Entertainment

Hezekiah Walker Honored with NNPA Torch Award

Published

12 years ago

March 31, 2015

Oakland Post

Hezekiah accepting NNPA Torch Award (Photo by Worsom Robinson)

By Elaina Johnson
Howard University News Service

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Grammy Award-winning artist Bishop Hezekiah Walker can add the 2015 Torch Award for religion to his list of accomplishments as a gospel music artist and pastor of Love Fellowship Tabernacle, a mega church in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The National Newspapers Publishers Association honored him last week at Black Press Week in Washington for his diligence in spreading the gospel through music, radio and ministry.

“I was extremely shocked when I heard that I won this honor,” Walker said. “I quickly changed my plans to make sure I was there to receive it.”

Walker, 52, was born and raised in the Fort Greene housing projects in Brooklyn, He formed the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir when he was in his 20s and has been releasing music with the choir and solo since then.

Walker is also the senior pastor of Love Fellowship Tabernacle, a church that he founded in April of 1994. The church has brought together diverse members, differing races, socio-economic backgrounds and ages.

He also launched the “Hezekiah Walker- Afternoon Praise” radio show on 1190 WLIB in New York City followed by the “Sunday Morning Celebration” radio show on 107.5 WBLS.

He received Grammy Awards in 1994 and 2001.

“I really feel in my heart that out of all the awards I’ve won, the Torch award is the best award I could have ever received in my life,” he said. “Music is the foundation of our people. Its one thing when others recognize you, but its another thing when your own people recognize you.”

There is, however, one honor that meant way more to him than receiving both the Grammy and the Torch Award. That was finding out that his music helped to save the life of a 9-year-old boy.

Willie Myrick, 9, was grabbed from the streets last March and forced into a car by an unidentified man while playing with his dog outside his home in Atlanta.

Young Myrick, who was awarded the NNPA’s Junior Newsmaker Award, continuously sang Hezekiah Walker’s hit song Every Praise. He sang the song for three hours straight until the kidnapper finally threw him into the street and drove away.

“I have had many great things happen in my life, but just to save that young boy’s life really meant a lot to me,” Walker said. “When you begin to sing and put music out, you never know how many lives you touch across the world.”

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Oakland Post: Week of September 30 – October 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 30 – October 6, 2026

Published

7 days ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

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From Historic Memories to New Possibilities: Oakland Celebrates Coliseum 60

More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, September 18, for Coliseum 60, an event marking six decades of sports, entertainment, employment, and community memories at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex. Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum first opened, the celebration featured cultural performances and a mini-documentary highlighting its history. Speakers reflected on the venue’s significant role in the community and its future possibilities. Read more to learn about the individuals and stories honored during this special event.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

Quixote Atkins of VillageGIVE moderates a panel discussion at the Coliseum 60 celebration at Youth UpRising featuring Keith Brown, a member of IATSE Local 107; author, historian and former Black Panther Party member Tareka Lewis; and African American Sports and Entertainment Group President Ray Bobbitt.

By Carla Thomas

More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, Sept. 18, for Coliseum 60, a celebration honoring six decades of sports, entertainment, employment and community memories connected to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex.

Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum opened, the event carried the theme, “One Community. One Legacy. One Future. Forward Together.”

The celebration opened with the national anthem performed by sisters Anese Jade, Amina Benjamin and Zaza Benjamin. Diamano Coura West African Dance Company contributed African dance and drumming, bringing movement, rhythm and cultural expression to the program.

A mini documentary highlighted the Coliseum’s sports history and its broader role as an entertainment destination. Archival material recalled performances by Prince and Tina Turner, along with memorable games featuring the Warriors, Oakland A’s and Raiders.

“The Coliseum 60 is about much more than celebrating a building or looking back at 60 years of history,” said event organizer Quixote Atkins of VillageGIVE.

“It’s about the people who made that history possible: the families, workers, athletes, artists, community leaders, fans and generations who gathered there and created memories together.”

A panel exploring that history featured author, historian and former Black Panther Party member Tareka Lewis; stagehand and union representative Keith Brown; and Ray Bobbitt, president of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group AASEG. Lewis described her family as fourth-generation Bay Area pioneers.

“My family and Black families who arrived even earlier helped build the Bay Area, grew businesses and established culture here,” Lewis said. “This should be taught in the public schools.”

Lewis recalled Oakland’s influence on sports, music and literature, from the Raiders’ beginnings at Laney College to stars such as The Pointer Sisters and Rickey Henderson who attended Oakland public schools. She also advocated for school museums, historical timelines, entrepreneurship training and investments benefiting corridors such as Bancroft Avenue and High Street.

Keith Brown, a member of Local 107 of the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees (IATSE) who began working at the Coliseum in 2011, remembered the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Ice Capades, baseball bat giveaways and Nelson Mandela’s 1990 appearance.

“The special events are amazing, but it’s the workers that make the memories real for everyone,” Brown said. “They make the magic happen at the Coliseum.”

The program recognized longtime workers, including beer-stand manager Robert Preston, who served for 40 years, and Kenyatta Gentry, who worked as a vendor for 24 years and used her earnings to purchase her first apartment. Union workers Jose Gonzales and Carmen Sandoval were also honored. Speakers emphasized that Coliseum employment provided generations of residents with union wages and benefits.

Dr. Denise Saddler, the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) was also honored. Saddler shared her family’s history of working at the Coliseum.

District 7 Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston discussed the complex ownership arrangements involving the city, county and private interests.

“This was the most complex deal of its kind in the country,” Houston said.

Prior to moving from the East Coast, Alameda County Supervisor and Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Chair Nate Miley recalled learning about Oakland through its three professional sports teams. As an elected official and public servant, Miley fought hard to keep the Golden State Warriors, Oakland As, and the Raiders, but he is hopeful for the future.

“The story is not over for the Coliseum,” Miley said. “We’re entering a new chapter.”

Bobbitt said the departure of three teams had once seemed unimaginable, but he maintained that Oakland’s future remains bright.

“Oakland is a cultural superpower worldwide,” Bobbitt said. “We’re going to write the future where we participate and drive the redevelopment.”

Bobbitt highlighted AASEG’s four-year partnership with Castlemont High School’s architecture program, which engages students in reimagining and creating redevelopment concepts for the Coliseum property. “The youth will always move us forward. They are the future.”

In closing, Atkins said, “September 18 is the celebration, but what we build together afterward is the legacy.”