Phil Donahue and Michelle Yeoh are among the media and entertainment recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which Joe Biden will present at the White House later today.
Other honorees include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), former Vice President Al Gore, former Secretary of State John Kerry and former senator Elizabeth Dole. Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, also will be honored.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. The White House last held a ceremony in July, 2022.
Donahue is being recognized as “a journalist and television pioneer who pioneered the daytime issue-oriented television talk show.” Yeoh is being recognized as the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress, and as someone who “continues to shatter stereotypes and enrich American culture.”
Others on the list include Clarence B. Jones, the civil rights activist and lawyer who helped draft Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech; swimmer Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky; educator and activist Opal Lee; Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space; astronomer Jane Rigby; United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and LGBT activist Judy Shepard.
Being honored posthumously will be Medgar Evers, former senator Frank Lautenberg and multi-sports legend Jim Thorpe.
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