Joe Biden: ‘A woman can do anything a man can do, and then some’

President Joe Biden has honoured acclaimed filmmakers, singers, writers and others who have made their mark on American culture, awarding the prestigious National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals to 39 recipients.

The arts medals are given “to individuals or groups who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.”

The humanities medals honor “an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history or literature, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.”

Filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee and Ken Burns and singers Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah were among 20 recipients of National Medals of Arts, while the 19 recipients of National Humanities Medals included playwright-screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and historian Jon Meacham. 

Actors Idina Menzel and Eva Longoria, producer Bruce Cohen and musicians Leonardo “Flaco” Jimenez and Herbert I. Ohta also received arts medals, along with photographers Randy A. Batista and Clyde Butcher, artists Carrie Mae Weems, Alex Katz and Mark Bradford, arts leaders Jo Carole Lauder and Bruce Sagan and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Three of the medals were awarded posthumously: the late singer Selena Quintanilla and artist Ruth Asawa are arts medal winners and the late chef-author Anthony Bourdain was among the humanities medal winners.

“Above all, you are the masters of your craft that have made us a better America with all of you have done,” Biden said at the White House ceremony. 

Humanities medalists ranged from such cultural institutions as the Mellon Foundation and Appalshop to educators Robin Harris, Robert Martin and Ruth J. Simmons to scholars Pauline Yu, Nicolás Kanellos and Robin Wall Kimmerer. Writer Juan Felipe Herrera, filmmaker Dawn Porter and anthropologist Rosita Worl also were honoured.

Other humanities winners included former US poet laureate Joy Harjo, actor-literacy advocate LeVar Burton, cartoonist Roz Chast and philanthropists Wallis Annenberg and Darren Walker. 

Biden took a brief detour in his remarks to give a shout-out to Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for the White House.

“I know the power of the women in this room to get things done” and boost the next generation, he said, adding that the female winners were “proving a woman can do anything a man can do, and then some, that includes being president of the United States of America.”

The line drew a standing ovation.

Biden also told the winners that the moment was a “very consequential time in the arts and humanities in America” because “extreme forces are banning books, trying to erase history, spreading misinformation.”