According to the Associated Press, former First Lady Michelle Obama and The Poor People’s Campaign have been chosen to receive Freedom Awards from Tennessee’s National Civil Rights Museum.
The Freedom award producer Faith Morris said, “A special moment will focus on those events this past year that changed the way this nation sees and deals with racial injustice, including a special tribute.”
In 2009, Obama broke history when she became the United State’s first Black First Lady alongside her husband, Barack. The latter was elected to be the 44th president and was also the first Black president elected in the nation’s history.
During her husband’s two terms, she was a voice for underprivileged families, health reforms, service members, higher education, and international adolescent girls’ education.
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Once she left the White House, Obama kept influencing the nation. She wrote a memoir of her life, “Becoming,” which reached recording-breaking sales and became a New Times Bestseller.
The Poor People’s Campaign got its name from the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington, led by civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., works “to combat systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and religious nationalism.”
Ebony reported that the National Civil Rights Museum is located in Memphis and is found on the property, which was previously known to be the Lorraine Motel, and where King Jr. was killed on April 4, 1968.
The Freedom Award was created in the early ’90s and recognizes “individuals who have made significant contributions in civil rights and who have laid the foundation for present and future leaders in the battle for human rights.”
Some of the past recognized with the award are Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., filmmaker Ava Duverney, journalist Tom Brokaw, and many more.
The virtual award ceremony is set to take place on October 14.
