Over the weekend, the Sanders Theatre inducted the 2026 W. E. B. Du Bois Medal honorees. The new class includes Mavis Staples, Didier Drogba, Angela Bassett, Reed Hastings, James Manyika, Lena Waithe, Theaster Gates and Fletcher “Flash” Wiley. Their contributions to art, culture, leadership, and service set the tone for 2026 and showed how much a life’s work can make room for others.
“Tremendously grateful to have received this year’s W.E.B. Du Bois Award from The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University,” Gates penned on Instagram. “To be celebrated alongside the incredible Mavis Staples, Angela Bassett, Didier Drogba, Lena Waithe, Flash Wiley, Reed Hastings, and James Manyika is an honor I will hold dear forever.”
Harvard University President Alan M. Garber and Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center, shared the stage with the award recipients. However, Glenn H. Hutchins, the philanthropist who chairs the center’s national advisory board, was entrusted with placing golden medals around the necks of each honoree.
As these honorees continue to inspire future generations, their legacies reinforce the importance of fostering inclusivity and innovation in our communities. The evening was a heartfelt tribute to the spirit of service and creativity, leaving all attendees with a renewed sense of purpose and motivation to make a difference in the world.
“I was so honored to receive the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at the Hutchins Center Honors last night at Harvard along with my fellow honorees,” Staples said. “It was great to see my longtime friend, Skip Gates. Thank you Skip, President Alan Garber and everyone at the Hutchins Center. I’m truly honored to receive this medal.”
The induction of the 2026 W.E.B. Du Bois Medal honorees at Harvard highlighted the powerful legacy of service and creativity, inspiring a collective commitment to inclusivity and positive change in our communities. “To our medalists and everyone who shared this evening with us: thank you for sending us home inspired,” the Hutchins Center at Harvard said in a statement.