Civil rights attorney Fred Gray receives the nation’s highest honor
U.S. President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Fred Gray, one of the first Black members of the Alabama state legislature since Reconstruction, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Biden awarded the nation's highest civilian honor to 17 recipients. The award honors individuals 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.
Fred Gray, an attorney behind major legal cases of the civil rights era, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Thursday, the nation’s highest civilian award.
“From the very beginning, I’ve known that there is no one more deserving of our nation’s highest civilian honor than Attorney Gray whose trailblazing work helped end segregation and advance a more equitable future,” said Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell.
Sewell has been advocating for Gray to receive the award.
Fred Gray was born in Montgomery and dedicated his life to seeking justice for Black people in the courtroom. He’s most known for representing Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, NAACP and victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis study.
At age 91, Gray is still practicing law.
Among the 16 other recipients of the medal was civil rights activist Diane Nash. Nash was born in Chicago and is most known for co-founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Through her leadership in SNCC, she helped lead the Freedom Rides, Selma Voting Rights Movement and lunch counter sit-ins.
King described her as “the driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.”
“Unshakeable courage and leadership, Diane Nash, shapes some of the most important civil rights efforts in American history,” said President Biden during the ceremony.
It wasn’t until years after the civil rights era that Nash received recognition for her work.
Nash continues to be an advocate for nonviolent movements.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sues Trump administration over canceled contract
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a government-backed overseas broadcaster, sued the Trump administration in an attempt to get it to release funds appropriated by Congress.
Alabama’s celebrity weatherman pleads for the National Weather Service
With the life-saving Weather Service in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump and chainsaw-wielding billionaire Elon Musk, weather forecasters like James Spann are speaking out to defend the agency that provides the backbone for their work.
Aurelio Martínez, ambassador of Garifuna music, has died
The Honduran musician, one of the most recognized proponents of a Caribbean culture dating to the 17th century, died Monday in an airplane crash.
Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ shakes up the charts at No. 1
As expected, Lady Gaga's Mayhem storms to a No. 1 debut, becoming her seventh album to top the chart.
Vice President Vance has a new gig: fundraising for the Republican National Committee
Vance will be the first sitting vice president to serve as party finance chairman, according to the RNC. The move places a top Trump ally within the party's campaign wing ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A federal judge says the USAID shutdown likely violated the Constitution
A federal judge has found that the Trump administration likely violated the Constitution when it effectively shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development.
