Dave Chappelle, Colin Kaepernick Honored With Harvard Black Culture Awards

Comedian and activist Dave Chappelle and former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick were honored Thursday with the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at the sixth annual Hutchins Center Honors presented by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

The two were among eight total recipients honored at the ceremony. The other honorees are Kenneth Chenault, chairman and a managing director of General Catalyst; Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Pamela Joyner, founder of Avid Partners, LLC; psychologist and author Florence Ladd; Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; and artist Kehinde Wiley.

According to the Hutchins Center, the medals honor those who advocate for human rights and who have made significant contributions to African and African-American history and culture. 

Kaepernick, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, created a firestorm when he began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and social injustice.

The full ceremony can be watched on YouTube. Kaepernick’s remarks were not broadcast due to Kaepernick’s collusion case against the NFL.

By Associated Press