The Through Sleet’s Eyes Festival will return this January, with organizers saying they plan to tie in Owensboro native and historic Pulitzer Prize winner Moneta Sleet Jr.’s love for jazz music.
The festival will be held on January 5 at the RiverPark Center, and event chair Emmy Woosley teased what’s to come.
“We are excited for 2024. By combining the inspiring photojournalism of Moneta Sleet Jr. with an award-winning jazz trio from New York City, this will be such an incredible cultural opportunity for engagement with our community,” Woosley said.
Woosley said there is still more to be announced for the festival.
The event last year showcased panels of Sleet’s work and included a play as well as a documentary featuring interviews with Sleet’s colleagues, family, and friends.
Sleet’s Pulitzer Prize win in Photojournalism in 1969; he was the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Sleet was born in Owensboro in 1926 and attended Western High School, the segregated school for Black students.
Sleet went on to work for “Amsterdam News,” “Our World Magazine,” and eventually “Ebony” and “Jet” magazines in 1955. That led to him photographing countries throughout the globe, and eventually working closely with Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
During his time working with King, Sleet documented much of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and even King’s funeral, which resulted in Sleet’s monumental Pulitzer win.
