news-record.com

GREENSBORO — The International Civil Rights Center and Museum will honor NAACP board chairman Julian Bond and nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner at its 50th anniversary gala and banquet.

The event will be held Jan. 30, 2010, at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center as part of the three-day celebration to commemorate the golden anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins.

Bond is the chairman of the Board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and has served in that capacity since 1998.

In addition to being the recipient of 25 honorary degrees, Bond is a distinguished professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a history professor at the University of Virginia.

Joyner will be recognized as the 2010 recipient of the museum's Trailblazer Award. This award honors individuals who have remained active in the struggle for civil rights and equality for African-Americans.

Joyner, the host of "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," is also founder of The Tom Joyner Foundation. Through his foundation, Joyner has raised more than $55 million in financial aid to students enrolled at historically black colleges and universities.

The 50th anniversary gala and banquet is the first of four events leading up to the grand opening of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum on Feb. 1, 2010. The Museum's opening schedule of events includes:

1. Town Hall Forum, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010
2. 50th anniversary gala and banquet, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010
3. Celebration of Unity, an ecumenical service, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010
4. Grand opening ceremonies at site of the historic sit-ins in Greensboro, Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

The gala and banquet will begin at 7 p.m. with High Point University president and chairman of the 2010 gala Nido Qubein as host for the evening.

Individual tickets are $100 and can be purchased through the Museum's Web site, www.sitinmovement.org/news.asp.