Stormzy has pledged £10 million to UK organisations, charities and movements aimed at tackling racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment.
The 26-year-old grime rapper, who took part in a recent Black Lives Matter rally in London, released a statement through his #Merky company on Thursday.
The statement read: “The uncomfortable truth that our country continuously fails to recognize and admit, is that black people in the UK have been at a constant disadvantage in every aspect of life – simply due to the color of our skin.
“I’m lucky enough to be in the position I’m in and I’ve heard people often dismiss the idea of racism existing in Britain by saying ‘If the country’s so racist how have you become a success?!’ and I reject that with this: I am not the UK’s shining example of what supposedly happens when a black person works hard.
“There are millions of us. We are not far and few. We have to fight against the odds of a racist system stacked against us and designed for us to fail from before we are eve
“Black people have been playing on an uneven field for far too long and this pledge is a continuation in the fight to finally try and even it.”
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In 2018 Stormzy announced a publishing deal with Penguin to help young writers become published authors. Known as #Merky Books, his imprint is publishing two to three books a year, starting with Stormzy’s autobiography Rise Up.