Oprah Winfrey and performer-activist Harry Belafonte were among those honored at Harvard University on Tuesday at its annual celebration of African American culture.
The university's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research presented its annual W.E.B. Du Bois Medals to eight people at the ceremony, also including British architect David Adjaye, civil rights hero U.S. Rep John Lewis, D-Ga.; "12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" creator Shonda Rhimes and movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
The medal has been awarded since 2000 and is Harvard's highest honor in the field of African and African American Studies.
Winfrey also accepted a posthumous award for author and poet Maya Angelou, who she has called a mentor. The billionaire television host, producer and philanthropist said one of her fondest memories of Angelou, who died earlier this year, was sitting at her table and eating biscuits.
Rhimes, creator of hit shows with black female protagonists, said it shouldn't be so unusual, in this day, to expect characters on television shows to "look like the rest of the world." In a recent Associated Press interview about her new ABC show, "How To Get Away With Murder," starring Viola Davis as a criminal lawyer and law professor, Rhimes said "Why did it take somebody black to talk about being black?"
Belafonte recalled his days in the civil rights movement with figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and actor Paul Robeson.
Lewis, who was presented a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by President Barack Obama, was introduced Tuesday by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Introducing the other honorees were novelist Jamaica Kincaid, Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson, Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard Graduate School of Design Dean Mohsen Mostafavi, and American Repertory Theater's artistic director Diane Paulus.
Du Bois, a scholar who founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard. Selections from his writings were read at the ceremony.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
Comments
Belafonte and Winfrey Honored by Harvard
I loved reading this article for so many reasons. It has so much to do with overcoming obstacles, and is very pro-active. These are the types of things our society and nation for that matter needs to see more of. I personally love Oprah and Harry Belafonte, and I think it is fabulous to see them recognized for the huge accomplishments they have made. When people are willing to stand up and do all they can for others they deserve to succeed as they have done. A big 'Congratulations!" and best wishes to both of them. Thank you for your contributions of yourselves. Best wishes as you continue on.
Recognizing Greatness!!!
This is such a remarkable article pointing out the achievements of such high people in the world and awarding them for their brilliance and what they have done during these years. The other winners honored have also showed their prowess in their specified field of character for instance the creator of the TV shows Scandal and Grey's Anatomy. In addition to whoever reads This article, it speaks a lot to Africans and African Americans worldwide who can be moved and inspired by this article. In Oprah's point of view it was really nice of you her to dedicate the award for her late Maya Angelo who has inspired millions of people around the world especially females everywhere. This is what we should acknowledge as a society the positives that happens in the colleges and try to decrease the negative around us. Congrats to the winners and everyone who participated in such an amazing even held annually by the Harvard staff.