In a continuing effort to address systemic racism, basketball legend Michael Jordan and Nike are donating $1 million to Morehouse College students enrolled in its Journalism and Sports program.
The gift is part of Jordan’s larger philanthropic project, Black Community Commitment, which has also previously donated to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Ida B. Wells Society.
Morehouse is proud to announce that #MichaelJordan and Jordan Brand (@Jumpman23) have announced a million dollar commitment to Morehouse’s Journalism and Sports program as part of Jordan Brand’s #BlackCommunityCommitment.
Link: https://t.co/lFDU0L7Vh1 pic.twitter.com/kBPPMTsBet
— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) May 28, 2021
Morehouse will use the grant to fund scholarships, technology, and educational programming for journalism and sports students. The program, which focuses on the lack of Black leadership in sports journalism, was launched by director and alumnus Spike Lee and has produced over 80 graduates working in media and sports.
Jordan explained how “education is crucial for understanding the Black experience today. We want to help people understand the truth of our past, and help tell the stories that will shape our future.”
‘A Rich Legacy of Storytellers’
The grant will support “a rich legacy of storytellers” who will go on to shape the narrative of the Black experience in popular culture. The donation is driven by the belief that a thorough understanding of structural racism will bring about real change in the country.
“Morehouse is grateful to Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand for an investment in the education of talented men of color who will ensure there is equity, balance, and truth in the way sports stories are framed and the way the Black experience is contextualized within American history,” vice president for institutional advancement at Morehouse, Monique Dozier, said in a statement.
Feature image: mccarmona23/Flickr/CC2.0
