Belafonte recalls Horne’s activism as Solange is honored
NEW YORK >> Lena Horne was a fierce advocate for civil rights in her later years, but that part of her legacy is often pushed behind her glamorous image. Her good friend Harry Belafonte hopes that a new award in her honor will push that aspect of her life front and center.
“She had a huge burden,” he said. “She was black, she was hugely popular, and she had to continually safeguard that environment of hers, the celebrity. Her outspokenness didn’t come until later in life.
“That last sparkle of life was the place where she felt most nourished. She found her voice, socially and politically, beyond the enormous notoriety she had as the most beautiful black women in the universe, and one of the great singers.”
The newly created Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact was announced last month. It was revealed that Solange Knowles would become the first recipient of the prize to be awarded Feb. 28 in a ceremony at New York’s Town Hall. Besides the honor, the singer and artist will receive $100,000, which she plans to donate to the Project Row Houses in Houston, an art nonprofit dedicated to uplifting and engaging the black community through the exploration of its art, culture and history.
In a statement, Knowles said she was beyond humbled” to receive the award and noted that at 12, she played Glinda the Good Witch in “The Wiz,” the very role Horne played in the 1978 film.
Horne, who died at 92 in 2010, was a pioneering entertainer.