Obama was a big fan of Prince, and we know P performed at the White House for the first family, but why wasn't he awarded one of the highest honors in the U.S. - the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Bruce Springsteen was - Aretha Franklin too, even Diana Ross was given the honor. Why not Prince?

Mikado said:

Obama was a big fan of Prince, and we know P performed at the White House for the first family, but why wasn't he awarded one of the highest honors in the U.S. - the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Bruce Springsteen was - Aretha Franklin too, even Diana Ross was given the honor. Why not Prince?

I think that particular award is for to people that are living. If someone had nominated him for that award while he was living, he might have received it. There is another award THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM is considered the highest award of the United States government. Honorees are selected solely bu the president and their accomplishment are in wide-ranging fields, including public servie, journalis, ENTERTAINMENT, sports and business. Ther is only one medal or award for deceased individuals..I think it's the PRESIDENTIAL CITIZEN MEDAL. There is one NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS, an award and title created by the United States congress in 1984 for the purpose of honoring artist and patrons of the arts, It is the highest honor specifically given for achievement in the Arts, conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. I think the award you mention is for living nominees.

I tried to get fams to send letters to then President Obama, only three people sent letters or emails to nominate Prince for the Nationa Medal of Arts Award. I contacted the department at the White House that handles those nominations. there was a deadline and I got my letter there in time. The problem with that was, that Obama was leaving office, so I lost out on that.

When Trump became president I tried again but was told that the president had put those nominations on hold and they didnt know what to tell me except to send in the nomination. I did that and I havent heard anything since that time. There is only one medal that is awarded posthomously. I cant think of the name of it because it has been so long. Here is the link or was the link for the criteria:

www.whitehouse.gov/citizensmedal/criteria or http://www.whitehouse.govcontact.

I sent my letter to DIRECTOR OF PRESIDENTAL CORRESPONDENCE....if those links dont work, you can still find out about medals, awards and nominations on line

ChickenMcNuggets said:

I wonder whether he’d have been offered it for last year’s ceremony if he’d still been around.

If someone had nominated him, maybe...but there is one award that the president chooses himself

EmmaMcG said:

He didn't do anything to deserve it. Of course, that argument could be made about several of its other recipients but just because one person got it that didn't deserve it doesn't mean that someone else who doesn't deserve it should get it.

he did many things to deserve a medal or award but, this award is for living nominees only. Check out the criteria online...

EmmaMcG said:

He didn't do anything to deserve it. Of course, that argument could be made about several of its other recipients but just because one person got it that didn't deserve it doesn't mean that someone else who doesn't deserve it should get it.

'The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the President of the United States "for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors" ' (Wikipedia)

Prince's artistic achievements and humanitarian work largely cover this, don't they?

[Edited 8/11/18 16:35pm]

He was alive for most of Obama's administration, who I imagine would have been the most likely to award him with the honor, but it didn't happen. I wouldn't be somewhat miffed by it if Diana Ross of all people recieved it.

Because quoted from Stevie Wonder. "If MJ was the king of pop Prince was the EMPERIOR".....

CherryMoon57 said:

EmmaMcG said:

CherryMoon57 said:

'The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the President of the United States "for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors" ' (Wikipedia)

Prince's artistic achievements and humanitarian work largely cover this, don't they?

[Edited 8/11/18 16:35pm]

As Prince fans, we would think so but I don't think Prince is as popular as some people on the org think he is. A lot of people, especially those who are my age and younger, don't know who he is.

“Think about it:

He grows up this poor black kid on a march to nowhere in a nowhere white town,

and when the news announces "Prince has died"

—there have been princes for 10,000 years,

there must be princes in Saudi Arabia and Europe and Africa right now—

nobody said "Prince who?"

The color purple has been part of the universe since the Big Bang.

Prince dies, they bathe global monuments in purple, nobody says,

"Why?"

I think from a racial point of view,

from a class point of view,

it's such a profound achievement.

