President Joe Biden awarded medals to the recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal. First lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also attended the ceremony
The honorees received their awards about two years late due to a backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Humanities Medal honors those who have improved Americans’ understanding and engagement with history, literature, philosophy and more humanities subjects. The 2021 recipients are poet Richard Blanco, anthropologist, renowned educator, social activist and Jacksonville native Johnnetta Betsch Cole, author Walter Isaacson, social historian Earl Lewis, Native American studies academic Henrietta Mann, novelist Ann Patchett, activist Bryan Stevenson, novelist Amy Tan, memoirist Tara Westover and novelist Colson Whitehead, as well as the organization Native America Calling.
Johnnetta Betsch Cole also recently received the 2022 ATHENA International Global Award. The Florida Times Union reported then;
“Even at age 85, she takes such recognition not as acknowledgment of past work, but fuel to keep educating and keep campaigning for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, people of color and the disabled, among others.
“I haven’t budged in my commitment to speaking out, and I am sticking to my commitment to social justice,” Cole said. “… When you are acknowledged for doing work, make sure you continue to do that work.”
In addition to the National Humanities Medal honors, National Medal of Arts were awarded to Mindy Kaling, Gladys Knight, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bruce Springsteen and fashion designer Vera Wang.