Taglyan Cultural Complex, a venue known for donating services, funding, and the use of their impeccable facility to non-profit organizations, recently hosted the Los Angeles Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta’s “Powerful Women in Red” Luncheon, an event which celebrated 22 African American women in the Los Angeles area for making a positive impact in their communities. The luncheon, which took place on April 13th, 2014, specifically honored Hollywood couple Hattie Winston and Harold Wheeler for their work in the entertainment industry and in the local arts community; Winston, best known for playing “Margaret” on CBS’s long-running sitcom Becker, is currently starring in the Rubicon Theater Company’s revival of Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore, playing now through May 8th, while Wheeler, who served as the musical director on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars for 17 seasons, is providing orchestrations for a revival of the Tony-nominated musical Side Show, which will run at the Kennedy Center through June and July, 2014.
The luncheon organizers, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, is a not-for-profit organization that “creates programming to improve political, education, social, and economic conditions” in local communities throughout the world. Since March 3, 1913 – when Delta Sigma Theta’s first public act was to march on Washington D.C. for women’s suffrage – more than 300,000 women have joined the organization, making it the largest African American Greek-lettered organization in the country. Most of Delta Sigma Theta’s members are Black, college educated women with a passion for philanthropy on both the local and national level.