Michael Jordan Donates $1M TO NAACP LDF
It's not holiday season yet, but the the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund got a great gift this week: Michael Jordan made a $1M donation to the organization to support its policing reform work. He also contributed $1M to the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Community-Police Relations.
The Hall of Famer said that he's speaking out in the hope of helping "achieve constructive change," and his donation to LDF, "the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement."
LDF president and director-counsel Sherrilyn Ifill (center, between Janai Nelson and interim DNC chair Donna Brazile at an LDF event) called Jordan's donation "an act of true leadership" in a statement and said LDF would use it to deepen its engagement on policing reform.
NAACP LDF, which was founded by Thurgood Marshall in 1940, started its Race and Policing Reform Campaign in 2014 in response to police-involved killings. Its strategy includes using litigation, public education, and policy and legislative advocacy to advance reform.
Just yesterday, LDF partnered with Legal Aid to provide testimony before the NYC Council's Committee on Oversight and Investigations about the procedures for filing complains against alleged improper police conduct.
