Washington, DC — Professor Amadou Mahtar M'bow, former director of UNESCO, will be one of six persons honored during the 75th anniversary celebration of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.

"It is clear that his work has helped to decolonize both history and the African mind," Schomburg Center Director Howard Dodson said of Mr. M'bow. "He is an illustrous son and living legend of Africa."

As Director-General of UNESCO in the 1970s, Mr. M'bow led the controversial fight for a new world information order that aimed to break the hold by Western press agencies on news and information in developing nations. "His was pathfinding work at UNESCO," says Dodson.

The other awardees are Dorothy Height, former president of the National Council of Negro Women, dancer, Katherine Dunham, photographer, Gordon Parks, jazz pianist, Billy Taylor and Brazilian writer and Senator Abdias Do Nacimento.

All of the honorees are at least 75 years old, said Dodson.

The Center, founded in 1926, was named for Black scholar, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg. It has been dedicated to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of people of African descent throughout the world.