Detroit rappers Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″ have long been friends and collaborators in music but this week, they also expanded their partnership to include activism as well. On Sunday, Royce shared the announcement that Eminem had appointed him to the board of the Marshall Mathers Foundation as Director Of Community Engagement And Social Justice Initiatives. The Marshall Mathers Foundation, which has primarily provided assistance to disadvantaged and at-risk youth in Detroit, Michigan and its surrounding communities, expanded its mandate with Royce’s appointment to “combatting social injustice and helping to affect change.”
Royce himself wrote that, “I’m super excited about not just donating money but launching new initiatives.” He also stated that his goal in the new position was straightforward and that he wanted to “provide privilege for the underprivileged.” The partnership came from a question that the two Detroit rappers said is one “everybody should be asking themselves right now: ‘How can I do more?'”
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The announcement came after a month marked by massive protests across the country against police killings of Black people, including Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor shot by police during a raid on her apartment and 46-year-old former rapper George Floyd, who was killed by a Minnesota police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck while he begged, “I can’t breathe.” Their deaths and many others became the focus of protests demanding police departments be defunded in favor of social programs and education that could have a greater impact on crime prevention.
See Royce Da 5’9″‘s announcement above.
