Gene Siskel Film Center Honor Regina Taylor With Deloris Jordan Excellence Award In Leadership
Taylor, chosen for her work as National Spokesperson for the Ovarian Cancer Symptom Awareness Organization (OCSA), launched in 2010 to educate both women and men, which is the number one gynecologic cancer killer of women. She is also on the Executive Committee Member for Pink, the New Black and Mantra For Good Benefit in Chicago for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, volunteers for the Jenessee Center in Los Angeles to support individuals affected by domestic violence, and mentors young women for the Girl Talk program of the Sinai Community Institute from which she received a Spirit of Sinai Award this year.
Taylor is creator and curator of The State(s) of America: The Regina Taylor Project, an interdisciplinary festival at Northwestern University that gives students the opportunity to have their own voice to create plays, films, graphic arts, stories, and spoken word that mirrors contemporary life and times.
“We are honored to have Regina Taylor be this year’s recipient of the Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership. Regina is a leading example of an artist-advocate whose work inspires humanity whether it’s on the stage or small or big screen, or in a volunteer or charitable setting. There is no question that her love of acting and writing is being channeled into a passion for helping others,” said Jean de St. Aubin, Executive Director of the Gene Siskel Film Center.
Regina Taylor is best-known for her role as Lilly Harper in the television series I’ll Fly Away, receiving Golden Globe and NAACP Image Awards, plus two Emmy Award nominations. Recently starred in the CBS drama The Unit for which she also received an NAACP Image Award. Taylor has appeared in films like The Negotiator, Courage Under Fire, A Family Thing, The Keeper, Clockers, Losing Isaiah, and Lean on Me, and on the stage appearing in such plays as As You Like It, Macbeth, Machinal, The Illusion and Jar the Floor. She was the first Black woman to play Juliet in the Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet. An Artistic Associate with Goodman Theatre, her plays Magnolia and The Trinity River Plays have been staged there. The Taylor-penned, critically acclaimed and award-winning Crowns will be presented during the Goodman’s 2011-2012 season.
The Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership was established in 2002 by the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Black Harvest Community Council to recognize individuals who have generously contributed their time and resources to the Chicago community. Past recipients include Samuel Akainyah, Merri Dee, Bonnie DeShong, Alisa and Donzell Starks, Cliff Kelley, Warner Saunders, Hermene Hartman, and Common.
Black Harvest is the Midwest’s largest festival of the Black experience on film and runs August 5-September 1, featuring Chicago premieres, filmmaker appearances, panel discussions, and special events. Presented will be 16 feature films and 30 short films, 40 percent of which are connected to Chicago, affirming the city’s role as a vital center for independent filmmaking.
