7 awarded W.E.B. Du Bois Medals — Harvard Gazette

Ballet dancer Misty Copeland, WNBA star Brittney Griner, and filmmaker Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee were among the honorees at this year’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal ceremony. The event, organized annually by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, recognizes changemakers for their lasting contributions to Black culture, scholarship, and civic life.

Also presented with medals were South Carolina Rep. James E. Clyburn, artist Amy Sherald, and entrepreneur George E. Johnson, whose products revolutionized Black hair care in mid-century America. The politician and human rights activist Marielle Franco was honored posthumously. Franco, an elected member of Rio de Janeiro’s City Council who was assassinated in 2018, became the award’s first Brazilian recipient.

Honorees are said to follow in the footsteps of Du Bois, a towering scholar, author, and activist who became the first Black person to earn a Harvard Ph.D. in 1895. “Each of our seven esteemed medalists embodies this brilliant and courageous man’s dedication to excellence in the arts, in business, philanthropy, and public service — and his determination to fight racism and ethnic hatred wherever they raise their pernicious, ugly heads,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center.

Celebrating their contributions at Sanders Theatre was an enthusiastic crowd of family, friends, students, and community members. Glenn H. Hutchins, the donor who also chairs the Hutchins Center’s National Advisory Board, shared that Copeland had met earlier with College students studying Theater, Dance & Media. Griner and Lee spent the afternoon with players from the women’s and men’s basketball teams.

“You are society’s future leaders, culture-shapers, and role models,” Hutchins said to the students in the audience. “We expect some of you will be on the stage in the future receiving one of these awards.”

Some of the ceremony’s most powerful moments called back to the medal’s namesake. Sherald, well-known for her richly colored portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, was in graduate school when she discovered Du Bois’ “Exhibit of American Negroes” for the 1900 Paris Exhibition. The display, awarded its own medal by organizers of the World’s Fair, wielded photography and data visualization against racist stereotypes.  

“I recognized something of myself in what he was doing — using images to affirm the beauty, intellect, and complexity of Black life,” Sherald recalled. “In that moment, I understood that the work that I was beginning to make — portraiture rooted in grace, in stillness, in the interior lives of Black people — was part of the same conversation.”

Copeland, the first Black dancer promoted to principal in American Ballet Theater’s 85-year history, also evoked the power of representation. Projected behind her was a photo of her confetti-filled final bow, taken just last month, following 25 years with the New York company.

“Standing in that space, I realized that representation isn’t only about being seen,” Copeland said. “It’s about what seeing makes possible. It’s about transforming a tradition, expanding who’s invited to the table, and keeping that door open wide enough for generations to follow.”

The event doubled as a showcase for the Harvard community’s talent and sense of unity. Hopi Hoekstra, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, took the stage to share a chapter from Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk” (1903). Brandon Terry, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, read from Du Bois’ 1909 text “John Brown.” Sarah Lewis, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities and Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, excerpted “The Criteria for Negro Art” (1926).

Retired WNBA player and former Crimson basketball MVP Allison Feaster ’98, currently a vice president with the Boston Celtics, got personal when presenting Griner with her medal. Feaster called the 6-foot-9, three-time Olympic gold medalist — whom she had never met before Tuesday — “one of my heroes” for building interest in the WNBA while embracing her role as an activist following a 10-month imprisonment in Russia three years ago.

“Your experience reminded us all: When one of us is in pain, none of us can remain silent,” Feaster said. “Through your partnership with Bring Our Families Home, you are fighting for others who are wrongly detained abroad, and we thank you for that.”

Other event highlights included Lee’s comical exhortations to fellow New York Knicks fans and Clyburn’s one-by-one acknowledgments of longtime staffers and loved ones. Johnson, who launched Johnson Products Co. in 1954, is known for elevating joyful pictures of Black America through his 1970s sponsorship of the hit TV show “Soul Train.” His remarks shined brightest concerning his impact as an employer, offering Chicagoans well-paying jobs and benefits.

“As I look back on my life at 98 years old,” he said, to a burst of applause, “I am grateful.”