Bandcamp announced that it will be donating 100% of its sales on Juneteenth to the NAACP. In the announcement by Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond, the company said it will honor the date by repeating this practice every year.
Juneteenth, which is June 19, is recognized as the date of the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy in 1865 and was two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
“The recent killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the ongoing state-sanctioned violence against black people in the US and around the world are horrific tragedies. We stand with those rightfully demanding justice, equality, and change, and people of color everywhere who live with racism every single day, including many of our fellow employees and artists and fans in the Bandcamp community,” Diamond’s note began.
“So this coming Juneteenth (June 19, from midnight to midnight PDT) and every Juneteenth hereafter, for any purchase you make on Bandcamp, we will be donating 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a national organization that has a long history of effectively enacting racial justice and change through litigation, advocacy, and public education. We’re also allocating an additional $30,000 per year to partner with organizations that fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of color,” he continued.
In recent weeks, Bandcamp has supported artists by giving all funds from music purchased on the first Friday of every month directly to them. The next one will take place this Friday, June 5.
Read Diamond’s full statement here.
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