TIDAL Donates $1.5 Million to Social Justice Groups
The music service that we completely try to ignore is making sure that we don’t forget about them. TIDAL is in the news again but for a completely new reason.
Jay Z’s music platform, in collaboration with Roc Nation, is donating $1.5 million to Black Lives Matter and other local and national social justice groups. The streaming service announced it on Friday, the same day that Trayvon Martin would’ve turned 21.
The group of artists who own TIDAL sat down to decide which organizations to which they would allocate funding. While the service is giving money to activist groups, they are ensuring that a portion of these funds go to groups that are created to making sure that black lives matter.
TIDAL’s money is being serviced through the New World Foundation. The global entertainment platform will fund Opportunity Agenda, Hands Up United, Sankofa.org, Community Coalition in California, Dream Defenders in Florida, the Baltimore Justice Fun and the Empowerment Development Corporation in Maryland, Million Hoodies, the New York Justice League, the Ohio Students Association of Organizing Collaborative, and us, the Black Youth Project.
Donations will also be given to organizations that were created by the families of victims of police brutality including the Trayvon Martin Foundation, the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Ours Sons and Daughters Foundation and the Oscar Grant Foundation.
This is not the first time that TIDAL members and owners have are looking for ways to offer their philanthropic resources to those in need. Usher released two videos for his song “Chains.” The most recent videos shows the artist being followed by police and attending his own memorial service in a church.
He has also spoke on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. “We need to explode the issue. This issue is far deeper than what is on the surface. We have to go deeper and find the solution, and address that.”
In a statement, Tidal discussed Tidal X: 1020.
“Tidal X: 1020 was the first of a series of philanthropic music events curated by Tidal in order to raise awareness, funds, conscious engagement and dynamic action for transformative and positive social impact. All of the organizations selected work to uphold the purpose of the Tidal X: 1020 Fund, which is to support nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing positive community relations and effecting systemic change for the development and sustainability of just societies.”
Well, thank you, TIDAL. We’ll do you justice.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For Roc Nation)