Rock star Stevie Wonder honoured for work against apartheid.

Rock star Stevie Wonder honoured for work against apartheid

The man in the grey silk shantung suit and dark glasses, his near-waist-length braids entwined with golden beads, sat at a grand piano on the dais of the General Assembly Hall.

"This is a very incredible birthday gift", said Stevie Wonder, the American rock star and songwriter, just having been honoured by the Assembly's Special Committee against Apartheid for his commitment to and work towards "the upliftment of the oppressed and downtrodden of the world".

On 13 May--Mr. Wonder's 35th birthday--the performer was presented with a citation by Joseph N. Garba (Nigeria), Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid at a special meeting attended by diplomats, Secretariat members and invited guests, among them entertainers Roberta Flack, Harry Belafonte and Ben Vereen.

At the ceremony, Iqbal Akhund, Assistant Secretary-General of the Center against Apartheid, read a message on behalf of Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, stating that Mr. Wonder's songs were known in all parts of the world and had brought happiness to millions.

But Mr. Wonder, he said, was "an artist with a social conscience and a strong humanitarian vocation. He is among the prominent personalities who have decided to contribute their artistic talents to help the United Nations project for Africa."

The Secretary-General recalled that the singer, in accepting on 25 March the Academy Award for the best song ("I Just Called to Say I Love You") in a motion picture in 1984, had dedicated the award to Nelson Mandela, the South African political leader imprisoned for 21 years. Mr. Wonder's music had subsequently been banned in South Africa.

Chairman Garba said Mr. Wonder had also refused "a very substantial sum of money" offered to him to perform in South Africa, as had many other well-known artists and performers. Many entertainers still accepted engagements in South Africa because they were not aware of the consequences of their actions, he said, or because, "misguidedely", they felt they were helping to break down racial discriminations.

The cultural boycott of South Africa, he said, had originated nearly two decades ago when the General Assembly had asked all States and organizations to suspend cultural, educational, sports and other exchanges with the racist regime, and with organizations and institutions in South Africa which practiced apartheid.

In 1983, mr. Garba said, the Special Committee first...