Erykah Badu performed at Detroit’s Chene Park Amphitheater on Friday, Aug. 12. The show was nothing short of amazing, and she definitely left the crowd wanting more. But just as it appeared that she left her all on the stage, she was able to give a little more of herself when she mustered up the energy to conduct a post-concert press conference and VIP reception that highlighted her newly formed partnerships with the Detroit-based organization the Enough SAID Campaign and The Right Productions.
The Enough SAID Campaign, which stands for Enough Sexual Assault in Detroit, is an independent collaboration by the Michigan Women’s Foundation, the Wayne County Prosecutors Office and the Detroit Crime Commission that was formed to raise funds to test 11,341 unopened, untested and abandoned rape kits. These discarded rape kits were found in an abandoned Detroit Police Department storage unit over seven years ago, and some of the kits were left in storage for over 30 years. Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy discovered the egregious error and decided to do something about it, of which the Enough SAID campaign and the African American 490 Challenge (AA490) was born.
The AA490 Challenge got its name from the cost of testing each rape kit, which costs $490 to test. Kim Trent, AA490’s president, has been leading the charge for fundraising efforts all across the nation. The organization’s overall goal is to raise enough funds to test the remaining kits, and they’re well on their way with the help of the Right Productions president and CEO, Shahida Mausi and Badu joining forces to donate proceeds from Friday night’s concert to the organization.
Badu’s concert proved to be a major fundraiser for the Enough SAID organization and AA490, as they set out to raise a goal of $50K. The plan was to donate $5 from each concert ticket sold and also to donate proceeds from a pre-concert reception as well as a $1K per person VIP post-concert reception. Their goal was exceeded as the total donated proceeds amounted to $50,265, a huge win for everyone involved. Badu also pledged to donate proceeds from each of her remaining concerts until the overall goal of raising enough money to test each forgotten rape kit is reached.
For more on the Enough SAID Campaign, and the AA490 Challenge, visit them at https://www.aa490challenge.org/index.html
See the picture gallery below from Erykah Badu’s concert as well as pictures from a recent 490 Challenge fundraiser hosted earlier this year by Detroit’s financial guru Gail Perry-Mason and president of the AA490 Challenge, Kim Trent.
Photo gallery credit: Porsha Monique for Steed Media
