Megan Rapinoe's Presidential Medal of Freedom: "This is for all of us"
Joe Biden announced 17 individuals set to receive the highest civilian honor in the US on July 7th. Megan Rapinoe talks about joining a list including Simone Biles, John McCain & Gabby Giffords:
This July 7th at the White House, US Soccer star Megan Rapinoe joins the likes of Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and John F Kennedy as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award is the highest civilian honor in the United States, “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
President Harry Truman first initiated the award by executive order on July 6, 1945. Founded in the waning remnants of catastrophic world war, its intent was to acknowledge “meritorious, war-connected acts or services”. In 1952, out of a hot war and into a cold one, Truman expanded the award’s allocation to include “meritorious acts or services in the interests of the security of the United States”.
In 1963, John F Kennedy issued another executive order which amended the recipient allocations to include its present distinctions, which are broadly defined as security, national interest, world peace, and significant cultural or personal endeavors.1
Since 1963, 647 individuals have received it. Seventeen more, including Megan Rapinoe, will add their names to an illustrious list on July 7th in DC.
According to US Soccer, Megan found out while training with the US Women’s National Team in Denver last week. When “The White House” showed up on her cell phone during lunch, Kelley O’Hara had to convince her it might not be spam, before she picked it up and it was Joe Biden.
Speaking to media today, Megan sat before the now-familiar zoom screen doing facial exercises, looking calm as ever in her pink hair and STATES Nike zip-up, while the press officer introduced her presidential honor. As he handed her the mic, she began by doing a solid to journalists the world over, telling the officer: “Everyone’s asking in the chat about recording.”
She began by pointing toward the people she feels have a part in the medal. This is a list that includes her family, her friends, her fiancee Sue Bird, the entire family surrounding the USWNT, the former players, and the US Soccer offices in Chicago.
Importantly for Rapinoe, it’s a list that also includes other notable female athletes and the people that inspired her to kneel:
“I think just going on this journey for myself, I think back to these incredible figures that I’ve been able to walk in their path. Obviously Colin Kaepernick, just so brave. You gave us all the path to use our voice and to step outside of ourselves.”
Her voice cracked with emotion as she named Colin, before continuing on to name the three founders of Black Lives Matter, Billie Jean King “the OG short-haired wild-ass lesbian”, and the Williams sisters. “I feel like I’m not here without any of you. I feel like this is obviously being awarded to me, but this is really for everyone.”
Her first question, from Steven Goff of the Washington Post, noted that her career has always transcended sport, and asked how this award will fit into her mission moving forward:
“I just see this as a validation of all the things that I have stood for. Not a validation for me, but it’s a validation of LGBTQIA+ rights, it’s a validation of the Black Lives Matter movement and a movement against the white supremacist power structure that we had, it’s a validation of women’s rights and of equal pay and of abortion rights and of trans rights, and everything that myself and so many others work so hard for. It’s a validation of all of that. That this is the most important thing, and you know, while of course what I do on the field I’m so proud of, and have loved my playing career, that has given me the opportunity to talk about all these things that really truly do matter.”
A week ago today, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in a decision that has roiled the United States, and Megan Rapinoe made a surprise appearance at the day’s scheduled press conference to make a statement condemning the court. She was asked about that today, and how she hoped the medal would enact further change:
“I mean I think as always I hope to show people a path that they can take. Maybe give them a piece of knowledge or education they didn't have before, like so many have done for me. Show them that it’s worth it and it’s not scary. You’re gonna be okay and there’s so many people that are with you and walking in this movement and in this fight together, and maybe provide a shield of sorts to some people. For whatever reason I feel comfortable being out in front and center (laughing) I seem to thrive in it a little bit… so if I can help other people step into their power, understand that you don’t have to be me to make a difference, you can make a difference…”
Megan talked about being a “shield” for other people during the press conference, but was also asked about having her own shield “dinged”, when she was speaking up and starting kneeling.
Her immediate response was that she now feels, “You can’t tell me nothin”, before elaborating that it’s certainly been a journey, “a long journey”, both personally with her family, as well as with the “top brass” at US Soccer.
Her voice broke into tears once again as she said, “I never felt alone here”, reaching toward Aaron Heifetz- the USWNT’s press officer- saying the people right around her were always there for her, going back to the age of 16 and throughout the toughest times.
