White House Correspondents’ Weekend: April Ryan To Be Honored At Byron Allen Event Celebrating Black-Owned Media

Among the new announcements for events this weekend in D.C.: Saturday’s A Seat at the Table: A Celebration Of Black-Owned Media, which will honor TheGrio’s White House correspondent and CNN political analyst April Ryan.

The event will take place immediately following the WHCA dinner, with Chris Tucker scheduled to host, along with a musical performance by Mary J. Blige. Also scheduled to make an appearance D-Nice, while Brian Henry will be the DJ.

Sponsors of the event are Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, Coca-Cola, Ford, the HHS Covid-19 Public Education Campaign, JPMorgan Chase, the NAACP, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Procter & Gamble.

Ryan has covered the White House for the past 25 years, and is the longest serving African American female White House correspondent, according to TheGrio.

In a statement, Allen called Ryan “an American treasure” who “always brings the truth.” “I am proud to say we finally have a seat at the White House, and together we will continue to make positive history,” he said. A previous member of the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Ryan said, “I never imagined that I would have a front-row seat to history, and at the same time make it.” Allen’s company acquired the site in 2016, and Ryan was named its White House correspondent in 2020.