The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission will hold its Annual Dinner and Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards on Tuesday, October 3, at 7:00 p.m. at the Old National Events Plaza.  The keynote speaker will be Michael Eric Dyson. 

The 2017 Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards will also be presented at the Human Relations Commission Annual Dinner. The awards recognize businesses, organizations and individuals that embrace and celebrate diversity.

The following are the 2017 Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards recipients.

Sadelle Berger Award

Sondra Matthews

Leadership Award

e is for Everyone

Sue Woodson Community Relations Award

BRIDGE

Willie Effie Thomas Development Award

Abraham Brown

Workforce Diversity Award

Ivy Tech of Southwest Indiana - Skill UP

Bell American Group LLC/Taco Bell

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is presently University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Dr. Dyson is an American Book Award recipient, a two-time NAACP Image Award winner and one of the nation’s most influential and renowned public intellectuals. He has been named one of the 150 most powerful African Americans by Ebony magazine. The Philadelphia Weekly contends that Dr. Dyson is “reshaping what it means to be a public intellectual by becoming the most visible black academic of his time.”

Not only has Dr. Dyson taught at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities – including Brown, Chapel Hill, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania – his influence has carried far beyond the academy into prisons and bookstores, political conventions and union halls, and church sanctuaries and lecture stages across the world.

Dr. Dyson has appeared on nearly every major media outlet, including The Today Show, Nightline, O’Reilly Factor, The Tavis Smiley Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher. He has cemented his star appeal on such shows as Rap City, Def Poetry Jam, and The Colbert Report. He is also a contributing editor of Time magazine.

In addition, he hosts an hour-long news and talk program on NPR, “The Michael Eric Dyson Show,” where he delivers thoughtful analysis of today’s biggest stories from pop culture to race relations.

 For additional information, please contact the Human Relations Commission at (812) 436-4927 or go to www.evansvillegov.org/diversityawards.