by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Brendan Kownacki
“Artists have the power to create, we have a power to imagine new realities, imagine a future that we want to see. Hopefully all of us here can help create a better future” said John Legend, the Oscar and Grammy winning singer and songwriter who was in DC being honored as part of this year’s Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards.
John Legend
This years’ awards are the sixth annual event put on by Smithsonian Magazine, honoring individuals from across multiple disciplines who have transformed aspects of American culture through interesting ways. Some have dubbed the event the “Golden Globes of Intellect” due to the vast array of participants from science royalty to the best and brightest of the Hollywood sphere.
Physical Sciences honoree Natalie Batalha
The eight categories recognized are technology, visual arts, life sciences, physical sciences, history, social progress, and youth. Legend was being honored in the final category, performing arts.
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
While many people know Legend for his smooth as silk voice and his spunky and beautiful wife Chrissy Teigen, the singer is also a dutiful civil rights activist and has long been an outspoken political advocate looking out for the best interest of our country. In 2008, Legend penned a song inspired by candidate Barack Obama, he has been a constant critic of the Trump administration, and his song “Glory” for the film Selma, about Martin Luther King, earned him an Academy Award. Legend knows fully that his craft has the ability to do more than entertain, it can make an impact.
Michael Caruso
Michael Caruso, Editor-in-chief of Smithsonian Magazine told Hollywood on the Potomac that his job of identifying honorees is “really fun.” With so many to pick from, the daunting task allows a chance to really highlight the risk takers. “At The Smithsonian, that’s what we do, right? We look at all the great things in America and we bring them here and put them in our museums and in this case, we find geniuses and we bring them to an event like this,” he said.
Nobel-Prize-winning astrophysicist John Mather
Caruso highlighted Elon Musk, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeff Bezos, and Buzz Aldrin among some of his favorites who have appeared over the years. This year’s other honorees included Jony Ive from Apple who was honored in technology, filmmaker Ava DuVernay who was tapped for the visual arts category, and the team from Sesame Workshop who were recognized in the social progress category after introducing a muppet named Julia who has autism.
Quincy Jones
Presenters included Quincy Jones, David Oyelowo, Josh Groban, Branford Marsalis, and Laurene Powell Jobs.
“I go to a lot of awards that just honor people in the entertainment business, but I think it’s cool that this show, this event, honors people in all kinds of fields that are doing amazing things” said Legend. And amazing things they surely are.
John Legend
