Hundreds of business and civic leaders gathered Thursday to honor 17 African-American males in the categories of acting, music and sound at the Los Angeles Urban League’s 36th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Dinner.

Themed “Black Men of the Oscars,” tributes were paid to Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Louis Gossett, Jr., Sir Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Prince, Herbie Hancock, Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard, Willie Burton, and Russell Williams II for their ability to transform African-American pop culture in an industry that has been historically biased against people of color. Special honors went to James Baskett, Quincy Jones, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and students Kenneth Pearce and Britney Armstrong.

“When we recognize people who have broken through barriers,” said Robert Gossett, who spoke on behalf of honoree Louis Gossett, Jr., “I think it is done in an effort to encourage people to move forward.”

But moving forward may be easier said then done. Some in attendance took the opportunity to place a spotlight on the decline in opportunities for young people in the arts. State budget deficits in California and across the nation have resulted in the loss of many extracurricular programs in public schools — mainly those in music, dance and theater.

“If you look at when the arts were taken out of schools, you’ll see a rise in violence because children don’t have a way to express themselves. Because that’s been taken away from them, they act out,” said Rosalynn Smith-Clark, founder of Opera Noir, a non-profit organization whose mission is to further cultural diversity in the classical arts. “Children need to be heard so we need to give them the vehicles and the opportunities to express themselves.”

Programs, said Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, who was given the Community Coalition Partnership Award, are fundamental to keeping youth from engaging in criminal behavior.

“The future of this city is not in handcuffs,” said Bratton. “It is in working together to give these young people a chance to succeed.”

But ABC 7 news anchor Marc Brown, who hosted the event at the Century Plaza Hotel, saw a larger picture. “I think we are in the position now where people look at arts [and entertainment] as luxuries not necessities,” he said. “We are going to lose the next generation of [artists] if these things aren’t restored.”