WASHINGTON — In one of his last official acts as president, Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients, including a posthumous award to civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, who died in 1977.
The Delta native is the 11th Mississippian to receive the honor since 1964.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.
Two others receiving posthumous medals are Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and former Michigan Gov. George Romney. Other recipients of the awards, which were presented Saturday at the White House, are Spanish-American culinary innovator Jose Andres, rock star and activist Bono of U2, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, entrepreneur Tim Gill, world-renowned ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, soccer super star Lionel Messi, retired basketball great Magic Johnson, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, Bill Nye “the science guy,” businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein, investor and philanthropist George Soros, award-winning writer and director George Stevens Jr. and renowned fashion icon Anna Wintour.