Author and journalist Wil Haygood is the recipient of this year’s Freedom Summer of ‘64 Award from Miami University.

According to a press release, the annual award is given to leaders dedicated to furthering civil rights and social justice efforts.

Haygood is a Miami alumnus who has written about Freedom Summer and told stories of those involved in advocating for civil rights. 

Haygood has also written books about Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, White House butler Eugene Allen and Sammy Davis, Jr. He also wrote “Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World.”

Other recipients of this award include U.S. Representative John Lewis and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.