Shirley Sherrod

The fifth annual Athens Area Black History Bowl features Michael L. Thurmond, chief executive officer of DeKalb County and author of Freedom: Georgia’s Antislavery Heritage, 1733–1865, and Shirley Sherrod, Georgia’s first black state director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and author of The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear. Honorees include Willie and Tommie Farmer of the Clarke County NAACP; radio personalities Barbara “Lady B” Sims and Valdon and Shirley Daniel; and UGA’s first African-American dean, Ivery Clifton. The program includes youth recitals, a film screening and a talk by local writer Earnest Thompson. A reception will follow at the First AME Church Fellowship Hall.