You know,

this guy is the one genius

that every other genius says is a genius.

And he was able to pull that off.”

~ Van Jones~

ChocolateBox3121 said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

EmmaMcG said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

“Think about it:

He grows up this poor black kid on a march to nowhere in a nowhere white town,

and when the news announces "Prince has died"

—there have been princes for 10,000 years,

there must be princes in Saudi Arabia and Europe and Africa right now—

nobody said "Prince who?"

The color purple has been part of the universe since the Big Bang.

Prince dies, they bathe global monuments in purple, nobody says,

"Why?"

I think from a racial point of view,

from a class point of view,

it's such a profound achievement.

You know,

this guy is the one genius

that every other genius says is a genius.

And he was able to pull that off.”

~ Van Jones~

The thing is though that quite a lot of people said "Prince who?". The majority of people I know who are my age or younger don't have a clue who he is and the few that do only know 2 or 3 songs. He might have been a big pop culture figure in the 80s but that was a long time ago.

Maybe in YOUR little world. So teach them who he is and introduce them to the thousands of music and concerts he left behind. U know who he is.

[Edited 8/12/18 11:26am]

petalthecat said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

“Think about it:

He grows up this poor black kid on a march to nowhere in a nowhere white town,

and when the news announces "Prince has died"

—there have been princes for 10,000 years,

there must be princes in Saudi Arabia and Europe and Africa right now—

nobody said "Prince who?"

The color purple has been part of the universe since the Big Bang.

Prince dies, they bathe global monuments in purple, nobody says,

"Why?"

I think from a racial point of view,

from a class point of view,

it's such a profound achievement.

You know,

this guy is the one genius

that every other genius says is a genius.

And he was able to pull that off.”

~ Van Jones~

The reason monuments around the world were lit purple on Apr 21 2016 was to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday. It's just one of those quirky coincidences.

There's no such thing as coincidences. And don't use the word quirky associated with a musical idols death. It's disrespectful.

ChocolateBox3121 said:

EmmaMcG said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Maybe in YOUR little world. So teach them who he is and introduce them to the thousands of music and concerts he left behind. U know who he is.

[Edited 8/12/18 11:26am]

It's not my business to teach anyone about Prince. If Prince wanted people to know who he was, he would have made his music more accessible to younger listeners. Unfortunately he didn't. Therefore, very few young people know or care who he is.

You seem to forget that we are not discussing an award given to the most popular person in the world right now. This is not what this award is about and a brief look at the list of previous recipients of the award will immediately tell you that. With his musical stature, lifelong achievements and the impact he has had not only on the music scene but also in many people's lives, Prince stood just as high a chance as anyone else in the list. For you to say that he would not deserve it is absurd.

How was he supposed to do that? are you talking about his allowing his stuff to be on youtube or changing his music to accomodate the young. No matter what trends Prince followed he was still going to be a 57 year old musician in an ageist industry. Plus, you kind of suck as a fan if you can't drop a good word every once in a while about his guy.

EmmaMcG said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Maybe in YOUR little world. So teach them who he is and introduce them to the thousands of music and concerts he left behind. U know who he is.

[Edited 8/12/18 11:26am]

It's not my business to teach anyone about Prince. If Prince wanted people to know who he was, he would have made his music more accessible to younger listeners. Unfortunately he didn't. Therefore, very few young people know or care who he is.

CherryMoon57 said:

EmmaMcG said:

He didn't do anything to deserve it. Of course, that argument could be made about several of its other recipients but just because one person got it that didn't deserve it doesn't mean that someone else who doesn't deserve it should get it.

'The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the President of the United States "for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors" ' (Wikipedia)

Prince's artistic achievements and humanitarian work largely cover this, don't they?

[Edited 8/11/18 16:35pm]

This a European perspective so IDK, but it is my feeling that Prince was never widely perceived as a militant artist:

- His charity wasn't much publicized, and often even kept entirely secret. Tabloids would even occasionally write that he was cheap and selfish.

