One of Africa’s iconic writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, has been awarded an honorary title of Doctor of Letters by Yale University. The Kenyan author was among eight people who were conferred various honorary awards at the school’s graduation on Monday.

Ngugi was given the award in recognition for his literary works that “bring attention to the plight of ordinary people in Kenya and around the world,” said a short citation on Yale’s website.

Continuing, Ngugi was hailed as a brave wordsmith who has broken down barriers and “for showing us the potential of literature to incite change and promote justice, for helping us decolonize our minds and open them to new ideas.”

Born in 1938, Ngugi, who now writes in his native Gikuyu, is the author of Weep not Child,  A Grain of Wheat, The River Between and a host of other works.

Other recipients are Marin Alsop, Jessie Little Doe Baird, Cornelia Bargmann, Irwin Jacobs, John Kerry, John R. Lewis and Stevie Wonder.

This is how Twitter reacted to news ofNgũgĩ’s award.

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