South Bend celebrates African American leaders at ceremony Thursday night

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend is celebrating a decade of honoring African American leaders in the community.  

Thursday night, the Black History Month celebrations continue at the Century Center at 6 p.m. in downtown South Bend

This program started back in 2014 to recognize community members who are making a difference. 

And over the years, it has expanded to include an annual awards ceremony, which Mayor James Mueller calls this year's honorees a great group of individuals.  

"We have so many folks in our community that makes South Bend a better place, and we want to make sure we recognize them, but also we want to inspire the next generations to step up and continue moving our community forward. So, we're excited that we got another great group of individuals to honor here on Thursday," Mueller said. 

It's free and open to the public, with food provided by local restaurants.  

The ceremony will highlight 11 honorees, with their photos currently displayed on digital billboards across the city.  

Mueller says this evening is all about inspiring the next generation. 

"It's important to celebrate leaders in our community and the impacts of the community. Of course, we've got a lot of challenges that we have to address together, and the only way that we're able to overcome them is working together and coming up with solutions," Mueller said. 

"So, these are leaders that are on the or have been on the front lines, or continue to be on the front lines, helping make our community better. And so, we hope that the community will come in and support them. And then we also hope that, like I said, the next generation of leaders will be inspired to continue to make South Bend a better place to live."