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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will receive a President's Award during Saturday's 53rd NAACP Image Awards in recognition of their dedication to public service, the organization announced today.
``We're thrilled to present this award to Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who together have heeded the call to social justice and have joined the struggle for equity both in the US and around the world,'' Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement.
``Not only do they continue to lead by example, the Duke and Duchess have also decided to inspire the next generation of activists through the NAACP- Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, ensuring the support and recognition of generations of civil rights leaders to come.''
The newly created Digital Civil Rights Award will recognize ``leaders creating transformational change -- at the intersection of social justice and technology -- to advance civil and human rights.''
``It's a true honor to be recognized by President Derrick Johnson and the NAACP, whose efforts to propel racial justice and civil rights are as vital today as they were nearly 115 years ago,'' Prince Harry and Meghan said in a joint statement.
``We're proud to support the NAACP's work and to also partner with the organization on the newly created annual NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which will be bestowed to Dr. Safiya Noble as part of the 53rd NAACP Image Awards.''
Noble, a professor of gender studies and African-American studies at UCLA, will receive the honor for pioneering the ``study of how digital technologies intersect with culture, race and gender.'' She was named a MacArthur Fellow last year for her founding of Equity Engine, a nonprofit that works to enable women of color to succeed through access to education, investments and mentorship.
Previous recipients of the President's Award include Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, LeBron James, Rihanna, Shawn ``Jay-Z'' Carter, Lauryn Hill and Soledad O'Brien.