Allen Media Group’s multi-media platform theGrio proudly announces the inaugural award for its 2023 TheGrio Heroes initiative: Daryl V. Atkinson.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA, July 10, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Allen Media Group’s news, sports, and entertainment multi-media platform theGrio, proudly announces the inaugural award for its 2023 TheGrio Heroes initiative: Daryl V. Atkinson. Atkinson is co-founder and co-director of Forward Justice, the Durham, North Carolina-based nonpartisan law, policy, and strategy center dedicated to advancing racial, social, and economic justice in the U.S. TheGrio Heroes initiative is about everyday people making a significant positive impact on the community and the culture, demonstrating outstanding goodwill and achievements and leading by example to find solutions with compassion, dedication, and determination.

As the inaugural recipient of TheGrio Heroes initiative award, Daryl V. Atkinson personally embodies the importance of a second chance. In 1996, he pled guilty to a first-time, non-violent, drug crime and served 40 months in prison. Since his release, Daryl has become a zealous advocate for second chances for formerly incarcerated people. As co-founder and co-director of Forward Justice, Atkinson leads the advocacy-focused law, policy and strategy center to synergize community activism with the litigation, public policy, and scholarship necessary to secure rights for current and former incarcerated people.

Atkinson was the lead attorney in the seminal felony disenfranchisement case, Community Success Initiative v. Moore, that challenged North Carolina’s felony disenfranchisement policies. Atkinson and Forward Justice were the central advocates that ushered in the passage of the Second Chance Act, landmark legislation that makes the expungement process easier giving formerly incarcerated people equal access to opportunities for housing, education and employment. Prior to founding Forward Justice, Atkinson was the first Second Chance Fellow for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Most notably, in 2014, Atkinson was recognized by the White House as a “Reentry and Employment Champion of Change” for his extraordinary work to facilitate employment opportunities for people with criminal records. Mr. Atkinson received a B.A. in Political Science from Benedict College, in Columbia, South Carolina and a J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On July 10, 2024, Mr. Atkinson will be featured prominently on theGrio.com, on theGrio Television Network with Eboni K. Williams at 6 PM and Marc Lamont Hill at 7 PM, as well as on TheGrio Daily Podcast with Michael Harriot. These stories will highlight different aspects of his remarkable journey and the ongoing accomplishments of his organization, Forward Justice, to create a more equitable society.

“TheGrio Hero award recognizes an individual who has made significant strides in making America stronger, more just and compassionate,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of theGrio parent company, Allen Media Group. “Daryl Atkinson exemplifies the values and spirit of this award, and we are honored to highlight his extraordinary contributions to the country and to humanity as a whole.”

“It is important we recognize Mr. Atkinson who has tirelessly worked for the betterment of our country,” said Geraldine Moriba, SVP, News, Entertainment and Empowerment, theGrio. "He transforms lives and inspires change.”

”If I can use the law as a tool to instill hope and to inspire more leaders to join the army of the people who have been wronged--then that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” says theGrio Heroes winner Daryl V. Atkinson. “That’s why we started Forward Justice and we’re grateful to be recognized.”

A large number of submissions were made earlier this year and 10 finalists were decided upon by leading independent industry experts including: Karen Boykin-Towns, Vice Chair of NAACP National Board of Directors; Candice C. Jones, President & CEO of Public Welfare Foundation; Cameo George, Executive Producer of the PBS series American Experience; Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Vice President of Corporate Power, Color of Change; Irving Washington, Senior Fellow, Health Disinformation, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Blair C. Smith, Senior Director for Center for Financial Markets, Milken Institute. The finalist with the most votes submitted online was chosen as the winner.

About theGrio
TheGrio is a digital, video-centric news community devoted to giving voice to trusted figures on the front line who inspire us every day, and to fresh perspectives who buck convention because there’s more than one way to be Black. We are the largest Black newsroom in America devoted to satisfying the need to stay connected. We believe a well-informed community best determines its own interests. And so, TheGrio’s editorial mandate is to focus on news and events which have a pronounced impact on a Black global audience. We unabashedly explore culture and entertainment, health and lifestyle, politics and policy, business and empowerment, food and fitness, science and climate, tech and innovation, and everything in between that matters to us.

In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased theGrio, which features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, sports, health, business, and entertainment. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 100 million annual visitors. TheGrio is available everywhere people consume information—on a mobile app, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, AppleTV, and now as an over-the-air television network, as well as through Comcast, Charter/Spectrum, Cox, DISH, Sling, Verizon Fios, DirecTV, and DirecTV Stream.

Mitch Messinger
MARC Global Communications
+1 818-601-6661
mitchell@marcglobalcommunications.com

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