Hale County Superintendent Michael Ryans recently presented the 2024 Literary Arts Award to Salaam Green, a poet and native of the Black Belt. The awards ceremony took place at the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Sawyerville for a program entitled, “African Americans and the Arts.”
A graduate of Greensboro High School East, class of 1994, the glass trophy Green was awarded noted her for “Outstanding contributions to the literary arts and commitment to fostering a deeper appreciation for poetry.”
Judge Marvin Wiggins and his wife were also on hand at the event to congratulate Green, who was named Birmingham’s Poet Laureate. Green, in a posting on social media, thanked the church and Wiggins for their acknowledgements. Green also noted that Michael Ryans is serving as the first African American superintendent of Hale County, highlighting Ryans’ own contributions to local Black History.
