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'Trombone Shorty,' 4 others receive $250,000 Heinz Awards

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A musician known for his work to preserve the musical heritage of New Orleans and a civil rights attorney who has written about the mass incarceration of blacks in America are among five people being honored by the Heinz Family Foundation.

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Ohio attorney Michelle Alexander and the others are being awarded $250,000 prizes Wednesday.

Andrews started a foundation to provide New Orleans schools will musical instruments and a music academy. Alexander wrote the book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness."

The Heinz Awards recognize innovative work in the arts, environment, human condition, public policy and economics categories.

The foundation started by Teresa Heinz honors her late husband, U.S. Sen. John Heinz.

In this Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 photo provided by Megan Leigh Barnard, Ohio State University law professor, civil rights advocate and writer Michelle Alexander poses for a photograph in her home office in New Albany, Ohio. The Heinz Family Foundation announced winners of the Heinz Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, naming legal scholar Alexander and others as winners. (Megan Leigh Barnard via AP) The Associated Press
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