J.J. Abrams, photo by Heather Kaplan
In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, J.J. Abrams has pledged a whopping $10 million dollars to various organizations fighting racism in America.
The donation will come through Abrams’ Bad Robot film and TV production company, as well as the Katie McGrath and JJ Abrams Family Foundation. The $10 million will be dispersed over the course of five years, with an initial $200,000 investment marked for each of the following groups: Black Lives Matter LA, Black Futures Lab, Community Coalition, Equal Justice Initiative, and Know Your Rights Camp.
“Enough is enough,” reads a statement on Bad Robot’s Instagram page announcing the donation. “Enough police brutality. Enough outsized privilege. Enough polite conversation. Enough white comfort.”
“The centuries long neglect and abuse of our Black brothers and sisters can only be addressed by scalable investment,” the post explained. “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.”
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“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.” Bad Robot, known for its work on Cloverfield, LOST, and Westworld, went on to describe organizations like Community Coalition as “committed to anti-racist agendas that close the gaps, lift the poor and build a just America for all.”
Read the full statement below. The charitable contribution comes as the music industry partakes in Blackout Tuesday, a day reserved for reflection and pause in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The unarmed, unresisting black man died on May 25th after a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee down on Floyd’s neck for a total of 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
