Meghan, Prince Harry to receive honor at NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will receive the President’s Award in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. The award will be presented during the 53rd NAACP Image Awards this weekend.

The NAACP announced Thursday that it had selected Prince Harry and Meghan who have “heeded the call to social justice” and joined the “struggle for equity” in the U.S. and around the world.

Through the couple’s Archewell Foundation, which they launched in 2020, Harry and Meghan have supported efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and focused their attention on the Black Lives Matter movement and fighting for racial justice.

“It’s a true honor to be recognized by President Derrick Johnson and the NAACP, whose efforts to propel racial justice and civil rights are as vital today as they were nearly 115 years ago,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement. 

The couple will be given the award during the Feb. 26 ceremony that will be televised on BET.

Previous recipients include Jay-Z, Muhammad Ali, Rihanna, LeBron James and Jesse Jackson.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said Prince Harry and Meghan have inspired the next generation of activists through creation of the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Awards to honor leaders utilizing technology to advance social justice, whose winner has yet to be announced.

The awards take place over several days, and many winners have already been named, including Saweetie for Best New Artist, Jazmine Sullivan for Outstanding Female Artist and Anthony Hamilton for Outstanding Male Artist.