LeVar Burton to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2022 Emmys

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April 26, 2022

By Shanelle Genai, The Root

Burton at the 2020 Breakthrough Prize event (Ian Tuttle for Breakthrough Prize/Getty Images)

Per TVLine, the Roots star and Reading Rainbow host will receive the well-deserved award at this year’s first annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, expected to be held in person at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles this December. Over the course of his career, Burton has been the recipient of 12 Daytime Emmys, a Peabody, Grammy and multiple NAACP Image Awards.

In addition to this recognition, the revered public figure recently won a Webby Award for his podcast, aptly titled LeVar Burton Reads, and is set to host the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals this summer.

“I could not be more excited,” Burton said in a social media post sharing the news.

He further explained at the time: “Hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee will be an honor. Like a lot of folks, I look forward to the competition every year and am excited to be a part of this wonderful tradition that celebrates excellence.”

Burton isn’t the only person who will receive an honor.

For many, Burton was the first Black entertainer they saw. Black children have conspicuously been missing from children’s books. Fortunately, representation has increased, thanks to show Karma’s World and Black authors writing their own books.

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