November 3, 2023 (Moscow, Idaho) — The Moscow Human Rights Commission is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Sydney Freeman, Jr. as the recipient of the 2023 Ismat Ara and Abdul Mannan Sheikh Community Unity Award. An award ceremony will be held in Moscow’s 1912 Center Reception Gallery on Thursday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. The event will include an award for Dr. Freeman and the inclusion of his name on a central plaque housed in City Hall as well as a commemorative rock plaque in East City Park to honor the Sheikhs and prior award recipients.
Dr. Freeman is a professor in the Department of Leadership and Counseling at the University of Idaho College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. He is also the director of the Black History Research Lab at University of Idaho and the senior editor-in-chief of the Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education.
The Ismat Ara and Abdul Mannan Sheikh Community Unity Award is a biennial civic award to highlight and honor the achievements of a Moscow citizen or group who has made outstanding commitments to community unity, and who has a history of significant effort on behalf of diversity and human rights in Moscow and the surrounding community.
The award honors the memory of two outstanding Moscow citizens, Ismat Ara Sheikh and her husband, Abdul Mannan Sheikh, who demonstrated the meaning of community unity in their personal lives and outreach to the Moscow community. This was marked in particular by their open invitation to anyone for the community Thanksgiving meals they hosted for many years in Moscow.
The event is hosted by the City of Moscow and the Human Rights Commission. The Moscow community is invited to attend.