APRIL 15, 2011

The Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy will recognize six exceptional individuals at its 5th Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Humanitarian Awards Luncheon to be held at 11:30 a.m., Friday, April 15 at the JSU Student Center on the university’s main campus at 1400 John R. Lynch Street.

Honorees include Monica Galloway, operations director for the Mississippi Center for Justice; Dorie Ladner, civil rights activist arrested for attempting to integrate the Woolworth’s lunch counter; Donna Ladd, an American investigative journalist and co-founder of the Jackson Free Press; Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for The Clarion Ledger; Brad Pigott, community leader known for his “Weed & Seed” and “Safe Streets” programs which aim to reduce and prevent crime; and Hollis Watkins, Civil Rights leader and president of Southern Echo, Inc.

“The Hamer Institute is honored to be able to recognize these special persons in our state,” said Leslie Burl McLemore, director of the Hamer Institute. “Collectively and individually, they have helped to change the course of human history and have been instrumental in modeling a civil society.”

For more information, please contact Latosha Garrett at 601-979-1562, Keith McMillian at 601-979-1563, or email: Hamer.Institute@JSUMS.edu.