The Earth Issue was moved to create a print sale to raise funds for the Black Lives Matter movement, and photographers including Adama Jalloh, Jack Davison, Amber Pinkerton and Harley Weir have donated prints
The Earth Issue has launched a print sale to raise money for bail funds and social justice charities, in response to the widespread Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Starting the process of setting up The Freedom Fundraiser just 48 hours ago, over 80 artists have donated prints to the sale, which runs for the next 30 days.
Each print is £100, and after printing and shipping costs the total proceeds will be split between Black Lives Matter via the Bail Funds: George Floyd platform and the UK-based charity 4FrontProject, which works with young people and communities to help fight for justice, peace and freedom. The Earth Issue plans to send funds to the chosen organisations every three days; for money going to the US, they will continually check the multiple organisations featured in the Bail Funds fundraiser in case donations need diverting. “The Earth Issue will continuously monitor the landscape of organisations needing funds, adjusting to whom we donate every three days based on needs and recommendations from frontliners in the civil rights struggle.”
The Earth Issue – a collective of artists and creatives whose works sits at the intersection of art and environmentalism, mobilising change via exhibitions, talks, collaborative projects and publications – reached out to previous and frequent collaborators to build the sale, inspired to act against the racial injustices faced by black individuals in both the US and the UK. In the fight against racism, donating money is at the forefront of ways to help oppressed communities. “We were outraged by the murder of of George Floyd at the hands of the police and the continuous way the Government both in the US and the UK systematically continue to fail black people,” The Earth Issue says. “We were also frustrated by brands releasing hollow statements of ‘solidarity’ and not acting upon them further than face value. We wanted to mobilise our rage into something constructive to support the Black Lives Matter movement, henceforth The Freedom Fundraiser was created.”
Many recognisable names across fashion, art and environmental photography have donated work to the sale; including Adama Jalloh, Jack Davison, Harley Weir, Samuel Bradley, Alexandra Leese, Amber Pinkerton, Elena Cremona, and Ronan McKenzie. Some of the prints have started selling out already – so now is the time to buy.
The Earth Issue Freedom Fundraiser runs for 30 days from June 5, 2020.