Simone Biles, Denzel Washington & More To Receive Presidential Medal Of Freedom

On Friday, President Joe Biden announced the 2022 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The news was reported by Deadline, which included a list of the seventeen recipients who will be honored at the White House next Thursday, on July 7.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to those who have “made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.” The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Simone Biles, 25, has won a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. In addition to her athletic achievements, she is also a tireless advocate for mental health and victims of sexual assault.

Denzel Washington, 67, is an actor, director, and producer. He’s won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, and the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. The “Training Day” star has also served as National Spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years.

The late Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, will also be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple, as well as the CEO of Pixar. He has had an indescribable impact on the technology and entertainment industries.

The late Senator John McCain, who passed away in 2018, will also be honored. McCain was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his service to the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate for decades and was the 2008 Republican nominee for President of the United States.

Former Congresswoman GabbyGiffords, now 52, was the youngest woman elected to the Arizona State Senate. She first served in the Arizona legislature and later served in the U.S. Congress. After surviving gun violence, she co-founded Giffords, a non-profit organization dedicated to gun violence prevention.

Sister Simone Campbell, 76, is a member of the Sisters of Social Service. She is also the former Executive Director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization.

Dr. Julieta García served as the former president of The University of Texas at Brownsville. She was named one of Time magazine’s best college presidents. Dr. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president.

FredGray, 91, was one of the first black members of the Alabama State legislature. As an attorney, he represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King, who once called him “the chief counsel for the protest movement.” He litigated Browder v. Gayle in front of the Supreme Court.

Father Alexander Karloutsos is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He worked as a priest for over fifty years and provided counsel to several U.S. presidents. He was named by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Khizr Khan is a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. A prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom, he served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom under President Biden.

Sandra Lindsay is a New York critical care nurse. Lindsay served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. She was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials and has been an advocate for vaccines and mental health for health care workers.

Diane Nash, 84, is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Nash worked closely with Martin Luther King, who described her as the “driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.”

Alan Simpson, 90, served as a Senator from Wyoming for 18 years. During his service, he was an advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.

Megan Rapinoe, 36, is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion. She also captains OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality and racial justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Richard Trumka, who passed away in 2021, was president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade. He was also president of the United Mine Workers and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. He was also an advocate for social and economic justice.

BrigadierGeneralWilmaVaught, 92, is one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military. She repeatedly broke gender barriers as she continued to serve in the military. When she retired in 1985, she was one of only seven women generals in the Armed Forces.

RaúlYzaguirre, 82, is a civil rights advocate who served as CEO and president of the National Council of La Raza for thirty years. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under former President Barack Obama.