “The Cosby Show,” a character whose appeal has earned her numerous honors and awards for over two decades. She teamed up with Bill Cosby in later years on television as “Ruth Lucas” on “Cosby.” While television was a catalyst in the rise of Rashad’s career, she has also been a force on the stage, appearing both on and offBroadway, often in projects that showcase her musical talent such as “Jelly’s Last Jam, “Into The Woods, “Dreamgirls” and “The Wiz”. As a dramatic actress, Rashad has appeared on Broadway as “Violet Weston” in “August Osage County,” “Big Mama” in “Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” ( a role that she reprised on the London Stage), “Aunt Ester” in August Wilson’s “Gem Of The Ocean,”( Tony Award nomination) and “Queen Britannia” in Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline” at Lincoln Center. Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance as “Lena Younger” in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin In The Sun.” She has completed work on Tyler Perry’s upcoming film “Good Deeds,” and starred in Perry’s highly acclaimed film version of Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf.” Behind the scenes, Phylicia made her directorial debut at the Seattle Repertory Theater with August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean.” Critics gave her first foray into the directing world rave reviews, saying “Rashad steers Seattle Rep’s show with great sensitivity and understanding - for both the text and actors.” Of her work at the helm of The Ebony Repertory Theatre’s production of “A Raisin in the Sun” last spring, the Los Angeles Times hailed Rashad’s California directing debut by stating that she “…nails the play’s rich humor in a solidly rendered production.” She will remount the production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles in January 2012. Respected in the academic world, Rashad is the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham University. She recently received an Honorary Doctorate from Spelman College where First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the 2011 commencement address. Rashad also holds Honorary Doctorates from Carnegie Photo by Matthew Jordan Smith www.urbanwheelawards.com 24 YOUR HOSTS FOR Phylicia Rashad Award Winning Actress Mellon University, Howard University, Providence College, Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, Barber Scotia College, St. Augustine College, and Brown University. Among the awards that decorate her walls and shelves are the Texas Medal of Arts, the National Council of Negro Women’s Dorothy L. Height Dreammaker Award, the Board of Directors of New York Women In Film and Television’s Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement, Dallas Women In Film Topaz Award, Peoples’ Choice Awards, several NAACP Image Awards, and the Pan African Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Rashad serves on the Advisory Board of the PRASAD Project and the Board of Directors of True Colors Theatre, the Broadway Inspirational Voices, The Actors Center, the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, and the ADEPT Center which is steering the restoration of the historic Brainerd Institute. Phylicia Rashad is also the mother of two adult children. SIXTEENTH ANNUAL URBAN WHEEL AWARDS .. FOR THE EVENING John Quiñones is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of ABC newsmagazine “Primetime” and has been with the network nearly 25 years. He is the sole anchor of the “Primetime” series “What Would You Do?,” one of the highest-rated newsmagazine franchises of recent years. During his tenure he has reported extensively for ABC News, predominantly serving as a correspondent for “Primetime” and “20/20.” While Quiñones was covering the Chilean Miners’ disaster last year, he was the first journalist out of thousands to get an exclusive interview with the first survivor (Mario Sepulveda) who spoke about the miners’ horrendous ordeal. Other recent headline-making interviews include an exclusive with singer/actor Marc Anthony who, for the first time, spoke about his separation and pending divorce from Jennifer Lopez. Quiñones’ work for “What Would You Do?” captures people’s reactions when confronted with dilemmas compelling them to either act or walk away. He has extensively covered a religious sect in Northern Arizona that forces its young female members to take part in polygamous marriages. Other reports include going undercover with a hidden camera to reveal how clinics were performing unnecessary surgical procedures as part of a major nationwide insurance scam; he followed along with a group of would-be Mexican immigrants as they attempted to cross into the U.S. via the treacherous route known as “The Devil’s Highway”; and he traveled to Israel for a CINE Award-winning report about suicide bombers. In September 1999, Quiñones anchored a critically acclaimed ABC News special entitled “Latin Beat,” focusing on the wave of Latin talent sweeping the U.S., the impact of the recent population explosion and how it will affect the nation as a whole. He was awarded an ALMA Award from the National Council of La Raza. He also contributed reports to ABC News’ unprecedented 24-hour, live, global Millennium broadcast, which won the George Foster Peabody Award. Quiñones’ reports for “20/20” have included an in-depth look at the unprecedented lawsuit against the Cuban government by a woman who claimed she unknowingly married a spy, and an exclusive interview with a Florida teenager who brutally killed her adoptive mother. He was honored with a Gabriel Award for his poignant report that followed a young man to Colombia, as he made an emotional journey to reunite with his birth mother after two decades. Other stories originating from Central America include political and economic turmoil in Argentina and civil war in El Salvador. During the ‘80s he spent nearly a decade in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama reporting for “World News Tonight.” Quiñones has won seven national Emmy Awards for his “Primetime Live,” “Burning Questions” and “20/20” work. He was awarded an Emmy for his coverage of the Congo’s virgin rainforest, which also won the Ark Trust Wildlife Award, and in 1990 he received an Emmy for “Window in the Past,” a look at the Yanomamo Indians. He received a National Emmy Award for his work on the ABC documentary “Burning Questions—The Poisoning of America,” which aired in September 1988, and was also honored with a World Hunger Media Award and a Citation from the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for “To Save the Children,” his 1990 report on the homeless children of Bogota. Among his other prestigious awards are the First Prize in International Reporting and Robert F. Kennedy Prize for his piece on “Modern Slavery -- Children Sugar Cane Cutters in the Dominican Republic.” He received an Outstanding Alumni Award from his alma mater, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 2010. Emmy Award Winning ABC News Anchor Quiñones joined ABC News in June 1982 as a general assignment correspondent based in Miami, providing reports for “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings” and other ABC News broadcasts. He was one of the few American journalists reporting from Panama City during the U.S. invasion in December 1989. Prior to joining ABC News, he was a reporter with WBBM-TV in Chicago. He won two Emmy Awards for his 1980 reporting on the plight of illegal aliens from Mexico. From 1975 to 1978 he was news editor at KTRH radio in Houston, Texas. During that period, he also was an anchor-reporter for KPRC-TV. Quiñones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communications from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas. He received a Masters from the Columbia School of Journalism. The Official Multicultural Event of the North American International Auto Show 25 www.urbanwheelawards.com PRESENTERS Congressman Hansen Clarke (D - MI) Congressman John Dingell (D - MI) Debbi Morgan Film & TV actress Gina Hiraizumi Actress / Recording Artist Roop Raj Anchor / Report FOX 2 Lauren Fix “The Car Coach” Shelby Fix “The Teen Car Coach” Alfredo José Estrada Publisher, Latino Magazine Justin Durant Detroit Lions starting linebacker Cast of “Wives of Favor” A new upcoming reality show Koffey Brown, Dyanna Wooten, Cherylin Hodge David C. Lizárraga Founder & Chairman – TELACU AL Piña Co-Founder - National Latino Automotive Council Elizabeth Gallagher Immediate Past Vice Chair, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Senator Debbie Stabenow (D - MI) Karen Payton Vice President - Decisive Media 26 Frankie Darcel Radio Personality, MIX 92.3 FM Damian Gregory Valerine Menard Former NFL Defensive Tackle Associate Publisher/Editor for the Detroit Lions and Decisive Latino/Decisive Auto Latino Tampa Bay Buccaneers magazines Kelly Johnson Sunday Business Editor, The Washington Post SIXTEENTH ANNUAL URBAN WHEEL AWARDS