by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Four-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lionel Richie was honored on Feb. 3 with the City of Los Angeles’s Hall of Fame Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Education” at its kick off of African American Heritage month in the city. Richie was also honored during the celebration with the “Living Legend Award.”
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who provided opening remarks for the ceremony that took place in council chambers, said the celebration not only recognizes the countless contributions of the awardees and all African Americans in the city, but the “collective history” of all Angelenos.
“We are honoring a musician, a philanthropist, a leader in education, a brilliant legal mind, and an outstanding official. And every single one of them is an Angeleno,” said Garcetti. “These people represent the best of who we are. They are angels here in the city, visionaries who follow their own paths, but are devoted to a common goal.”
Other inductees into the Hall of Fame were California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) President Willie J. Hagan, California Board of Equalization Chairman and CSUDH alumnus Jerome Horton (’79, B.S., business administration), and California Court of Appeal Justice Audrey Collins.
Garcetti, who introduced Richie, not only praised him as a distinguished musician, but as a philanthropist who is low-key about his giving, which is often done “when no one’s around, and no one’s looking.”
Richie, who has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, joined the Commodores in 1968, which became one of Motown’s most successful groups. He launched his solo career in 1981 and wrote some of the most “beloved” songs in the world, such as “All Night Long,” “Hello,” and “Endless Love,” a ballad he wrote and sang with Diana Ross.
“Who knew the power of how far one Afro can go,” Richie joked. “There was one great point of view that was prominent [throughout my college career], and that was that failure is not an option. … I was raised by a fabulous village, and one thing that I have carried throughout my life is that we have to give back. Around the world I tell kids, gang members—you name it—that parenting is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. And if you don’t have a full set of parents, find someone who you can fall in love with and mirror.”
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (
This is the fourth year in a row that the same film has won both the U.S. Audience and Jury awards. Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale, which was renamed Fruitvale Station upon wide release won both awards in 2013, Whiplash won in 2014 and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl won last year.
Leading the list of the most influential education scholars is Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emerita at Stanford University where she is faculty director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. She is a former president of the American Educational Research Association. Her most recent books are 
Gloria Ladson-Billings ranked fifth among most influential scholars in education. She holds the 
Claude Steele is executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California at Berkeley. From 2011 to 2014, he was dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Professor Steele served for two years as provost at Columbia University in New York City after being a member of the Stanford faculty from 1991 to 2009. Professor Steele is perhaps best know for his work on the underperformance of minority students due to stereotype threat. Professor Steele is the author of 
H
