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Beyoncé's BeyGOOD Foundation Announces $6M COVID-19 Relief Efforts

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The artist’s BeyGOOD foundation is working to provide resources and mental health services with UCLA and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Apr 23, 2020 - 12:42 pm

Beyoncé is stepping in to help support COVID-19 relief efforts by providing medical resources and increased access to mental health services in the country’s hardest hit areas. The 24-time GRAMMY winner's BeyGOOD foundation has announced a largescale plan of support to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic with the help of local organizations and non-profits.

In a statement on her website, the foundation wrote, "Communities of color are suffering by epic proportions due to COVID-19. Many families live in underserved areas with homes that make it harder to practice social distancing."

"Communities were already lacking funds for education, health and housing are now faced with alarming infection rates and fatalities. And these communities lack access to testing and equitable healthcare."

Considering these issues, the artist’s BeyGOOD foundation will support organizations working on-the-ground towards coronavirus relief initiatives, including providing necessities like food, water, cleaning supplies, medicines, face masks and personal hygiene products to some of the country’s hardest hit areas. Amongst the organizations involved are Matthew 25, No Kid Hungry, United Memorial Medical Center,  World Central Kitchen and others.

In addition to supporting community-based organizations, BeyGOOD is collaborating alongside Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey’s Start Small Fund to donate $6M to mental health and wellness services in Houston, New York, Detroit and New Orleans through partnerships with UCLA and the National Alliance in Mental Illness. Dorsey’s Start Small fund put forth $1B to COVID-19 relief funds last month.

Closing out the statement, they wrote "These are unprecedented times and it will take our collective effort to make a difference."

You can find out more information about Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD foundation and see the statement at their website.

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YouTube & NIVA Team Up On #SOSFEST To Raise Money For Indie Venues

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Miley Cyrus, YG, Foo Fighters, Marshmello with Demi Lovato, the Roots, Sebastian Yatra and more will contribute original performances Oct. 16–18
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Oct 8, 2020 - 4:29 pm

YouTube and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) are joining forces to bring #SOSFEST (Save Our Stages Fest) benefiting independent music venues across the country. The three-day music event on Oct. 16–18 will feature an eclectic lineup of musicians.

Miley Cyrus, YG, Foo Fighters, Marshmello with Demi Lovato, The Roots, Sebastian Yatra and more will contribute live original performances across 25 independent venues. Other artists participating include Leon Bridges, Phoebe Bridgers, Reba McEntire and G-Eazy.  

The festival "aims to generate significant awareness, advocacy and donations for the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund." The fund aids the "most vulnerable venues experiencing catastrophic revenue loss."

"Independent venues are closing permanently all around the country. These are the clubs and theaters that you know and love; the rooms our favorite bands play their first gigs at. With no assistance from the federal government in the future, we need to act NOW to #SaveOurStages!" NIVA, whose group of over 2,000 venues includes Los Angeles' The Troubador and New York's Apollo Theater, posted to their Instagram. 

According to a NIVA survey released in June, 90 percent of roughly 2,000 venues without federal help surveyed were going to close in a few months. 

#SOSFEST will livestream on NIVA's YouTube channel. 

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Laura Jane Grace And The Devouring Mothers At SXSW

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SXSW Looks Forward With Virtual Festival Offerings For 2021

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The newly announced SXSW Online: A Digital Experience will happen March 16–20
GRAMMYs
Sep 23, 2020 - 4:35 pm

South By Southwest (SXSW) announced Sept. 22 it will go virtual for their conference and festival events in 2021. 

The virtual edition will happen March 16–20 with SXSW EDU Online happening before on March 9–11. SXSW Online announced screenings, showcases, keynotes, exhibitions and networking opportunities will make up some of the digital event. SXSW also noted they are working with public health authorities and the city of Austin "on plans for a physical event in 2021."

"The challenge of building a new future is one that we’re excited to tackle. This has been such a year of change and we, like the entire world, are reshaping our perspective on how we connect," said CEO and Co-Founder Roland Swenson in statement on the SXSW website. "We’re pleased to be working on SXSW Online as part of our program for 2021, and regardless of platform, we will continue to bring together the brightest minds from creative industries worldwide."

The major music, film and tech live event in Austin announced in March it would cancel their 2020 edition due to fear of the spread of COVID-19.

SXSW and SXSW EDU PanelPicker proposals and Film Festival submissions will open on Oct. 6. Staff will program the 2021 music festival edition. Priority will be given to presenters and artists who were on the 2020 lineup. 

For more information, visit the SXSW website.

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Beyoncé at 2020 BET Awards

Beyoncé at 2020 BET Awards

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Watch Beyoncé Dedicate BET 2020 Humanitarian Award To Those "Marching & Fighting For Change"

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Michelle Obama presented the honor to her friend, saying, "You inspire me, you inspire all of us"
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 29, 2020 - 1:33 pm

Yesterday, June 28, Beyoncé joined the virtual presentation of the 2020 BET Awards, to accept the Humanitarian Award and offer a powerful speech. The seven-and-a-half-minute segment, which you can view in full below, also included former First Lady Michelle Obama, who presented the award and a video detailing the many philanthropic initiatives the honoree has led with her BeyGOOD Foundation and more.

