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FEATURED ARTISTS

FEATURING

SHEILA E. • LEDISI • ISRAEL HOUGHTON • MAHERSHALA ALI • MICHAEL FRANTI • MISTY COPELAND • DR. ANGELA DAVIS • DOLORES HUERTA • TONY! TONI! TONE! • GOAPELE • TROMBONE SHORTY • JO KOY • ANITA POINTER • LYNN MABRY • PETE & JUAN ESCOVEDO • MARK CURRY • FREDDIE STONE • AVERY*SUNSHINE • DAMIAN LILLARD • JAMES PICKENS JR. • STEVIE WONDER

+ MORE TBA

JOIN SHEILA E., ELEVATE OAKLAND, AND SOME OF THE NATION’S MOST LEGENDARY ARTISTS, ACTIVISTS AND COMMUNITY FIGURES AS WE STAND TOGETHER IN SUPPORT OF JUSTICE FOR BLACK LIVES.

WE STAND TOGETHER centers on our collective belief in the power of music and art to uplift and empower marginalized communities and act as a connection point to educate viewers on the intersection of art, culture and politics. This variety special will honor Black and non-Black POC creatives in communities everywhere by featuring music performances, speaker segments, nonprofit organization highlights and more interwoven to create an unforgettable experience for viewers across the globe. All proceeds raised through viewer contributions will go directly towards several national and local initiatives that center on youth services and direct support for the movement to fight for freedom, liberation and justice for Black lives across the globe.

ABOUT THE WE STAND TOGETHER FUND

Rooted in the belief that change for Black Lives is achieved by the collective investment in initiatives that operate on all scales, the WE STAND TOGETHER Fund aims to pool financial resources for organizations that are operating both at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement and in their own communities to support programs that restore equity for BIPOC individuals by creating space for marginalized voices.

At launch, donations will support several national and local initiatives that center on creative youth services and direct support for the movement to fight for freedom, liberation and justice for Black lives across the globe. Benefiting nonprofits include Black Lives Matter Global Network, YR Media, and Elevate Oakland.

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MEET THE FUND BENEFICIARIES

YR MEDIA

YR Media, formerly Youth Radio, is an award-winning national network of diverse young journalists and artists from underrepresented communities who create content for this generation. Headquartered in downtown Oakland, CA, they collaborate with aligned partners around the country to amplify music and stories that matter through platforms ranging from podcasts to music festivals to museum exhibitions, documentaries and more. For more than 25 years, YR Media has invested in future generations to build crucial skills in journalism, arts and media, with an added focus on providing onsite wraparound services and access to professional-grade studios and equipment for Oakland youth. YR Media engages 250 Bay Area youth each year, and hundreds more across the country through our national network. Their work, which has reached millions of listeners and viewers, has been featured by NPR, the New York Times,Teen Vogue, The Guardian, the official Instagram corporate platform and more.

BLACK LIVES MATTER GLOBAL NETWORK [ARTS & CULTURE]

Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc, is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, they are winning immediate improvements for Black lives. Elevate Oakland is partnering with BLM Global Network to direct funds strategically to their Arts+Culture initiative which seeks to empower and uplift artists and creatives across the nation by partnering with them to create a variety of art activations across the world that promote healing, justice, rejuvenation and awareness surrounding the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

ELEVATE OAKLAND

Founded by Sheila E., Lynn Mabry, Yoshie Akiba of Yoshi’s Oakland, and Jason Hofmann, Elevate Oakland is a non-profit that provides culturally vibrant art and music programs to Oakland’s youth. Their mission to provide students with opportunities to engage in art and music programming has led Elevate Oakland to partner with public schools to meet a wide variety of needs, ranging from artists in residence programs providing hands-on music curriculum during the school day to facilitating opportunities for students to perform alongside local professional musicians. To date, Elevate Oakland has successfully served over 3,000 youth at over 30 Oakland public schools. Across its programs, the focus is not on creating professional musicians, but instead on utilizing music and the arts as a conduit to get students excited about learning.

COMING TO YOU FROM OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

WE STAND TOGETHER will be airing from the historic Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, California, the Bay Area's premier location for jazz music and home to performances by a variety of music legends since its establishment in 1972. Yoshi’s began in 1972 as a small, North Berkeley sushi bar owned by founder and namesake, Yoshie Akiba, alongside her two best friends Kaz Kajimura, a journalist and carpenter, and Hiroyuki Hori, a painter and Japanese cook. Over the next 40 years, Yoshi’s built itself into one of the world’s most respected jazz venues, earning a reputation as the Bay Area’s premier location for great Japanese cuisine and jazz music.