Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand Pledge $100 Million to Advance Racial Equality
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Reporter
June 8, 2020 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The basketball legend Michael Jordan said he and the Nike-owned athletic wear and shoe company Jordan Brand plan to give a total of $100 million over 10 years to organizations that work to advance racial equality, social justice, and access to education, a Jordan spokeswoman announced late Friday afternoon on Twitter. Of the total pledged, Jordan will donate $50 million personally, and Jordan Brand will give the other half, the spokeswoman said.
The donation is Jordan’s biggest publicly disclosed gift. From 2016 through 2018 he gave a total of $16 million to half a dozen nonprofits, including $7 million in 2017 to build two medical clinics in North Carolina to serve vulnerable and low-income communities and $5 million in 2016 to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
It is not, however, his first foray in social-justice giving. In 2016 he gave $2 million to be split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Community-Police Relations to back an effort aimed at building trust between people of color and law-enforcement officers across the country.
Jordan’s latest donation might go some way to quell criticism he has faced over the years from people who have accused him of failing to use his wealth and influence to openly address racial injustice and disparities. The pledge comes on the heels of a statement he made on social media last week condemning the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by a Minneapolis police officer.
“I am deeply saddened, truly pained, and plain angry,” said Jordan in the statement. “I see and feel everyone’s pain, outrage, and frustration. I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.”
Jordan’s spokeswoman said he has not yet determined which organizations will receive portions of the donation.
