Actress Pam Grier and opera soprano Jessye Norman will be among the recipients of Harvard University’s 2016 W.E.B. Du Bois medals. Named for the civil rights activist, historian, and sociologist, the awards honor those who have made “significant contributions to African and African American history and culture,” the AP reports.
Grier rose to fame in the 1970s for starring in “blaxploitation” action films. The American actress earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for starring in “Jackie Brown,” and Rotten Tomatoes has her ranked as the second greatest female action heroine in film history.
Norman has won multiple Grammy Awards throughout her career, and has also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Medal of Arts, and is a member of the British Royal Academy of Music.
Other medalists this year include hip hop artist and pioneer feminist Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer, the first female solo rapper to release a full album.
The awards are presented by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University on October 6.