Star Wars director JJ Abrams, his wife Katie McGrath, and the entire team at Bad Robot productions are donating $10 million to a series of charities to help fight racism amid the protests and unrest surrounding the death of George Floyd.
The Bad Robot Instagram page released a statement, confirming the money will go to “organizations and efforts committed to anti-racist agendas that close the gaps, lift the poor, and build a just America for all.”
The statement calls out police brutality and white privilege, while it also acknowledges that money alone won’t fix the issues with America. You can read the full statement below.
Bad Robot Statement:
“Enough is enough. Enough police brutality. Enough outsized privilege. Enough polite conversation. Enough white comfort. Enough lopsided access. Enough exhausting our friends and colleagues. Enough being incurious. Enough being unintentional. Enough injustice. Enough death. ENOUGH.”
“We at Bad Robot are grateful to the many scholars, activists, organizers, and leaders fighting on the frontlines of change in our systemically unjust country. It is that constellation of thinkers and doers who have the blueprint to a more perfect, fair, equitable, and kind union.”
“In this fragile time, words matter, listening is critical, and investment is required. The centuries-long neglect and abuse of our Black brothers and sisters can only be addressed by scalable investment. A massive and thoughtful overhaul of tax policy, one that effectively meets the needs of the many in this country, and not just the few, is long overdue.”
“Corporate and private philanthropy can never achieve the impact needed to address these systemic inequities, but companies and individuals who are able must do what we can until our political leaders lead. We are committing an additional $10 million over the next five years to organizations and efforts committed to anti-racist agendas that close the gaps, lift the poor, and build a just America for all.”
Abrams and his team are donating $200,000 each to Black Futures Lab, Black Lives Matter LA, Community Coalition, Equal Justice Initiative, and Know Your Rights Camp.
GameSpot’s summer gaming show, Play For All, started on June 1 and will run the weeks to come. The show was built on bringing the gaming community together and leveraging our passion and solidarity to benefit those in need. It feels right that we should extend our fundraising efforts to include those fighting against the systemic injustices faced by black people in America, along with supporting Direct Relief’s COVID-19 efforts aiding front-line medical workers.
We’ll be using our platform to raise money for both Direct Relief and Black Lives Matter. We want to be clear: Black Lives Matter; Black Culture Matters; Black Communities Matter.