President Obama will be awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including three civil rights workers who were killed in the 1960s.
According to USA Today, the medal is the highest honor that can go to civilians and that it is given to those who “have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or significant public or private endeavors.”
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner are the activists who will be award posthumously. They were killed in Mississippi in 1964 while working for voter registrations.
Other recipients will include actress Meryl Streep, Ethel Kennedy, who is the widow of the late Robert Kennedy, Tom Brokaw, and Stephen Sondheim, who is a composer.
The Associated Press reported that other recipients include Suzan Harjo, who is a Native American activitist, and another actress, Marlo Thomas.
Other items that President Obama will be focusing on this week include decisions on Iran in regards to reducing sanctions against Tehran if they give up their nuclear weapons program.
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