she was good friends with joan brown and jay de feo. shes what an integral part of the art scene in north beach. she was also part of the first argot lin artist's in residence program in 1967 and spent the better part of the '70s deeply devote today community arts and activism. she was part of the founding member of scrap, and she was involved with the neighborhood arts program during its insanction. -- inception. she went on to found the san francisco cultural arts center and she is the first director. i am excited to share with you i'm working with the asian american women artists association and film maker madelein limb to bring you the world of bernice bing, a documentary we're working on now about her life and work and it's going to premiere in june of 2013. thank you so much for this honor. it's long overdue. (applause) (applause) >> good evening. it's an honor to accept this award on behalf of the bernice bing estate. thank you. (applause) ♪ ♪ ♪ >> again, congratulations. now we'd like to make a slight modification in our program

[applause] joan myers brown.applause] for her contributions as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. founder of the philadelphia dance company, ms. brown carved out an artistic haven for african american dancers and choreographers to innovate, create, and share their unique visions with the national and global dance communities. [applause] renee fleming. [applause] for her contributions to american music. known to many as "the people's diva," ms. fleming has captivated audiences around the world with an adventurous repertoire spanning opera and the classical tradition to jazz and contemporary pop. [applause] ernest j. gaines. [applause] for his contributions as an author and teacher. drawing deeply from his childhood in the rural south, his works have shed new light on the african american experience and given voice to those who have endured injustice. [applause] ellsworth kelly. [applause] for his contributions as a painter, sculptor and printmaker. a careful observer of form, color and the natural worl

brown people. >> one of the things we did talk about right after the verdict, trumaine, was whether or not this should be approached on a state-by-state basis and joan reid who lived many years in florida said that is great but the chances of, for example, stands your ground being repealed or there being a change in concealed carry laws in florida, the chances of that are slim and none. do you sense anything where you are there that might lead to some sort of legal change, some change in the laws? >> i think here in central florida, the culture is such where black, brown, yellow and green, this is a gun culture so it's not about necessarily people feeling that other folks shouldn't have the right to bear arms or even stand their ground. it's equity once we get into the system and are there two different tracks. one for black folks and one for other people. so right now, it's not so much -- not so much energy around trying to change the laws. a statewide panel assembled by the governor and they came back saying nothing needs to be changed. i think the issue is when we have situations and circumstances as we have seen here in sanford and there seems t