Chicago, September 28, 2002.

Robert D. Blackwell Jr., co-CEO of Electronic Knowledge Interchange (EKI) and his father Robert D. Blackwell Sr., president and CEO, Blackwell Consulting Services received an award from The Black United Fund of Illinois Inc. (BUPI).

The Black United Fund of Illinois Inc. (BUPI) held its second annual "Living Legends/Passing the Torch" Awards Ceremony at the DuSable Museum  
of African American History (740 East  6th Street), on Saturday, September 28 at 7:30 p.m. A 6 p.m reception was held prior to the awards ceremony.

"There were six different families that were honored that evening," explains BUFI's Natalie Puryear, Vice President, Communication and Grant  writing. "Our IS-member board of directors submitted the names of potential awardees and we looked for people who were grooming folks to carry on their legacy."

Puryear says it all began when BUFI, an organization founded on the principles of self-help, mutual aid, and volunteerism, which promotes Black philanthropy at every economic level, began to notice the increasing number of Black institutions that our community was losing as their founders either retired or died.

"We realized we needed to do something to raise the consciousness of people as to how they need to form a succession plan," Puryear says.

A BUFI communication explaining the event reads, "We feel that too often we are negligent in recognizing those who provide valuable mentoring service, These mentors preserve and transmit our history and achievements of the group onto the next generation and avoid the painful necessity of beginning anew with each new generation, "In grooming others to take our places, we avert the loss of our revered institutions and we represent the time honored African tradition that is summed up in the proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child."

The List Of The Honored Honorees other than the Blackwells include:

-Johnny Brown and his sons, Johnny Brown, Jr & Joshua Brown, from Brown Tire Corp.

-The Revered Jesse L. Jackson Sr., president and founder, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and his soil, the Honorable Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Member of  Congress;

- Attorney James D. Montgomery, Cochran, Cherry, Givens, Smith & Montgomery and his children, Attorneys James D. Montgomery Jr., McDonald's Corp., and Michelle M. Montgomery, Schwartz, Cooper, Greenberger & Krauss, Chartered;

- Dr. Robert L. Johnson, president and cofounder, Piano Vision Development Center and his daughter, Dr. Stephanie Johnson-Brown, executive director, Piano Vision Development Center; and

- William Garth Sr., publisher/CEO; Citizen Newspaper Group and his son, William D. Garth, president and treasurer, Citizen Newspaper Group.