Halle Berry celebrated at third-annual Ebony awards

Halle Berry got the biggest cheer of the night last Thursday at the third-annual tribute to African-American achievement in the entertainment business, hosted by Ebony magazine and publisher Linda Johnson Rice, CEO of Chicago-based Johnson Publishing.

The Oscar winner looked out over the crowd of several hundred mostly African-American stars, business people, civic leaders and educators, and thanked her mother, who is white, "for instilling in me and my sister a sense of who we are," as women of color.

Berry, along with superstar Janet Jackson, Oscar nominee Forest Whitaker and Chicago native and music legend Herbie Hancock, were honored by Ebony, which Berry said had presented positive images of the African-American community to her at a very early age. It was those key impressions of black people finding success, doing good works and helping improve their communities that Berry and her fellow honorees made a point of constant focus Thursday night.

As for her mother, Judith -- who joined Berry for the event at the Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood Thursday night -- the actress toasted her for making sure "that Ebony and Jet [magazines] were always on the coffee table in our house. As a white woman she wanted to give us something she could not -- but Ebony and Jet could."

Thanks to `sunsetteam` for the alert.

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