We Are Family Foundation, a charity founded by Niles Rodgers, the renowned musician and producer of CHIC fame, will be hosting a gala in late April of this year honoring A Tribe Called Quest, Nelson Mandela, and Dikembe Mutombo. We Are Family Foundation is an organization dedicated to promoting cultural diversity and cultivating leadership among today’s youths, and will handing out three awards to this year’s honorees.
Nelson Mandela posthumously will be receiving the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Peacemaker Award, a prestigious award that honors those who have worked fiercely to promote peace in our society and that has previously been given to Jimmy Carter, Paul Simon, Maya Angelou, among others. The Unity Award, which has previously honored artists, such as Kool and the Gang and Adam Lambert, who use their work to better the conditions for others, will go to A Tribe Called Quest for using their music as a platform to highlight and address social and political issues and advocate for change. Finally, the organization’s Humanitarian Award will go to former NBA athlete Dikembe Mutombo for his organization’s work focused on improving living conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The We Are Family Foundation gala, in addition to presenting these special awards, will also hold a concert during which Niles Rodgers, A Tribe Called Quest, and a number of special guests will play. The event is slated for April 28th at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. You can check out more information about Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation and their gala here.