Activism

Michael Jordan’s Big GIVE

Published

5 years ago

June 18, 2020

Friday, June 12, the basketball icon Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand committed $100 million
over the next 10 years to organizations assisting Black people with social justice and greater
access to education.

A joint statement with Nike read, “The Jordan Brand is us, the Black community. Until the
ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will
remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.” Nike, also committed
to donating $40 million over four years to support Black communities.

When Jordan committed $100 million last week, many Black community voices responded, “It’s
about time,” expressing a sentiment, according to NBC’s TV series GIVE Executive
Producer/Creator Gary Reeves, “is a misconceived sentiment based on lack of research.”

The Black community may have developed that sentiment based upon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
criticizing Jordan in 2015 for choosing “commerce over conscience” or in 1990 failing to support
a democratic nominee attempting to unseat conservative Senator Jesse Helms, who opposed
federal integration policy, when Jordan stated, “Republicans buy shoes too.”

Sentiment began to shift in 2016 after Jordan donated 5 million for the National Museum of
African American History and Culture in DC and 2 million that same year to two social justice
organizations. However many still felt Jordan had an elitist mentality.

“Most of the giving Michael has done has gone un-celebrated,” says Reeves, “In 1987 I
approached Michael to produce his story about being cut in high school. I saw the story as an
inspirational message for those youth that encounter rejection as they pursue their dream. The
inspirational story was titled ‘Michael Jordan’s Playground’.”

“If he had quit we wouldn’t know him today. His message to so many people was the importance
to push through adversity if you love something and the importance of passion. It’s easy to be
discouraged if you like something, but if you love what you do, you push through to achieve
your dream.”

“Although I didn’t have the resume at the time to produce, he embraced my passion for
delivering an important message using his setback as an inspiration.”

In 1984, Al Attles appointed Reeves as the Golden State Warriors spiritual advisor, working
under Will Herzfeld, of the Oakland, Lutheran Church. Reeves served the organization for
thirteen years, addressing the spiritual and emotional interests of the players. During this tenure,
his services expanded throughout the NBA.

“The graciousness Jordan extended to me had far-reaching results, the perfect example of the
‘butterfly effect’ which inspired a greater potential for social impact.”

Jordan’s give encouraged Reeves ability to create socially inspiring content utilizing sports to
teach life lessons in Oakland, Berkeley and the Greater Bay Area. Reeves touched the lives of
Jason Kidd, Brian Shaw, Gary Payton, Greg Foster, Antonio Davis, Levi Middlebrooks, and
others via free basketball camps, that were supported by the Coors Family and later Coors
Brewing Company.

“Because it was beer, we couldn’t promote the brand because minors were involved so we called
the program ‘21 means 21.’ Ivan Burwell, who was introduced to me by Phyllis Coors, served as
my internal mentor/advocate who was the director of community relations for Coors Brewing
Company in Denver Colorado.”

“I was the person that bridged the gap between celebrities and corporate America with
community partner’s like East Oakland Development Center, Alameda Foster Care services,
HIV/AIDS work with Magic Johnson, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation where we were able
to build medical centers in San Francisco and Oakland.”

Reeves has rallied celebrity support for a number of community service providers and public
schools in the West Contra Costa School District.

“We provided field trips and a series of concert/assemblies with Robin Thicke, EnVogue,
Mindless Behavior, El Debarge, and Genuine with Blair Underwood and Mario Lopez as hosts.
The concerts were fundraisers that provided positive rewards for kids that did acts of kindness at
schools from James Logan High School in Union City, to El Cerrito High School, Kennedy and
Richmond Pal.”

This was a result of Michael Jordan’s big give. He allowed his support to breathe life into local
under-the-radar programs, and has done this multiple times with multiple individuals, that never
gained public attention.

Moving forward, in 2017 Reeves created the GIVE show that launched on NBC. GIVE provides
a platform for local service providers a seat at the table with national and internationally known
philanthropists. GIVE won the Emmy in 2018 and Tully Award for family programming.
GIVE serves as a platform for philanthropists and donors such as Michael Bloomberg, Michael
Eisner, Ford Company Fund, Paul Newman’s Own, Unite4Good, and the Tisch Family who own
the Mets.

“These philanthropists would never have had a seat at the table if not for GIVE. Blair
Underwood and Jenna Bush, former President Bush’s daughter serve as hosts.”
After two seasons with NBC, Reeves renegotiated his contract and is now moving to Oprah’s
OWN-Network stating it’s a better business model regarding philanthropy.

Michael contributed 100 million dollars, but Reeves serves as an example of how Michael’s
giving has impacted medical centers, and inner-city programs nationwide for many others like
Reeves.

Reeves says, “Don’t be quick to judge, perceptions of Jordan are misaligned, and contributions
throughout his life misunderstood. His service to underserved communities has impacted beyond
his celebrity. He’s impacted social services, social justice, and social inequality his entire career.”

Tanya Dennis

Posts by Tanya Dennis

Activism

Gov. Newsom Approves $170 Million to Fast Track Wildfire Resilience

AB 100 approves major investments in regional conservancies across the state, including over $30 million each for the Sierra Nevada, Santa Monica Mountains, State Coastal, and San Gabriel/Lower LA Rivers and Mountains conservancies. An additional $10 million will support wildfire response and resilience efforts.

