Joseph E. Lowery
In addition to speaking at Coretta Scott King s funeral and giving the benediction at President Barack Obama s inauguration, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery is most recently noted for winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His numerous other awards include: the NAACP award at its 1997 convention for dean of the civil rights movement, and Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the Martin Luther King Jr. Center Peace Award and the National Urban League s Whitney M. Young, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Ebony has named him one of the 15 greatest black