By Stacy M. Brown | NNPA Newswire
National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has received the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights.
“On behalf of the NNPA and the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, as well as on behalf of all my fellow Civil Rights Movement comrades who were present at the President Joe Biden 2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards on the campus of the historic Morehouse College in Atlanta, I express my profound gratitude to President Biden and Vice President Harris,” Dr. Chavis remarked.
“At a time when our nation is facing renewed challenges to our democracy, it was very timely to reassert the importance of the right to vote, the Black Press of America, and the need to continue the fight for freedom, justice, equality, and equity,” he said. “We are committed to achieving #10MillionMoreBlackVoters.”
In addition to honoring Chavis’ work, the awards recognized the Atlanta Student Movement, civil rights leaders, and others who have shaped American history. Over 80 individuals received awards from Biden this year at ceremonies held at North Carolina Central University in Durham; the Elks Lodge in Delray Beach, Fla; and Morehouse College.
Among the many notable recipients were Dr. Otis Moss Jr.; Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. Carter Sr.; Dr. Anne Winbush Watts; Dr. Clarissa Myrick-Harris; and Thurgood Marshall Center Trust Inc. President Thomasina W. Yearwood.
Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Dr. Chavis said it’s important to register new voters. The NNPA and the Transformative Justice Coalition are in the middle of a campaign to register 10 million more Black voters.
“We’ve got work to do,” Chavis declared. “Community Service and Civil Rights, equality, equity, and justice are on the ballot.”
Stacy M. Brown is an NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent and can be reached at @StacyBrownMedia.
Our Weekly coverage of local news in Los Angeles County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support minority-owned-and-operated community newspapers across California.
