Michael Jordan donates $2.5 million to combat voter suppression

by Marina Pitofsky - 07/30/20 4:03 PM ET

Michael Jordan and the NBA legend’s Jordan Brand are set to donate $2.5 million to organizations combatting voter suppression of Black Americans across the country.

The donation will give $1 million each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted Peoples and Families Movement. The organization Black Voters Matter, which focuses on increasing voter registration and turnout, will receive $500,000, according to a Wednesday statement.

The recipients “were selected based on their ability to take action that can create impact now,” according to the statement. They will initially focus on cities and states where Black people are underrepresented in voter registration and turnout “relative to their share of the overall population.”

The donation is part of a $100 million, 10-year pledge that the basketball star made last month to “organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education,” according to a statement at the time. The initiative will focus specifically on three areas, including social justice, economic justice and education and awareness.

“There is a long history of oppression against Black Americans that holds us back from full participation in American society. We understand that one of the main ways we can change systemic racism is at the polls,” Jordan said in the Wednesday statement.

“We know it will take time for us to create the change we want to see, but we are working quickly to take action for the Black community’s voice to be heard,” he continued.