Actresses Kerry Washington, Joy Bryant Come Back Home to Celebrate Fellow Female...

Actresses Kerry Washington, Joy Bryant Come Back Home to Celebrate Fellow
Female Bronxites at the Inaugural Uptown Girl Power Benefit to Raise Funds for
Women and Public Art

NEW YORK, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On September 16, Bronx native
actresses Kerry Washington and Joy Bryant join environmental leader Majora
Carter in the Bronx to honor their fellow Uptown Girls and to raise funds for
public art projects that empower women and girls.

"Successful Uptown Girls are everywhere and have overcome enormous odds to get
where they are. We comprise an informal sisterhood of leading scientists,
artists, executives, and most recently - a Supreme Court Justice!"-- Majora
Carter

The inaugural Uptown Girls benefit will be in the South Bronx under the tent
at Father Gigante Plaza: Tiffany Street and Southern Boulevard on Wednesday,
September 16, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/78720.

This benefit event will raise money for large-scale environmentally-themed
murals at major intersections in the Bronx. The project is coordinated by the
nationally recognized Groundswell Community Mural Project which engages youth,
professional artists, and the community to create pertinent, professional,
quality public art. The art embraces unifying themes of women's self-
empowerment, family, community, pride and respect for the e
arth.

Some of the Uptown Girl honorees include Kerry Washington, Joy Bryant, Dr.
Carolyn Williams, the first female President at Bronx Community College, Wanda
Salaman, Executive Director, Mothers on the Move and Dr. Valerie Capers,
acclaimed jazz performer and educator.

The Bronx may no longer be 'burning', but for many young women, their dreams
for positive futures burn before they even know it. The Bronx has twice the
statewide average of domestic abuse, and teen pregnancy - which contribute
significantly to girls' high school drop-out rates.

Programming in the performing and visual arts that support the development of
young women and girls are difficult to fund. It is often considered
non-essential, although studies have closely linked girls' self-esteem with
their ability to express them creatively.

For more information on the benefit, email events@majoracartergroup.com or
call 718.874.7313.

SOURCE Majora Carter Group

Marsha Gordon, LCG Communications, +1-718-853-5568,
marshag@lcgcommunications.com, for the Majora Carter Group