Former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and comedian Dave Chappelle are among the eight people being honored by Harvard University for their contributions to black history and culture, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The recipients of the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal will be honored Oct. 11 by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard.
Kaepernick gained national attention in 2016 when he knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice. It led to him being kicked out of the NFL. Since then he has donated millions of dollars to organizations fighting social injustice, and founded the Know Your Rights Camp. Most recently he has been named the face of Nike’s Just Do It campaign.
Chappelle is a comedian, writer and producer who has appeared in several movies, hosted his own show on Comedy Central and earned a Grammy and two Emmys.
The other honorees are Kenneth Chenault, chairman and a managing director of General Catalyst; Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Pamela Joyner, founder of Avid Partners, LLC; psychologist and author Florence Ladd; Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; and artist Kehinde Wiley.
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