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SANTA MONICA, CA – MARCH 03: Director Ava DuVernay speaks onstage during the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 3, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images
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Ava DuVernay to be honored by Gordon Parks Foundation

The group also will fete Ronald O. Perelman, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sherrilyn Ifill

Kelley L. Carter @KelleyLCarter
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A Wrinkle In Time Gordon Parks Ava Duvernay Movies

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    1:28 PMAva DuVernay will soon be toasted by the Gordon Parks Foundation in late May, the group announced Tuesday. The group’s annual dinner happens May 22 and honors individuals who make strides in performing and visual arts as well as humanitarianism.

    The A Wrinkle In Time filmmaker will be joined by businessman and philanthropist Ronald O. Perelman, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill, photographer Sally Mann and documentary photographer Jamel Shabazz, all of whom also will be honored at New York staple Cipriani 42nd Street. The night will be co-chaired by Karl Lagerfeld, Kendrick Lamar, Valerie Jarrett, Alicia Keys, Kasseem Dean (megaproducer Swizz Beatz), Usher Raymond, Janelle Monáe, Common, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kenneth and Kathryn Chenault, Judy and Leonard Lauder, and Alexander Soros.

    Previous honorees include Monáe, U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and photographer Annie Leibovitz.

    DuVernay’s honor comes on the heels of good recent news: Last week it was announced that DC Comics tapped her to direct the superhero film The New Gods for Warner Bros., which makes her the first woman of color to tackle a DC Comics film.

    Kelley L. Carter is a senior entertainment reporter and the host of Another Act at Andscape. She can act out every episode of the U.S. version of The Office, she can and will sing the Michigan State University fight song on command and she is very much immune to Hollywood hotness.