BC/EFA Will Donate $125,000 to Anti-Racism Groups Including Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Bail Project, Color of Change, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has announced that it is donating $125,000 total to anti-racism organizations, distributed across the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, the Bail Project, Color of Change, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Broadway Cares is making a $50,000 commitment to the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, a launch donation for this week's " Broadway for Black Lives Matter Again " forum (bwayforblm.com) and the follow-up steps outlined by #BwayforBLM. The grant will support the coalition's ongoing efforts to help Broadway heal, listen and become an anti-racist and equitable community.

Grants of $25,000 each are being sent to The Bail Project, Color of Change and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which are all providing timely, on-the-ground action for racial equality and social justice.

"The street action and protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many others now demand that we address systemic racism in all communities, including Broadway," said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. "We need to hold ourselves accountable and do more to amplify and listen to BIPOC voices. We urge others in our community to support and engage with the critical work the Broadway Advocacy Coalition is doing to dismantle systemic racism. We're committed to continuing the work of becoming an anti-racist organization."

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, BC/EFA first announced its donation to Color of Change on June 3.

"Words, though, must come with action. So on behalf of Broadway and the entire theater community, Broadway Cares is making a $25,000 donation today to Color of Change," said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in a press release. "They are doing difficult, important, immediate work - from challenging injustice and holding leaders accountable to changing our country's systems of inequality. This donation is just one small step in a long-standing commitment."

"Our organization pledges to hold ourselves accountable and amplify the voices of people of color in our industry and beyond. We will continue to listen and educate ourselves, and call out others, on how we can best lift up our black colleagues, artists, community members and supporters. Lives depend on it."

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS helps men, women and children across the country and across the street receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington DC.

The mission of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition is to build the capacity of advocates, students, artists, organizations and communities to use the arts as an integral part of their social change work. The coalition believes that "placing Artistry at the center of solving today's most pressing issues will create a new type of dialogue and impact."

The Bail Project, Inc. is an unprecedented effort to combat mass incarceration at the front end of the system. The project pays bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence. Because bail is returned at the end of a case, donations to The Bail Project™ National Revolving Bail Fund can be recycled and reused to pay bail two to three times per year, maximizing the impact of every dollar. 100% of online donations are used to bring people home.

Color Of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization. The organization helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, the organization moves decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is America's premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.