REGGAE singer Rita Marley will be this year’s recipient of the Living Legends Award from the African Women of Excellence Awards (AWEA) Committee.
The ceremony will be held at the African Women of Excellence Awards Empowerment Banquet at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 12.
Marley, who is the widow of reggae singer Bob Marley, said the honor came as a surprise.
“I was not expecting this award. I know I’ve done hard work, to God be the glory,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
According to Dr Erieka Bennett, head of mission (AU) Diaspora African Forum, Marley was selected for her outstanding contributions to music, and political and social activism.
The award, according to Dr Bennett, was conceived as a platform to recognize Women of Africa and of African descent who have contributed to the struggle for political, social, and economic independence at various levels with excellence.
Previous recipients of the Living Legends award include Winnie Madikizela-Mandela; Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; former Malawi president Joyce Banda; and the former First Lady of Kenya, Ngina Kenyatta.