ATLANTA – Michael Jordan and the Nike Jordan brand will donate $ 1 million to Morehouse College to advance journalism and sports-related studies.
The donation announced Friday will help enrich the Sports and Journalism program that was originally launched with a donation from director and actor Spike Lee. The school said, in a press release, that the donation will help fund scholarships, technology and educational programs for students in those areas.
“Morehouse thanks Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand for investing in the education of talented African American men who will ensure fairness, balance and truth in the way sports stories are framed and in the way the African American experience is contextualized. In American history,” Monique Dozer said. , Vice President of Enterprise Development at Morehouse.
The donation is part of a larger charitable contribution to Jordan and Jordan called the Black Community Commitment, which has directed the donations to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and Ida B Wells, among other organizations.
“Education is important to understanding the experience of African Americans today,” Jordan said. “We want to help people understand the truth of our past and help tell the stories that will shape our future.”
The program, which focused on the lack of African American leadership in sports journalism and athletics, has produced more than 80 graduates now working in media and sports.
There will be “a rich legacy of storytellers that these programs will support,” said Lee, a 1979 Morehouse graduate.
“A lot of people are influenced by thinking a certain way about African Americans based on what they see on TV and in Hollywood. We have to tell our story,” he said.