Stormzy pledges £10million over 10 years to fight racial inequality in UK after Black Lives Matter protests

STORMZY and his company have pledged £10 million over the next 10 years to organisations engaged in the fight for racial equality and social justice.

The announcement comes after protests in the US and UK following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

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.

“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,” it said,

“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.

“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.”

‘UNVEVEN FIELD’

The death of 46-year-old Mr Floyd, who was seen in a video being held in handcuffs on the ground with a police officer’s knee on his throat, has galvanised support for the Black Lives Matter movement around the world.

In the UK, as well as protests against racism, there have been demands that statues of men who made their fortunes from slave trade be taken down.

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.