International Freedom Conductor Awards lifts lantern for social justice

International Freedom Conductor Awards lifts lantern for social justice 

September 27 event recognized and paid tribute to John Pepper, Isabel Wilkerson and more 

CINCINNATI – On Saturday, September 27, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center hosted the International Freedom Conductor® Awards. Presented by Procter & Gamble and hosted by two-time Emmy® Award–winning journalist and storyteller Tamron Hall, the event brought together over one thousand community members, civic leaders, corporate sponsors and friends of the Freedom Center for a night of celebration and inspiration. 

The International Freedom Conductor Award is the Freedom Center’s highest honor, recognizing people whose lives and actions embody the courage of those who risked everything to lead others to freedom on the historic Underground Railroad. Past recipients include Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, George and Amal Clooney, Hon. Nathaniel R. Jones and Congressman John Lewis. 

The 2025 International Freedom Conductor Award honorees are:  

• Lonnie G. Bunch III – founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and first African American Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

• Opal Lee – the Grandmother of Juneteenth, 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize nominee 

• Toni Morrison – Pulitzer Prize- and Nobel Prize-winning author of The Bluest Eye and Beloved. 

• John E. Pepper Jr. – businessman, philanthropist, and former CEO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 

• Isabel Wilkerson – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. 

Interspersed between tribute videos and award acceptance speeches were musical performances by artists whose voices have moved hearts and inspired action around the world: 

• Deborah Cox, a trailblazer in music and activism with her platinum album "One Wish” and being the first Black woman inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 

• Keith D. Robinson, singer and actor known for “Dreamgirls,” and his starring role as Dr. Ted Richardson on the CBS soap opera “Beyond the Gates.”  

• MAJOR., singer of modern classics “Honest” and “Why I Love You.” 

• MaKenzie Thomas, Kentucky native and LA-based singer-songwriter from the 15th season of “The Voice.” 

• Syleena Johnson, one of R&B’s most authentic voices with her acclaimed “Chapter” album series and standout feature on “All Falls Down.” 

In his closing remarks, Woodrow “Woody” Keown Jr., President and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, invited attendees to identify and realize the ways they themselves can be freedom conductors in their own lives. 

“While we all can’t write great literature, contribute large sums of money, walk from Texas to Washington D.C., build a museum or document the Great Migration, we can all answer the call to be a conductor,” said Keown. “There are ways, great and small, that we can advocate for justice and equality.”