Erykah Badu Donates Detroit Concert Proceeds to Rape Kit Project
Erykah Badu is lending a hand to help a Detroit organization identify rape victims and criminals. Partnering with event management company The Right Productions, Badu is donating some of the proceeds from her August 12th concert at Detroit’s Chene Park Amphitheater to the African American 490 Challenge.
The initiative takes its name from the cost of completing a single rape kit test: $490. Michigan Women’s Foundation campaign, partnering with Enough SAID (Enough Sexual Assault in Detroit), aims to test more than 11,000 abandoned rape kits found in the Detroit Police Department’s storage in 2009, according to the Detroit Free Press. The money donated from Badu’s concert will help the organization investigate the rape cases.
“This is a huge day for Enough SAID/AA490,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “Everyone knows that Erykah Badu is a major, major talent in the music and songwriting industry. For her to lend her name, talent and time to this work is nothing short of a miracle. Justice for these forgotten sexual assault victims has been given a phenomenal assist.”
Badu will give the 490 Challenge $5 from each ticket sale plus proceeds from a $100-per-ticket reception and a $1,000-per-person VIP reception, Okayplayer reports. This will boost the project toward its fundraising goal of $657,090 by 2017.
“It should come as no surprise that an artist with Erykah Badu’s impressive history of social consciousness would join forces with the black women leaders of Detroit to address this important social issue,” said Kim Trent, president of the 490 Challenge, in a statement. “We are very excited that she is lending her considerable talent to our cause.”