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Harvard Humanist of the Year Award to Be Presented to Three Racial Justice Champions: Ijeoma Oluo, Sikivu Hutchinson, and Mandisa Thomas

For Immediate Release

Contact: Roy Speckhardt, [email protected], 202-550-9775

(Washington, DC, September 14, 2020) – Ijeoma Oluo, Sikivu Hutchinson, and Mandisa Thomas will jointly be awarded the Harvard Humanist of the Year Award. The Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard chose awardees whose leadership embodies the very best of humanism’s potential to inspire social change. This award event is also part of the American Humanist Association’s monthly Speaking of Humanism series.

Where: The event will be held online on Zoom and livestreamed on Facebook

When: Thursday, September 17, 2020, 3:00pm to 4:15pm ET

Who: Greg Epstein, Harvard Humanist Chaplain, will MC this event, awarding:

  • Ijeoma Oluo, the Seattle-based writer, speaker, and author of the recent #1 New York Times bestselling book, So You Want to Talk About Race?
  • Author and educator Sikivu Hutchinson, who is the founder of the Women’s Leadership Project program for girls of color and founder of Black Skeptics Los Angeles.
  • Founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, Inc, Mandisa Thomas, who appears frequently in the media and serves on the boards of multiple freethought organizations.

Mandisa Thomas, Sikivu Hutchinson, and Ijeoma Oluo

Why: Progressive Black humanist women are spearheading anti-racist social justice interventions built on their lived experiences and social histories that are increasingly under siege. These leaders make a valuable and necessary call for social justice change in a polarized climate where Black women’s political power has become a galvanizing national force.

Watch this virtual event here, as a part of the American Humanist Association’s Speaking of Humanism series.

Recordings will be added to the AHA YouTube Channel and the AHA Center for Education website.

The American Humanist Association

The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of Humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of Humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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