(AllHipHop News) Rapper Stormzy has pledged a huge $12 million to organizations tackling racial inequality and justice reform, insisting it is the start of a “lifetime commitment.”
The cash will be spread out over 10 years as part of a long-term strategy to combat systematic racism and level the playing field for black people in British society.
In a statement, the “Heavy Is the Head” rapper said: “The uncomfortable truth that our country continuously fails to recognize and admit, is that black people in the UK have been at a constant disadvantage in every aspect of life – simply due to the color of our skin.
“I’m lucky enough to be in the position I’m in and I’ve heard people often dismiss the idea of racism existing in Britain by saying ‘If the country’s so racist how have you become a success?!’ and I reject that with this: I am not the UK’s shining example of what supposedly happens when a black person works hard.”
The huge donation from the Brit award-winning rapper and his #Merky team comes after he attended a Black Lives Matter protest demonstration in London over the weekend.
“There are millions of us. We are not far and few. We have to fight against the odds of a racist system stacked against us and designed for us to fail from before we are even born,” he continued. “Black people have been playing on an uneven field for far too long and this pledge is a continuation in the fight to finally try and even it.”
Stormzy and his #Merky organization, which houses a record label and a publishing company, added it will “remain devoted to improving and safeguarding the lives of those within the black community”, and insisted that “this is just the beginning of our lifetime commitment to financially and wholeheartedly back these causes.”