- I don't think Prince was ever perceived as a champion of African-American civil rights, his occasional lyrics about being Black in America were all written after the end of his career peak, i.e. from 1993 onwards, and were largely ignored, and P's efforts to put an end to musical apartheid on the radio and TV in the early to mid 80's was usually perceived as a selfish career move, more than a desire to promote Black music. To that we may add that there was a lot of ambiguity about his racial origins purposedly maintained up until PR (thius giving the impression he wasn't "black and proud"), and we know that circa 1987 there were accusations of Prince having "sold out" to white audiences (hence TBA as a response to those critics).

- The general discourse Prince had, promoting peace, education, equality and other humanist values was never taken very seriously by the media, and largely ignored by the general population. Probably it was too religious and some saw Prince as a kind of bigot, and on the other hand it was usually mixed with a post-hippie discourse about "malking love not war" that wasn't taken very seriously since the late 70's, as the hippies ideals were perceivbed as having failed, of not providing a solid answer to the world's problems. With the exception of SOTT, no other famous Prince song takes a "serious" approach to social problems, it's either naive or epicurian, with people retaining little more than "let's party like it's 1999".

.

Now don't get me wrong, as someone deeply invested in P's music and lyrics, and as someone who has been exposed to them from the age of 12 onwards, P's polical and philosophical stances have been highly influential on me, and I've always taken them quite seriously, including the hippie ideals part. But most people were usually surprised when I'd tell them Prince was very religious, and a feminist, and that there were many political aspects in his lyrics. Most people assumed he only wrote about love and sex. By comparison, people such as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan or Sting (to name a few) were seen as "serious" political artists, either struggling for civil rights in the US, or human rights in general. Prince was too sexy, too sexual even, and maintained too much of a glamorous and eccentric image for people to realize he actually had a strong political discourse.

SkipperLove said:

How was he supposed to do that? are you talking about his allowing his stuff to be on youtube or changing his music to accomodate the young. No matter what trends Prince followed he was still going to be a 57 year old musician in an ageist industry. Plus, you kind of suck as a fan if you can't drop a good word every once in a while about his guy.

EmmaMcG said:

ChocolateBox3121 said: It's not my business to teach anyone about Prince. If Prince wanted people to know who he was, he would have made his music more accessible to younger listeners. Unfortunately he didn't. Therefore, very few young people know or care who he is.

Glad U replied! Because what I wanted to reply with would have gotten me banned.

With fans like this who needs an enemy

And why didn't Prince win all the Grammys and American Music Awards and, and, and, and.....

Prince wasn't the greatest (I think he was) but not everyone saw thought he was. That's why.

[Edited 8/12/18 21:11pm]

Mikado said:

CherryMoon57 said:

SkipperLove said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Milty2 said:

EmmaMcG said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Glad U replied! Because what I wanted to reply with would have gotten me banned.

With fans like this who needs an enemy

If you're afraid to say it on a public thread, then please orgNote me what you want to say. And "with fans like this who needs an enemy"? What do you think a fan's duty should be? I'll tell you what I think a fan's duty is. For me, a fan has no duty. It's the artist who needs to impress the fan, not the other way around. The artist has a duty to create music worth listening to. And Prince fulfilled that duty (mostly) throughout his life. That was his job and he was rewarded by fans like me buying his records. I even bought Hit'n'run Phase One and I hate that album. That doesn't sound like something his enemy would do.

I pass. I already know U not someone I want to further communicate with.

Doesn't seem like a very Jehovah's Witness thing to accept, maybe no one wanted to take that risk?

Since JW's don't practice politics, Prince would have probably politely refused the award. For all we know, he was offered it but turned it down. Of course, that assumes Prince was a practicing JW when he passed/was theoretically offerd the award. Some say he wasn't. But even if he wasn't, he still may have observed the "no politics" part.