The Courageous Winners of the 20th Ridenhour Prizes
The Ridenhour Prizes are awards in four categories given annually in recognition of those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. In 2024 we mark the 20th anniversary of these awards that memorialize that spirit of fearless truth-telling, a spirit Ron Ridenhour displayed throughout his life and career. Ron’s courage and commitment to justice are reflected in all the honorees, each of whom have persevered in acts of truth-telling that strengthen our democracy and illuminate a more just vision of society.
First awarded in 2004, each prize carries a $10,000 stipend as this kind of courage comes with great risk. Contrary to popular belief, many of those who stand up to speak the truth against wrongdoing are vilified rather than celebrated, in both their personal and professional lives. There are not many spaces where the voices of these individuals, especially smaller or lesser-known stories, are uplifted and celebrated. It is essential that events like The Ridenhour Prizes lift up and actively support those who work tirelessly and at great personal risk to protect the public.
The Prize’s namesake, Ron Ridenhour, was a whistleblower and an investigative reporter who revealed the horrific events in My Lai that occurred on March 16, 1968. First referred to as the ‘Pinkville Massacre,’ My Lai was a village where 500 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians were killed by U.S soldiers during the Vietnam War. On March 29, 1969, Ridenhour was a 23-year-old recently returned veteran from Vietnam who would pen a letter to President Richard M. Nixon, Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird, and members of Congress sharing his findings and the moment that would serve as inspiration for the Ridenhour Prizes.
Dawn Wooten – Truth-Teller Prize
Dawn Wooten will be awarded the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, which is annually presented to a citizen, corporate or government whistleblower, investigative journalist, or organization for bringing a specific issue of social importance to the public’s attention.
Ms. Wooten was a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC), where she witnessed and spoke out against medical misconduct and critical failures at the ICE-contracted facility to protect immigrants in detention and workers from COVID-19. Ms. Wooten also disclosed that detained women were undergoing invasive gynecological procedures, including hysterectomies, without informed consent. These explosive revelations incited passionate calls for reform from immigration justice organizations, medical professionals, and members of Congress. The impact of Ms. Wooten’s disclosures was profound: 57 victims with allegations of medical mistreatment at ICDC came forward and are currently seeking justice through a class-action lawsuit, and multiple investigations were launched by Congress, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Justice.
In May 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas ordered ICE to sever its contract with ICDC, ending all immigrant detention at the facility by September 2021. Ms. Wooten’s disclosures of medical mistreatment of women have been verified not only by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee’s bipartisan Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, but also by ICE’s own records and independent medical experts.
Lea Ypi – Book Prize
Lea Ypi will be awarded the Ridenhour Book Prize for her memoir, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. The book captures Ypi’s recollections of coming of age during the collapse of communist Albania in December 1990 and the paradoxes of freedom that came with a presumably freer democratic and capitalistic nation. The story shows how history shapes people’s lives and their politics. The Ridenhour Book Prize honors an outstanding work of social significance from the prior publishing year; the prize also recognizes investigative and reportorial distinction.
Lea Ypi is Professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics. A native of Albania, she studied Philosophy and then Literature at the University of Rome, La Sapienza, and was a Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. She is the recipient of many prizes, including the Philip Leverhulme Prize for exceptional research achievement and the British Academy Brian Barry Prize for excellence in Political Science. Her last book, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History, was awarded the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize 2021 and the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022, was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, the Costa Biography Award 2021, and the Gordon Burn Prize 2022, and has been sold in 30 languages. She contributes regularly to The Guardian, New Statesman, and Financial Times.
‘The Janes’ – Documentary Film Prize
Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin will be awarded the Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize for their 2022 HBO Documentary film ‘The Janes.’ The Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize is given to a documentary that, in the view of the judges, best reflects the legacy of Ron Ridenhour – journalist, whistleblower, truth-teller, and social activist. The Prize seeks to recognize a documentary that defends the public interest, advances or promotes social justice, or illuminates a more just vision of society.
‘The Janes’ is the story of an underground network of women in Chicago in the late1960s and early ‘70s who provided safe, affordable, illegal abortions to women in need. Defying the state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it, the members of Jane risked their personal and professional lives to help women in need. In the pre-Roe v. Wade era –– a time when abortion was a crime in most states and even circulating information about abortion was a felony in Illinois –– the Janes provided low-cost and free abortions to an estimated 11,000 women.
Honorable Jamie Raskin – Courage Award
Honorable Jamie Raskin has been chosen to receive the Ridenhour Courage Prize, which is presented to an individual in recognition of their courageous and life-long defense of the public interest and passionate commitment to social justice.
Congressman Raskin is the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. He serves as the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. He served as the Lead House Manager in the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which ended with a 57-43 vote to convict the president for inciting a violent insurrection against the government to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Congressman Raskin also served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and served three terms on the House Judiciary, Oversight and Administration Committees. Prior to Congress, Raskin was a three-term State Senator in Maryland and a professor of constitutional law for more than a quarter-century at American University Washington College of Law. The author of Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Congressman Raskin is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he served as an Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Recipients will be presented the Ridenhour Prizes on March 28, 2024 at the 20th Annual Ridenhour Prizes Gala at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. Visit the website for more information and for tickets.