As the NFL season gets underway and social justice issues remain at the forefront of controversial subject matter, there are some NFL teams who are living up to its end of the bargain and proactively showing its support for players and protests in the name of social justice and ending systemic racism.
The San Francisco 49ers have announced nine recipients for their social justice grant initiative.
.@49ers unveiled the nine recipients of their most recent social justice grant initiative.
At $1 million dollars each, these organizations are aimed creating societal change.
Read more: https://t.co/fO2xLxmDDa pic.twitter.com/5pM6z95eSn
— Sportico (@Sportico) September 9, 2020
The initiative was announced on May 30, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and cnists of a $1 million commitment to organizations creating societal change. To qualify for a grant, the organizations had to have a focus on racial equality in policing, ending mass incarceration, or educational and economic advancement for young black people.
“Simply put, if it were not for faithful support from invested partners like the 49ers, the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area would not exist,” Muhammad A. Nadhiri, Chairman of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area said in a release. “This funding will be essential to the work we do to make a difference in the lives of the young men with whom we work. We look forward to this partnership with the 49ers organization and seeing all it can do to support our community.”
Over the last two months, the 49ers went through a selection process — including a review of each organization’s proposal by 49ers ownership, front office staff including members from the Black Employee Resource Group and players. The final group to decide who got the grant was the 49ers representatives on the Players Social Justice Council, led by Arik Armstead, Ben Garland, Dee Ford, Solomon Thomas, Laken Tomlinson and former 49er Jamar Taylor.