Published

9 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Courtesy of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Facebook page.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

With wildfire season approaching, last week Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 100, unlocking $170 million to fast-track wildfire prevention and forest management projects — many of which directly protect communities of color, who are often hardest hit by climate-driven disasters.

“With this latest round of funding, we’re continuing to increase the speed and size of forest and vegetation management essential to protecting communities,” said Newsom when he announced the funding on April 14.

“We are leaving no stone unturned — including cutting red tape — in our mission to ensure our neighborhoods are protected from destructive wildfires,” he said.

Newsom also signed an executive order suspending certain regulations to allow urgent work to move forward faster.

This funding builds on California’s broader Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, a $2.7 billion effort to reduce fuel loads, increase prescribed burning, and harden communities. The state has also launched new dashboards to keep the public informed and hold agencies accountable.

California has also committed to continue investing $200 million annually through 2028 to expand this effort, ensuring long-term resilience, particularly in vulnerable communities.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

California Rideshare Drivers and Supporters Step Up Push to Unionize

Today in California, over 600,000 rideshare drivers want the ability to form or join unions for the sole purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection. It’s a right, and recently at the State Capitol, a large number of people, including some rideshare drivers and others working in the gig economy, reaffirmed that they want to exercise it.

Published

9 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Shutterstock

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

On July 5, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into federal law the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Also known as the “Wagner Act,” the law paved the way for employees to have “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations,” and “to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, according to the legislation’s language.

On April 8, the rideshare drivers held a rally with lawmakers to garner support for Assembly Bill (AB) 1340, the “Transportation Network Company Drivers (TNC) Labor Relations Act.”

Authored by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), AB 1340 would allow drivers to create a union and negotiate contracts with industry leaders like Uber and Lyft.

“All work has dignity, and every worker deserves a voice — especially in these uncertain times,” Wicks said at the rally. “AB 1340 empowers drivers with the choice to join a union and negotiate for better wages, benefits, and protections. When workers stand together, they are one of the most powerful forces for justice in California.”

Wicks and Berman were joined by three members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC): Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles), and Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights).

Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; April Verrett, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Tia Orr, Executive Director of SEIU; and a host of others participated in the demonstration on the grounds of the state capitol.

“This is not a gig. This is your life. This is your job,” Bryan said at the rally. “When we organize and fight for our collective needs, it pulls from the people who have so much that they don’t know what to do with it and puts it in the hands of people who are struggling every single day.”

Existing law, the “Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act,” created by Proposition (Prop) 22, a ballot initiative, categorizes app-based drivers for companies such as Uber and Lyft as independent contractors.

Prop 22 was approved by voters in the November 2020 statewide general election. Since then, Prop 22 has been in court facing challenges from groups trying to overturn it.

However, last July, Prop 22 was upheld by the California Supreme Court last July.

In a 2024, statement after the ruling, Lyft stated that 80% of the rideshare drivers they surveyed acknowledged that Prop 22 “was good for them” and “median hourly earnings of drivers on the Lyft platform in California were 22% higher in 2023 than in 2019.”

Wicks and Berman crafted AB 1340 to circumvent Prop 22.

“With AB 1340, we are putting power in the hands of hundreds of thousands of workers to raise the bar in their industry and create a model for an equitable and innovative partnership in the tech sector,” Berman said.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

California Holds the Line on DEI as Trump Administration Threatens School Funding

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

Published

10 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Shutterstock

By Joe W. Bowers Jr
California Black Media

California education leaders are pushing back against the Trump administration’s directive to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in its K-12 public schools — despite threats to take away billions in federal funding.

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

According to Trainor, “DEI programs discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another.”

On April 3, the DOE escalated the pressure, sending a follow-up letter to states demanding that every local educational agency (LEA) certify — within 10 business days — that they were not using federal funds to support “illegal DEI.” The certification requirement, tied to continued federal aid, raised the stakes for California, which receives more than $16 billion annually in federal education funding.

So far, California has refused to comply with the DOE order.

“There is nothing in state or federal law that outlaws the broad concepts of ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” wrote David Schapira, California’s Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, in an April 4 letter to superintendents and charter school administrators. Schapira noted that all of California’s more than 1,000 traditional public school districts submit Title VI compliance assurances annually and are subject to regular oversight by the state and the federal government.

In a formal response to the DOE on April 11, the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond collectively rejected the certification demand, calling it vague, legally unsupported, and procedurally improper.

“California and its nearly 2,000 LEAs (including traditional public schools and charter schools) have already provided the requisite guarantee that its programs and services are, and will be, in compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulation,” the letter says.

Thurmond added in a statement, “Today, California affirmed existing and continued compliance with federal laws while we stay the course to move the needle for all students. As our responses to the United States Department of Education state and as the plain text of state and federal laws affirm, there is nothing unlawful about broad core values such as diversity, equity and inclusion. I am proud of our students, educators and school communities who continue to focus on teaching and learning, despite federal actions intended to distract and disrupt.”

California officials say that the federal government cannot change existing civil rights enforcement standards without going through formal rule-making procedures, which require public notice and comment.

Other states are taking a similar approach. In a letter to the DOE, Daniel Morton-Bentley, deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York State Education Department, wrote, “We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion.’ But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”