Biden presents National Medal of Arts to Mindy Kaling

Indian American actress, producer and writer gets the award “for giving voice to a new generation of storytellers”

Celebrity Indian American actress, producer and writer Mindy Kaling has won the prestigious 2021 National Medal of Arts given to artists and arts patrons “for giving voice to a new generation of storytellers.”

President Joe Biden presented the award to Kaling, 43, also known as Vera Mindy Chokalingam, at a White House ceremony attended by First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

Read: Mindy Kaling’s ‘Velma’ to premiere on January 12 (December 23, 2022)

“For giving voice to a new generation of storytellers. Imbued with humor and heart, Mindy Kaling’s work across television, film, and books inspires and delights, capturing and uplifting the experiences of women and girls across our nation,” Biden’s military aide read the citation as Kaling came forward to receive the award.

“The first woman of color to create, write, and star in a primetime sitcom, she empowers a new generation to tell their stories with their own irreverence and sincerity. The daughter of Indian immigrants — We know about that, right?” said the President.

“Our Vice President is a daughter of Indian immigrants — a mother who was a great scientist,” he said. “Above all, she’s hardworking and an adoring mom, just like her own mom was. And, Mindy, we know your mom is always with you in your spirit. We know that.”

Kaling received the award with 22 other “extraordinary Americans: the National Medal of Arts to honor outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth support, and availability of the arts in the United States; and the National Humanities Medal to honor those who have — whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, philosophy, and so many other subjects,” Biden said.

Read: Mindy Kaling’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ wins People’s Choice Award (November 19, 2020)

“The work of our honorees is as diverse as the nation that celebrates with them today. But common threads weave them together in many ways in the very fabric of America: the pursuit of excellence, the drive to create, the yearning to connect, and the boldness to be truthtellers, bridge builders, and change seekers,” he said. “Above all, you’re masters of your craft.”

Kaling was born to an architect father and an obstetrician-gynecologist mother who moved to the US in 1979 from Nigeria.

She lent her acting talents to such film comedies as ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ (2005), ‘License to Wed’ (2007), and ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’ (2009) and voiced characters for the animated movies ‘Despicable Me’ (2010), ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (2012), and ‘Inside Out’ (2015).

She developed the innovative ‘The Mindy Project’, which centred on the life of Mindy Lahiri, an obstetrician-gynecologist who is fixated on finding a romantic partner.

Recently, she co-created and co-wrote the Netflix show ‘Never Have I Ever’, about a first-generation Indian-American teenager, and ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’, a comedy series that centres on four college roommates.

Besides Kaling, the 2021 National Medal of Arts recipients include musician Jose Feliciano, artist Judith Francisca Baca, radio station owner Fred Eychaner, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the Billie Holiday Theatre, producer Joan Shigekawa and painter Antonio Martorell Cardona.

Read: President Biden Presents Mindy Kaling National Medal of Arts for ‘Capturing and Uplifting Experiences of Women and Girls’ (March 21, 2023)

Recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal winners are: ‘The Underground Railroad’ novelist Colson Whitehead, poet Richard Blanco, author Walter Isaacson, educator Johnnetta Betsch Cole, academic Henrietta Mann, author Ann Patchett, ‘The Joy Luck Club’ author Amy Tan, historian Earl Lewis, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, Native America Calling and author Tara Westover.

The first National Medal of Arts were awarded in 1985 to renowned artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Graham, and Richard Diebenkorn among others. Since then, the medal has been awarded annually to a wide range of individuals and organisations from various fields of the arts, including music, dance, theatre, visual arts, literature, and film.