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NAACP Recognizes Quincy Jones' Humanitarian Work With Medal

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Quincy Jones is set to receive the 99th NAACP Spingarn Medal July 23 at the 105th NAACP National Convention.
This medal is considered the highest honor and only given to Americans with African descent who have completed noble achievements. Jones is seen as a music icon and humanitarian.
“I am enormously honored and humbled to receive the NAACP’s highest recognition, The Spingarn Medal, and to join the distinguished list of its past recipients,” Jones said in a news release.
During his career, he has worked as a composer, record producer, artist, film producer, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, TV producer, record company executive, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur. Jones is known for his musical creations, in which he combines different genres like pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical and even African and Brazilian music.
As a humanitarian, he is most known for the 1985 “We Are the World” platform, where he created the celebrity raising money model. That year, $63 million was raised for Ethiopian famine relief.
“Quincy Jones is an icon of the entertainment industry who has shaped the lives of millions through music, film, and more,” said NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock in the news release. “But what makes Mr. Jones so deserving of this award is how he uses his celebrity and influence to advance critical humanitarian issues across the globe.  We are honored to count him among our prestigious Spingarn medalists.”
Other winners of the medal include: George Washington Carver, Mary McLeod Bethune, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson Lena Horne,  Bill Cosby, and most recently, Harry Belafonte and Jessye Norman.

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