Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal has donated a staggering $1.5 million to a host of charities and organisations linked to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The donations came on Friday February 5, the day which would have been Trayvon Martin’s 21st birthday, had he not been gunned down by George Zimmerman. The money was raised during the Tidal X: 10/20 charity concert in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Barclay Centre. The concert, which was live-streamed, boasted a lineup filled with hip-hop heavyweights including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Usher and Damien Marley among many others.
The money raised will be administered to all of the chosen non-profit charities through the New World Foundation, an organisation which funds several civil rights groups and social movements.
National organisations such as Opportunity Agenda and Sankofa will be receiving a share of the donations, alongside local groups such as Hands Up United, which is based in Ferguson and Dream Defenders in Tallahassee.
A portion of the donated money will also be distributed amongst the organisations set up by the families of those whose loved ones were victims of police brutality. Those organisations will include the Trayvon Martin Foundation, the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation as well as the Oscar Grant Foundation.
According to Mic, the artists involved with the concert directly took part in deciding which organisations would be receiving the funding. Considering that it’s easy enough for a lot of celebrities to just get up on stage, throw out a few verses and perhaps strum a few chords at charity events, it’s refreshing to know that the performers in this particular event had that direct connection to exactly where that money was going.
Hopefully this event will encourage other major labels and services to use their influence in order to raise money for worthy causes.