Players Coalition Charitable Foundation Announces Partnership with Advancement Project’s National Office
ATLANTA – In advance of Super Bowl LIII, the Players Coalition Charitable Foundation today announced a partnership with Advancement Project’s National Office during its January Coalition meeting. The announcement comes ahead of the 2019 Super Bowl, coinciding with Advancement Project’s launch of its new Free & Safe Campaign focusing on education, immigrant justice, policing and criminal justice issues from a racial justice lens.
“We are excited to collaborate with the Players Coalition Charitable Foundation to combat systemic racism and raise awareness about the challenges thousands of people of color navigate each day in the criminal legal system,” said Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of Advancement Project’s National Office. “Our current criminal legal system is the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and is too often presented as a ‘solution’ to issues which are better addressed by additional investments in public health and education. Instead of keeping communities safe, the normalization of law enforcement in communities of color only further perpetuates racial disparities in arrests, incarceration and conviction rates. Through our partnership with Players Coalition Charitable Foundation, we aim to dismantle the institutional systems that fuel mass incarceration, criminalize poverty and funnel students from school to prison. We are also excited about partnering with communities to re-imagine public safety and center the voice of those directly impacted to change the public narrative that criminalizes people of color.”
In 2019, Advancement Project’s National Office will lead a public outreach campaign, hosting community town halls and political education workshops around incarceration, school policing, and the criminal legal system. The organization will also host a National Week of Awareness and develop an online multi-media campaign amplifying local and national campaign work. The organization’s partnership with the Players Coalition Charitable Foundation, in addition to existing relationships with grassroots groups across the country, will support prison and policing divestment campaigns.
“We look forward to Advancement Project’s National Office partnership in furthering our racial justice mission based on their grassroots connections and dedication to working in close contact with impacted communities – particularly in cities we are connected to,” said Anquan Boldin, co-founder, Players Coalition Charitable Foundation. “Like Advancement Project, we envision a future where racial equality is the status quo and everyone is able to succeed without barriers. NFL athletes and their networks will have an opportunity to receive political education, support local organizing, use their platforms and influence to speak out against the racism and systemic inequality that pervades the criminal justice system. We look forward to partnering with Advancement Project’s National Office this year for collective impact.”
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Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.
The Players Coalition is an independent 501c3 (charity) and 501c4 (advocacy) organization, working with professional athletes, coaches and owners across leagues to improve social justice and racial equality in our country. The work is focused on three key pillars: Police & Community Relations, Criminal Justice Reform and Education & Economic Advancement. Players Coalition is solution-oriented, and members invest significant time and resources to educate themselves on various issues impacting their communities to identify where their influence can have the greatest impact. In 2017, the Players Coalition was co-founded by NFL Pro-Bowl Safety and 2017 NFLPA Byron “Whizzer” White winner Malcolm Jenkins and retired wide receiver and NFL 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner Anquan Boldin. Players Coalition continues to grow in numbers of ambassadors with the collective goal of making an impact on federal, state and local levels through advocacy, engagement and providing resources. For more information follow @playercoalition on Instagram and Facebook and @playercoalition on Twitter.
