Scholars, community advocates, rappers and R&B stars are celebrating the intersection between art and activism in honor of a Black Hollywood legend.
At the inaugural Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact event, hosted by The Town Hall, Solange Knowles will receive the first Lena Horne Prize on February 28. She earned the award by supporting representation and justice while spreading inspiring messages.
The Town Hall, which was created by suffragists in 1921 as a diverse and inclusive space for artists to perform and discuss, has revealed the first batch of performers slated to take the stage. Grammy-winning singer Leon Bridges and Grammy-nominated artists Rapsody, Andra Day and BJ The Chicago Kid will lend their voices to Horne’s shining legacy, in addition to Terri Lyne Carrington, Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh, Urban Bush Women, Jon Batiste, Talib Kweli, and more.
Like Horne herself, each performer chosen has used their platform to highlight issues bigger than themselves including racial equality, body positivity and police brutality. The Lena Horne Prize Advisory Board, includes a group of people committed to doing the same. Harry Belafonte; Billy Porter; Judy Collins; Roxane Gay and others are just some of the artists, performers, philanthropists, and change agents, who steer the mission of this event.
Honoree Knowles announced she would be gifting the $100,000 prize to a cause near to her heart: Project Row Houses, a Houston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people and enriching communities through engagement, art and direct action.
The inaugural Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact will take place in New York City from Wednesday, February 26, 2020 to Friday, February 28, 2020. Tickets are available to the public at http://www.lenahorneprize.com/ .
