Stormzy pledges £10 MILLION to organisations fighting racial inequality in the UK over the next 10 years
- Stormzy and his company #Merky are donating to organisations fighting racism
- In a statement, he said it will be the start of a lifetime commitment to the cause
- He said he hopes the money will help even the playing field for black people
- The rapper, 26, has frequently spoken out about racial issues in his career
- He recently attended the Black Lives Matter protests in London
Stormzy and his company have pledged £10 million over the next 10 years to organisations fighting for racial equality and social justice.
The announcement comes after protests in the US and UK following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
The 26-year-old grime rapper, who took part in a recent Black Lives Matter rally in London, released a statement through his #Merky company on Thursday.
Inspirational: Stormzy, pictured at the Black Lives Matter protest in London on Sunday, has pledged to donate £10 million over 10 years to causes fighting racial injustice
It said: ‘The uncomfortable truth that our country continuously fails to recognise and admit, is that black people in the UK have been at a constant disadvantage in every aspect of life – simply due to the colour of our skin.
‘I’m lucky enough to be in the position I’m in and I’ve heard people often dismiss the idea of racism existing in Britain by saying ‘If the country’s so racist how have you become a success?!’ and I reject that with this: I am not the UK’s shining example of what supposedly happens when a black person works hard.
‘There are millions of us. We are not far and few. We have to fight against the odds of a racist system stacked against us and designed for us to fail from before we are even born.
Speaking out: The Croydon rapper, 26, has frequently used his platform to raise awareness of racial issues
‘Black people have been playing on an uneven field for far too long and this pledge is a continuation in the fight to finally try and even it.’
Stormzy’s donation will support organisations, charities and movements involved in tackling racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment in the UK.
He said further information on the pledge would be released in due course and urged others to also pledge to support similar causes.
Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, launched his own publishing imprint, #Merky Books, a collaboration with Penguin Random House, in July 2018.
It is due to publish the autobiography of Malorie Blackman, the author of the Noughts And Crosses books, in 2022.