NEW YORK CITY — “To God be the Glory,” said Bishop Victory T. Curry, his opening statement after he was presented the Rev Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker Social Justice Award at the 16th annual Keepers of the Dream Awards.
Held at the National Action Network’s 16th annual convention in New York City, the award was presented to Curry by the Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, chairman of NAN.
Curry said when he worked at Denny’s as a dishwasher, his boss told him he was the best dishwasher Denny’s ever had. He was inspired to be the best dishwasher because of what he had heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say about facing challenges in life. He encouraged the audience to set out to do their work so well that nobody can do it better. Curry closed with direct quotes from Dr. King’s Street Sweeper speech.
The audience gave him a standing ovation.
The National Action Network convention is held each April to mark the anniversary of King’s death and honor those who have committed themselves to fairness and racial harmony while advocating for the principles which King fought for, organizers said in a statement. The event was co-hosted by NAN President and Founder Rev. Al Sharpton and talk-show host Wendy Williams. The guest speaker of the night was Arne Duncan, U. S. Secretary of Education.
The award was established by the civil rights organization in recognition of pastor, theologian, civil rights leader and cultural historian Dr. Wyatt T. Walker, often called “Harlem’s Renaissance Man” for his multiple gifts and varied careers.
Curry is the founder/ senior pastor of New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International in Miami and pastor of St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church in Dania Beach, which has more than 13,000 members and 80 ministries collectively.
Bishop Curry’s extended ministerial portfolio includes: The New Birth Broadcasting Corp. and WMBM/AM 1490, the only 24-hour gospel media outlet in South Florida. Sharpton appointed Curry as NAN’s Southeast regional director in 2013. Curry was the architect of “Operation Lemonade,” an initiative to increase voting during the 2012 election. He served the Miami-Dade chapter of the NAACP as its president. Curry is also the author of the newly released autobiography A Charge to Keep I Have.
He is father to three daughters.
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