NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards Program
Every year the NEA honors America’s human and civil rights heroes at a black-tie awards dinner.
The event was originally created by the American Teachers Association (ATA), which represented Black teachers in segregated schools—and when NEA and ATA merged in 1966, NEA agreed to carry on this annual human and civil rights awards tradition. Nominations come from NEA members, and the NEA Human and Civil Rights Committee reviews the nominations and makes recommendations to the NEA Executive Committee, which decides who shall receive an award.
NEA honors widely acclaimed heroes such as the Reverend Doctor Joseph Lowery, a giant of the civil rights movement. But we also honor unsung heroes such as Marissa Yellow Horse, Estrella Aragon, Julie McCloud, Aries Martinez and Camille Williams—five young Lakota women who have taken on the challenge of providing Native American students in Rapid City, South Dakota the help they need to stay in school and graduate. In years past, we have honored such unsung heroes as Doyle Tony Stewart, the professor who helped defeat the neo-Nazis in northern Idaho, and Clara Luper, the teacher who led the sit-ins and demonstrations that forced Oklahoma City to desegregate all public places.
It is important to us that we celebrate our civil rights heroes because the cause endures, the struggle goes on and hope lives. And the people we honor at the NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner inspire us to purposeful and principled action in the cause of social justice.
If you have any questions, please contact Sabrina Williams, in the NEA Human and Civil Rights Department at (202) 822-7709.