She continued:
“I think really early on after kneeling, when everyone was sooo mad, it just clicked very early on that this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. This is exactly the way that I’m supposed to be doing it. People are so, so mad about nothing that Colin was talking about, and nothing that I was supporting Colin in kneeling with. They didn’t want to talk about police brutality in our country, they didn’t want to talk about our long and cruel and brutal history that’s based on chattel slavery and the denying of the rights of so many people. They want to talk about the military, they want to talk about the flag, they want to talk about patriotism. And I think just early on that really solidified for me the path that I was on, and for whatever reason I think I got my thick skin from my mom or from my dad or my family, but I felt comfortable even in the chaos and I knew that it was sort of my, I don’t know, my calling or my path. I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
Rapinoe nodded again to the incredible support network that she has around her, and once more thanked Colin, as well as the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, who she said she “knows personally now, and considers friends and mentors”.
She continued, saying she can’t imagine the difficulty of doing what she’s done for people less privileged or marginalized, like the founders of BLM:
“You know, I got shit. I can’t even imagine being a queer black woman in America and starting this movement… what they got. So, I always felt I had an incredible amount of privilege that I was walking with. I’m obviously white. I play a predominantly white sport. I represent the United States of America and I am very insulated in so many ways. So I felt like because of that, and I think because of my natural personality that I could take the risks that maybe others couldn't take. And I could put myself out there, and I always believed in myself on the field and I always believed I was going to be able to prove whatever I needed to prove on the field and that would outweigh anything that I was doing off the field. I think whenever you walk in your truth like that and whenever you show up for the right things, I think good things happen.”
She noted the hate and vitriol was never outweighed by the support she got from elsewhere:
“The only people that I was trying to do right by was Colin and black people in America and the larger movement, so that was always kind of my north star and what I felt my responsibility was because I wasn’t speaking on behalf of myself, I was speaking on behalf of so many others. So that’s where I took my cues from, that’s where I learned from, that’s where I got my strength from and I tried to do right by them. And I think in that, I did right, period.”
Asked when she’d have time to really wade through the magnitude of the medal, she joked “probably in 20 years or something,” before stating that she actually feels very present in this moment, and grateful to be able to celebrate at the White House with her family, and then with her second family, the USWNT. Kelley O’Hara, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn in particular were singled out, with tears in her eyes, saying they’d been with her through everything:
“I mean they know, they really understand what it is... I mean they have done it, they’re in it with me, they've done it for so long, we’ve been in this together. And Becky in particular has been literally with me the whole time and put herself in front of me, on numerous occasions, when she didn’t have to do that.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom- originally intended for service in war or the security of the country- now has a number of high profile and culturally impactful athletes in its ranks. Megan Rapinoe joins the likes of Babe Ruth, Billie Jean King, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali and numerous other athletes in receiving the honor. She’ll also be inducted alongside Simone Biles, together adding to a total of what is now 6 female athletes or coaches to receive the award. (Billie Jean King, Pat Sumitt, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Annika Sörenstam, and as of this July, Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe).
“Being able to stand next to Simone, obviously an American legend in so many ways- on the gymnastics court and off of it, however you say that- if I could be Simone Biles’ red carpet that she could walk across, I would do that. I think that she’s incredible and it’s so deserving. Everything she’s had to shoulder off her respective court or whatever, is absolutely incredible I’m such a huge fan and just inspired by her.”
Reflecting on being a female athlete- and the first soccer player- awarded the medal, she noted all the people she feels have a part in this:
“For me the Mount Rushmore of women’s sports is Billie Jean, Venus, Serena, Sue, and Mia Hamm. None of us would be here without them, and none of us here on this team would be here without Mia and Julie and Brandi and Michelle and Lill and Tiff… Kate… Briana Scurry... I mean you want to talk about trailblazer at the time? Bri was way ahead of her time, and cleared so much path for so many of us, for all of us… And Abby, of course... To be able to represent all of us means so much to me. You know obviously even going through the lawsuit and coming out on the other side with a new CBA and a settlement, understanding that while everyone isn’t going to be participating in the current contract or didn’t capture everyone in the settlement, it is everyone. It’s for everyone. I've always deeply felt that. This is a thread that runs through every single person that’s ever played on the USWNT. I”m incredibly proud that this group and this generation of players that I’m in has made a point to bring everyone back in, and to really appreciate what’s come before. Because this group of women is incredible and this group of women has truly been a part of changing the world, not just in women’s sports, but in life in general. So to be able to continue to be able to wear the crest and have the “STATES” on my shirt and represent the entire history of the USWNT obviously means the absolute world to me. I hope I’m doing right by everyone and making everyone proud. I hope everyone who’s ever played for this team or been into a camp or even got one call-up understands that this is for all of us, it’s not just for one player.”
She concluded, throwing two peace signs at the camera, “You guys, I’m going to the fucking White House”.