(CNN)Thursday President Joe Biden gave 17 people, including Olympic gymnast Simone,Presidential Medal of FreedomWill be awarded. Bail's, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, former Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, and post-mortem Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and former Republican Arizona Senator John McCain.
The 17 individuals will be the first to honor the highest civilians in the country since Biden took office. Vice President Kamala Harris and the second gentleman, Daguemhof, will attend the ceremony at the White House on Thursday afternoon. The
medal is "awarded to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to US prosperity, values, security, world peace, or other important social, public or private efforts." The White House said.
Megan Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion, a member of the US Women's Soccer National Team, will be the first women's soccer player to win a medal.
Gold Star's father, Kizul Khan, who was a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Simon, a former executive director of NETWORK and leader of Catholic social justice, who leads "Nuns of the Bus". Campbell Sisters A group of politically active nuns also wins the award.
The list of winners also includes Fred Gray, one of the first black members of the Alabama Legislature since the reconstruction, representing Rosa Parks, NAACP, and Martin Luther King as lawyers. I am. It also includes retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, one of the most decorated women in US military history. Sandra Lindsay, the first American critical care nurse to receive the Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. Dr. Julieta Garcia, the first Hispanic woman to serve as the president of the university.
Other winners are: Diane Nash, a civil rights activist who works with Martin Luther King and is a founding member of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee. Father Alexander Carlotos, former Vicar General of the Archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. Civil rights defender Raul Isagire was CEO and chairman of the National Council of La Raza. Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming. Former AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is awarded a medal after his death.
"President Biden has long said that America can be defined in one word: possibility. These 17 Americans show the power of possibility, the soul of the country. It embodies diligence, patience, and faith, "Whitehouse said in a statement.
Biden himself has been awarded the Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama at the time surprised the Vice President with the 2017 Awards.
