By Stacy M. Brown
National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has received the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights.
Chavis received the award during a ceremony Friday at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
“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,” Chavis said.
“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 continued. “We are committed to achieving #10MillionMoreBlackVoters.”
In addition to Chavis, awards were provided to pay tribute to the Atlanta Student Movement, civil rights leaders, and others who have shaped American history.
Among the 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.
Over 80 men and women are scheduled to receive awards from President Biden this year at ceremonies held at North Carolina Central University in Durham, the Elks Lodge in Delray Beach, Fla., and Morehouse College.
A final ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 10 at the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust in Washington, D.C.
“We are eternally grateful to all venues for hosting the awards program this year,” said Dr. Beverly Kee, Executive Director of Premiere Coalition Partners Association, LLC., a Maryland-based certifying organization for the Presidential Volunteer Service Award Program.
“We have a very impressive list of honorees who are making a meaningful difference in their communities, and this venue is so fitting for such a prestigious event,” Kee stated.
Ahead of the 2022 midterms, 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 said. “I thank President Biden for the Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights. Equality, equity, and justice are on the ballot.”
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