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(KRNB) – Rousing, powerful speeches from the presenters and honorees alike marked this year’s Harvard University W.E.B. Du Bois Medal Awards ceremony.
Among the eight honorees was athlete and social activist Colin Kaepernick who told the crowd, according to the Harvard Gazette, that people in positions of privilege and power have a “responsibility” to speak up for the powerless.
“People live with this every single day and we expect them to thrive in situations where they’re just trying to survive,” said the NFL free agent who famously took a knee during pregame national anthems to protest racial injustice in America. “If we don’t, we become complicit. It is our duty to fight for them.”
Comedian Dave Chappelle was among honoree, and humbled by the recognition.
He propped up his parents, especially his mother, a professor of African-American studies. “She raised me well. I am not an uninformed person,” he said.
Colin Kaepernick, Dave Chapelle, Bryan Stevenson Among Those Honored With Harvard's 2018 W.E.B. DuBois Medal https://t.co/aGa5c1r9SE pic.twitter.com/1c76P7wbgK
— LoriLakinHutcherson (@LakinHutcherson) October 12, 2018
Others honored: Writer and social critic Florence C. Ladd; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson; artist Kehinde Wiley; General Catalyst chairman and CEO Kenneth I. Chenault; philanthropist and Avid Partners founder Pamela J. Joyner; and human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson.
Read more and see amazing photos from the ceremony here.
(Source: The Harvard Gazette)
Colin Kapaernick Dave Chappelle harvard university Loni Taylor W.E.B.. DuBois Medal
