Actress Meryl Streep and singer Stevie Wonder were pre-sented with the US Presi-dential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honour, at a ceremo-ny at the White House.
The three-time Academy Award winner and the “Superstition” singer received the medals from US President Barack Obama Monday along with 18 other deserving recipients.
The president took the opportunity to express his fondness for Streep. “I love her. Her husband (Don Gummer) knows I love her. Michelle (Obama’s wife) knows I love her. There’s nothing that either of them can do about it. Meryl is truly one of America’s leading ladies.”
“She’s done it all for her craft. She’s sung ABBA (in ‘Mamma Mia!’). That’s something,” he said. The president also presented Wonder with the honour and told the 65-year-old that his 1972 album “Talking Book” was the first record he ever purchased as a youngster.
“I was 10 years old, maybe 11 – with my own cash. I didn’t have a lot of it. And that thing got so worn out … Young people, you won’t remember this, but they had albums,” he said.
Several recipients were awarded posthumously, including James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the three civil rights workers killed during the Freedom Summer of 1964.
Their award was a reminder of “the arc of the nation bends towards justice,” Obama said.
“It took 44 days to find their bodies and 41 years to bring the lead perpetrator to justice,” he said.
Also honored was Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert Kennedy and human rights advocate. The award was reinstated under her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, more than 50 years earlier.(IANS)