Beyoncé’s BeyGood organization has teamed up with the NAACP to help small black-owned businesses in select cities across the country.
In an announcement on Monday (July 13), the NAACP revealed they’d be partnering with BeyGood’s Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund to amplify their efforts in assisting businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The five cities eligible for the $10,000 grants are Bey’s hometown of Houston, Atlanta, her husband JAY-Z’s home of New York, Los Angeles and George Floyd’s city of Minneapolis.
“Over the last couple of months, the pandemic and outpours for justice throughout the Black community and across the country has been felt in every imaginable area of our lives, including in how our local businesses continue to operate,” the NAACP wrote in a press release. “The challenges of Black business owners navigating in the climate cannot be understated, as the effects of uprisings across the nation have led to many businesses being placed in dire straits due to damages and other small business needs.”
Applicants are being accepted through July 18 via NAACP’s website, and will be notified by July 31 via Beyonce’s website.
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Beyoncé has also been dedicating her time to demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, as officers remain free after shooting and killing the unarmed EMT in her Lousiville apartment on March 13. Less than a week after commemorating Taylor’s birthday on her Instagram with a call for action, the superstar singer shared an open letter to Kentucky’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron, demanding he “commit to transparency in the investigation and prosecution of these officers’ criminal conduct.”
On the musical side, Beyoncé is preparing for the release of her visual album Black Is King, inspired by her 2019 film The Lion King. According to Disney Plus and Parkwood Entertainment, the film is “a celebratory memoir for the world on the Black experience,” and reimagines lessons conveyed in The Lion King for “today’s young kinds and queens in search of their own crowns.”
The project hits Disney+ globally on July 31.