Alicia Keys has joined forces with the National Football League to launch a $1 billion endowment fund focused on supporting Black-owned businesses and communities.
What We Know:
- The announcement coincided with another announcement from Keys and the NFL: Keys would be performing at the NFL’s Kickoff event for the 2020 season prior to Thursday’s game between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Cheifs. She performed a moving rendition of her 2007 hit, “No One” followed by her new song, “Love Looks Better.” She additionally performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with imagery of the protests and graphics supporting the Black community playing on the screen behind her and at the conclusion, the screen flashed the word “Vote.” She and her band ended the set by raising their fists in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
.@AliciaKeys Launches $1B Fund For Black businesses and performs her new single “Love Looks Better” on #Kickoff2020! https://t.co/6P0BSiMHeh
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2020
- Keys said the idea for the fund came about as a way to help transform the protests and words of solidarity that have poured out recently in support of the Black community into tangible action and support. She also hoped the fund would go beyond just a one-time donation and be something that could continue to grow and develop over the years, eventually extending beyond the current $1 billion endowment.
“We are already seeing the blatant injustices that are going on around us,” Keys said. “As an artist, I’m always thinking about how can I use my platform to further racial equity. This fund is one of the answers and our goal is to empower Black America through investing in Black businesses, Black investors, institutions, entrepreneurs, schools, and banks in a way to create sustainable solutions.”
- Beyond the NFL, additional partners and contributors have not been disclosed though the aim is to create a multi-sector contributor field for the fund. Keys said that $1 billion is the initial goal to ensure a substantial commitment, but that doesn’t even come close to closing the economic gap. “The next steps are to reach out to different industries to invite them to invest in racial justice and create a multi-billion dollar endowment across business sectors,” Keys said.
- This marks the latest step taken by the NFL in its quest to support racial justice initiatives after the league came under intense scrutiny for how it handled the situation with Colin Kaepernick. Starting in August, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell began to take a more committed stand against racial and social injustice starting with a deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation to partner on social justice initiatives through the League’s Inspire Change nonprofit, among a handful of other initiatives. After the death of George Floyd, the league emphasized its commitment to ending systemic racism by announcing some on and off the field changed that will go into effect this year, with phrases like “End Racism” and “It Takes All Of Us” painted in end zones, for example.
Keys penned a piece explaining her decision to perform at the NFL’s event as well as elabortating on some of the goals of the fund. She also shared why she conceived of the fund. You can read the full piece below.
While the streets of America are filled with rightful outrage, something has struck me deeply and I know I cannot turn away. None of us can. As Americans, we actually have to face each other, even if we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. I continue to think: what opportunity for change can I evoke? How can I help to transform a culture so ripe for reimagining?
Today, I will be doing something I never thought I would do again. I’m performing for the NFL Kickoff event. My initial reaction was to decline because of some of the NFL’s past decisions. Yet I realized I HAVE to use my platform, we all need to use our platforms, every chance we get to press for racial equity.
It’s often said football is the microcosm of America. We all can see that deep, radical change is needed for our country and together we can all work to transform it. It will take each of us to understand that racism and racial injustice rely on our individual and collective silence and ignorance. If you know that there are two Americas – one that seems safe and full of possibilities and another where a racial hierarchy allows for Black Americans to be systematically brutalized and dehumanized – and you do not act, then you are complicit.
This truth requires restorative justice now. What are we going to do to move forward?
The workforce of America has to represent the diversity of this country. We have to strive for true population parity. The NFL has already committed to ensuring Black representation across-the-board, from employees to executives, contractors, suppliers and vendors.
The league has also committed to contribute to a billion-dollar endowment.
The fund will be steered by Black leadership with a clear goal to empower Black America. The fund will create long term solutions with a focus on Black entrepreneurs, businesses, communities, Black schools, banks, and other Black institutions, while addressing persistent social, economic and environmental disparities. It’s starting here, but the intention is to build a multi-billion-dollar endowment across multiple industries. Through our collective action, we can end the needless and preventable agony created by systemic racism.
We are pushing for an aggressive agenda to meet the urgent need of proper access, opportunity and inclusion. I am personally committed to creating meaningful conversations to hold corporations and institutions accountable for their contributions to racial justice.
It’s time for sustainable action. It’s time to speak and document the truth about what Black Americans are facing and owed. The system was never set up for everyone to have an equal chance. Black creativity and labor continue to be oppressed, exploited, appropriated, and undercompensated. And it’s STILL the case today that the color of your skin can be a death sentence like the needless killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Bree Black, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others. That’s why we see people from all walks of life, races and creeds taking to the streets in fury, protesting. As a Black mother, I want my sons to grow strong and healthy with confidence and without fearing for their lives.
Four years ago, Colin Kaepernick’s resistance by taking a knee in silent protest was a brave and necessary stand to increase our awareness of the acts and consequences of police brutality. He is still way ahead of his time. What is being accomplished by this performance and these new commitments are meant to deeply honor that this moment is a direct result of his courage and prophecy.
There has been forward motion – the NFL has been working with players throughout the league to support important initiatives in the Black community, like education reform, economic empowerment, voting rights and criminal justice reform. With collective action and the truth as our guide, a new future is within our grasp. The time is now for building the America we want and desperately need. I am optimistic that if we take action and operate with a sense of urgency, together we will renew America and finally put an end to the false notion of racial hierarchy.
Moving forward we must act together with love over hate, hope over fear and action over complacency to build the America we all know is possible.
We invite all corporations, NFL clubs, and organizations to join this mission to
invest in racial justice.
Look forward to my call.
With love and light,
Alicia Keys.
Artist/Activist/Mother
