WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
US President Joe Biden has named 19 prominent figures from politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, and LGBTQ activism to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros, and actor and director Denzel Washington are among 19 prominent figures from various walks of life who will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the US, today at a ceremony at the White House.
US President Joe Biden has named 19 prominent figures from politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, and LGBTQ activism to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year.
The White House said the recipients have made outstanding contributions to the prosperity, values, and security of the United States and world peace, or to other significant social, public, or private endeavors.
Four medals will be awarded posthumously. The recipients are Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; George Romney, who served as Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense.
Kennedy is the father of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by incoming President Donald Trump as health and human services secretary; and Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Mitt Romney, one of Trump's most vocal critics among conservatives.
Among the philanthropists receiving the award are Spanish-American chef José Andrés, whose charity World Central Kitchen has become one of the most recognized charities in the world, and Bono, the frontman of the rock band U2 and a social justice activist.
Among the stars of sports and entertainment were footballer Lionel Messi, Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Ervin "Magic" Johnson, actor Michael J. Fox, who advocates for research into a cure for Parkinson's disease, and scientist William Sanford Nye.
Other honorees include conservationist Jane Goodall, longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine Anna Wintour, American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, founder of the American Film Institute George Stephens Jr., entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill, and co-founder of the global investment firm Carlyle Group David Rubenstein.
Last year, Biden awarded 19 Presidential Medals of Freedom, and recipients included Medgar Evers, Nancy Pelosi, James Klabber, and actress Michelle Yeoh.