According to Pitchfork, Chance the Rapper, Nipsey Hussle, John Legend and Quincy Jones have been past recipients of the Humanitarian Award.

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"She's always turning up, looking out and making us a little bit better, a little more fierce and she's doing it all while staying devoted to her children and the loved ones she holds dear," Obama said. "You inspire me, you inspire all of us."

Obama's speech was followed by the video detailing the extensive work Queen Bey has done giving back in her hometown of Houston and beyond. Beyoncé and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, through their nonprofits, collectively donated $6 million to various orgs fighting COVID-19 and supporting mental health, both focused on communities of color. BeyGood's coronavirus work helped open a wing at Houston Memorial Hospital, as well as offer mobile testing and food supplies. It also supported the National Alliance On Mental Health for their on the ground work supporting communities of color in New York, New Orleans, Houston and Detroit.

In the video, we heard from Tina Knowles-Lawson, Treyvon Martin's mother, the director of BeyGOOD, Homecoming Scholarship recipients and others. The scholarships are given to Black students in the U.S., especially those going to HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities). In partnership Global Citizen and Tyler Perry, BeyGOOD has also launched fellowship programs in Africa to support young people there.

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Beyoncé was up next, looking stunning with natural makeup, a diamond choker and strapless black dress. She used her speech to celebrate those taking action in protests around the country, encouraging everyone to not give up and to please vote.

"I want to dedicate this award to all of my brothers out there, all of sisters out there, inspiring me, marching and fighting for change. Your voices are being heard and you're proving to our ancestors that their struggles were not in vain. Now we have one more thing we need to do to walk in our true power, and that is to vote. I'm encouraging you to continue to take action, continue to change and dismantle a racist and unequal system.

We have to continue to do this together, continue to fight for each other and lift each other up, because there are people banking on us staying at home during local elections and primaries happening in states across the country. We have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does. So please continue to be the change you want to see."

Beyoncé: Justice For Breonna Taylor Would Demonstrate The Value Of A Black Woman's Life

Her poignant words were followed by the trailer for her upcoming Disney+ film, Black Is King, featuring music from her 2019 Lion King: The Gift album. During the show, the "Formation" singer also earned the BET Her Award for "Brown Skin Girl," a track featuring daughter Blue Ivy Carter, Wizkid and Saint Jhn from the The Gift album.

The broadcast was filled with other powerful moments, including Public Enemy opening the show with a 2020 update on their still pertinent 1989 classic "Fight The Power," with support from Nas, Black Thought, Rapsody, YG and more. Another moving performance critiquing police brutality came from DaBaby and Roddy Ricch rapping "Rockstar," with DaBaby beginning the set on the ground as a white man dressed as a police officer kneeled on his neck, evoking the brutal killing of George Floyd by Derek Chuavin.

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Alicia Keys delivered the first-ever live performance of her touching new track "Perfect Way To Die," Jennifer Hudson brought chills with Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted & Black" and Anderson .Paak and Jay Rock delivering "Lockdown," among other epic musical moments. Watch more via BET's YouTube here.

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Beyoncé

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Beyoncé: Justice For Breonna Taylor Would Demonstrate The Value Of A Black Woman's Life

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In an open letter, the global pop star lists the ways political justice can be made for the 26-year-old essential worker killed by police in March
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jun 15, 2020 - 5:32 pm

In an open letter, Beyoncé has listed three ways that can lead to justice for Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in March. Doing so, she writes, would "demonstrate the value of a Black woman's life." 

On March 13, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, an EMT, was shot to death in Louisville, Ky. after cops crashed into her apartment with a no-knock warrant. The controversial search warrant allows police to enter a premise without giving warning or reasoning and so three officers raided the apartment without notice a little after midnight. According to reports, the police came to the apartment in connection with an investigation of two men they believe were selling drugs. Police believed one of the men had received packages at Taylor's apartment. Taylor died during a confrontation between her boyfriend and the police that night. 

The letter to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, published on her website, states criminally charging the three officers executing the warrant would be the first step towards justice. She adds that transparency in the investigation and prosecution of the officers, as well as an investigation into the response of the Louisville Metro Police Department in relation to the death of Taylor and the practices that have led to the deaths of unarmed Black people were also important steps to take in the process.

Taylor's death, which has increasingly gained attention since George Floyd's death, brought the Louisville Metro Council to unanimously pass the ban of no-knock warrants. The law was named in honor of Taylor. But Beyoncé believes more can be done and urged the Attorney General to criminally charge the officers, who are currently on administrative reassignment pending investigation, the Louisville Courier Journal reports. 

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Beyond urging for justice, Beyoncé's letter touched on a greater issue: the importance of the black women's lives taken by police. "Your office has both the power and the responsibility to bring Justice to Breonna Taylor, and demonstrate the value of a Black woman's life," she writes. 

Many argue the stories of Black women killed by police don't get enough attention, in the media and in politics. The #SayHerName campaign was created in late 2014 to bring more attention to Black women's deaths at the hands of police. As Brittney Cooper writes for Time, "Black women are rarely the first thought in our outrage over police shootings ... We keep missing the intersection of race and gender when it comes to Black women."

Read the full letter here. 

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