Award-winning Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, has received the highest honour of Harvard University, the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal.
The W.E.B. Du Bois Medal has not been awarded to anyone since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is the highest honour given by Harvard in the field of African and African American studies.
Chimamanda is known for her incredible storytelling and he advocacy for gender equality. She was also a speaker at the Harvard College class Day in 2018 and was previously a Harvard Radcliffe institute fellow between 2011 and 2012; the medal allows her to join the list of trailblazers like Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Ava Duvernay, Dave Chappelle, Queen Latifah, Nasir “Nas” Jones, John Lewis, Steven Spielberg, Athlete-activist Colin Kaepernick and other who are past recipients of the medal.
Other recipients of the award include Kareem Abdul-jabbar, Laverne Cox, Agnes Guns, Raymond J McGuire, Deval Patrick and Better Saar.
A Professor of the University and director of the Hutchins Center said in a statement that,
“Whether they’ve distinguished themselves in the arts, civic life, education, athletics activism, or any combination of the above, these medalists show in all that they do their unyielding commitment to pushing the boundaries of representation and creating opportunities for people who who have the great promise of our times”. It said.
