Ford Motor Company and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Honor Langston Hughes and Sonia Sanchez In Ford Freedom Award Special February 17 on WXYZ-TV

    DETROIT, Feb. 12 WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 will present a half-
hour special honoring the 2001 Ford Freedom Award recipients, the late writer
Langston Hughes and poet Sonia Sanchez.  "Ford Freedom Awards: The Vanguard
... and the Visionary" airs Saturday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. on WXYZ-
TV/Channel 7.  An encore presentation will air on Sunday, February 25 at
1 p.m.
    Hosted by WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Editorial and Public Affairs Director Chuck
Stokes from the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the
special features interviews with close friends and associates of the late
Langston Hughes, including actor Danny Glover, author Alice Walker, poet
Sonia Sanchez and Broadway producer Woodie King, Jr.
    The Ford Freedom Award was launched in February 1999 to recognize,
posthumously, distinguished individuals whose contributions have made a
significant impact in improving the African American community and the world
at large.  The Ford Freedom Award honors Langston Hughes for his
contributions to American literature and his impact on future
African-American writers.
    The award program includes a lecture by the Ford Freedom Scholar, poet and
retired Temple University professor Sonia Sanchez, for her pioneering and
Black consciousness-raising writing about African American women.
    This year's Ford Freedom Award celebration will take place on Thursday and
Friday, February 22-23, 2001.  The installation of Langston Hughes' name in
the Ford Freedom Rotunda will take place on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.  The
public is invited to this free event.  Later that evening at 7 p.m., there
will be a dinner and formal program.  On Friday, the lecture/presentation
will begin at 11 a.m. at the Detroit Opera House.
    WXYZ-TV's telecast is produced in cooperation with the Charles H. Wright
Museum of African American History and Ford Motor Company.
    WXYZ is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, which operates 20 daily
newspapers; 10 broadcast television stations; three TV networks, Home &
Garden Television, The Food Network and Do It Yourself; and a TV programmer,
Scripps Production.  The company also operates United Media, a worldwide
syndicator and licensor of news features and comics, and the Scripps Howard
News Service.  Scripps operates 31 revenue-producing Web sites, including
hgtv.com , foodtv.com , diynet.com and comics.com .