In the United States protests over police brutality have many people very nervous. Protests are leaving many people in a very bad situation. This is why Ryan and Blake decided to give a large donation to help people who are involved in the fight.
The couple said they donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to redeem themselves for their lack of knowledge about racism in the past. They said they were never concerned about talking to their kids about different areas of the law or what could possibly happen if they were pulled over. They shared their comments on Instagram. They added, they could not possibly imagine being in a situation in which they would be faced with fear and anger. Until now, they did not understand how deeply systemic racialism really is.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1940 to rid of racial injustice in the courts. The most famous case was Brown vs Board of Education. The case made racial segregation illegal in schools across the entire country. There were many other cases brought by the LDF including Smith v. Allwright, Loving v. Virginia, and Griggs v. Duke Power Company. In 2018, there was a case Stout’s vs Jefferson County Board of Education and Gardendale Board of Education. The courts ruled that the City of Gardendale was blocked from creating a predominantly white school system. Some people who helped in this case included President Obama along with civil right activist Constance L. Rice. The LDF also contributes scholarships to African American students.
Reynolds and Lively are not the only people using their celebrity status to make changes. The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine offered a comic stance about police each week but the cast did not think this was appropriate. Co-creator Dan Goor and the cast donated $100,000 to the National Ball Fund Network. The National Ball Fund Network keeps up on listing ball funds across the country.
Stephanie Beatriz, stare of Brooklyn Nine-Nine also added another donation $11,000 for the Community Justice Exchange. On Twitter she added that she plays a cop on television. If you make tens or hundreds of thousand of dollars a year in residual income from playing a cop, well, you can do the math. Actor Griffin Newman played Officer Sam Johnson on Blue Bloods and donated $11,000. The Community Justice Exchange was founded to stop mass incarceration in the country.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, doubled his contribution to $10 million for various organizations. Yearly, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donate around $40 million to organizations to stop racial injustice through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. By far, this is the largest contribution by a person or company to date.
The Fight Moves Forward
Along with the help from celebrities, the fight for racial equality will move forward until changes are made. Everyone is doing what they can during these stressful times. Many artists are finding inspiration from what is going on in the streets to find new solutions. Whether through music or other art forms, their work will become an inspiration for others. Some people have started local groups in order to discuss racism in America. Others are showing their anger by signing petitions and donating money. Even though things look bleak, people will continue to make their voices heard loud and clear.
At this time, there is a great deal of violence and subdivisions among people. The United States has always been the place where oppressed people look to when searching for a new country. The American people will get through this as they have so many times before.