His Holiness the Dalai Lama to receive International Freedom Award [Friday, 7 August 2009, 12:07 p.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the three-day International Tibetan-Chinese Conference in   Geneva, Switzerland, which began 6 August 2009

Dharamshala: The National Civil Rights Museum
will confer the International Freedom Award on His Holiness the Dalai
Lama for his “steadfast commitment to protecting and defending the
rights of the oppressed people of Tibet and elsewhere in the world.” The
museum recognizes His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s contributions to world
peace through promotion of human values, interfaith harmony and
universal responsibility. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal leader of six million Tibetans. Museum
Board Chairman Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks described His Holiness the Dalai
Lama as a living example of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi’s
non-violence in the face of political oppression and suffering.”“The
Dalai Lama demonstrates life-long peaceful struggle against brutality
and injustice. As the Tibetan people mark their 50th year in exile, the
Dalai Lama’s struggle serves as an inspiration for social justice
movements everywhere,” Dr Benjamin added.His Holiness the Dalai
Lama will receive the award, sponsored by the Hyde Family Foundations,
23 September at The Peabody hotel in Memphis, US.The museum
will also present the National Freedom Award to Myrlie Evers-Williams,
the widow of slain civil rights champion Medgar Evers.  Dr. Julius
Erving, former NBA player, will get the Legacy Freedom Award. Those
awards will be presented on 27 October.