A continuation of the 10-Year, $100 Million Black Community Commitment, the multi-year grants will help support the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Morehouse College’s sports journalism program and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting.
I was asked last week by a peer which sneaker companies are adhering to support they promised the Black community during the media attention granted Blacks because of the systemic racism and hatred which killed George Floyd. I shared a series of articles explaining that progress is a crawl, that never becomes a walk in the U.S. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t any real action taking place. Could there be more? Of course, but you can’t demand that a baby stand up and walk right away. America is a baby when it comes to dealing with racism. The only difference between a baby and this country is that baby’s eventually develop. They walk and then they run. America refuses to acknowledge its original sin and because of this the country remains in a state of perpetual, intentional childhood. A sneaker company can’t fix this, but every drop of education and assistance is a building block and we need all of the foundational action we can get to make America what it desires to be.
Spike Lee on Black Representation in Sports Media
The Black Community Commitment from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand is driven by a belief that real change is possible only with a more complete understanding of how structural racism has impacted American history.
To that end, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand announce their latest grants to three institutions at the forefront of cultivating the Black experience to the wider public: the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture ($3 million over three years), Morehouse College ($1 million over two years) and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting ($1 million over two years).
