Queen Latifah is to be honoured by Harvard University for her contributions to black history and culture.
Latifah is one of seven honourees who will receive the institution’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at a ceremony on 22 October.
Other recipients include poet and educator Elizabeth Alexander and the artist Kerry James Marshall.
American philosopher and social activist Dr. Cornel West will give the closing remarks at the event.
The medal is named after William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois – the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895.
A polymath scholar, writer, and editor, Du Bois was also a leading light in the civil rights movement and helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The rapper and actress is not the first hip-hop star to be honoured with the medal, as LL Cool J was a recipient in 2017, while Nas was chosen for the accolade in 2015. Harvard chiefs have also established a Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship in his name.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay and comedian Dave Chappelle are also among the other past recipients of the W.E.B Du Bois Medal.
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