“Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America” has sold out in under three hours, generating more than $150,000 towards the ‘Fund For Progress on Race in America’ powered by United Way Worldwide.
The concert will be recorded at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday, November 18th and will air on Friday, November 20th at 8PM ET/PM across the entire A+E Networks portfolio, including A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime, H2, LMN and fyi, as well as on iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations nationwide and the iHeartRadio digital platform.
The two-hour special event will kick off A+E Networks’ campaign to confront issues of race, and promote unity and progress on racial equity, inspired by the response of the Mother Emanuel family members in Charleston and others working for reconciliation and change around the country.
The biggest names in music, including Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhiannon Giddens, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Miguel, Pink, Jill Scott, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Pharrell Williams, will join together to perform, including a once-in-a-lifetime series of duets, focused on creating reconciliation and positive change in local communities. Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Immediately following the concert at 10pm ET/PT, A&E Network will air the one-hour special, “Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America,” featuring artists engaging a diverse group of residents in local communities at the center of the national conversation on racial inequality and violence, including Charleston, Baltimore and Ferguson. Artists, including Pharrell Williams and John Legend, will spark solutions-focused conversations with community members with varying perspectives, including family members of victims, community leaders, law enforcement officials, clergy and organizations seeking to empower communities by fostering understanding, eliminating bias and addressing inequities that break along racial lines.
The concert and the ancillary programming will help raise money for the Fund for Progress on Race in America powered by United Way Worldwide. The fund will provide grant funding to individuals and organizations fostering understanding, eliminating bias, as well as provide support to Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church and the broader A.M.E. denomination. The fund will support efforts to address racism and bias through public policy change, individual innovation, and community mobilization.
The Fund for Progress on Race in America is under the leadership of an advisory board which includes: Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color of Change; Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Executive Director of the Advancement Project; Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League; Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation; Bishop Vashti McKenzie, incoming chair of the A.M.E. Church General Board; Bishop Reginald Jackson, Social Action Chair for the A.M.E. Church; Mark Rodgers, President and CEO of the Clapham Group; Shawn Dove, CEO of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement; Van Jones, President & Co-Founder of #cut50; and Kimberly Gilmore, Senior Historian and Vice President of Social Responsibility, A+E Networks. The Advisory Group will be managed on behalf of A+E by Civic Entertainment Group and Values Partnerships.
“Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America” is produced by Ken Ehrlich Productions in conjunction with A+E Networks and iHeartMedia. “Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America” is produced by Lincoln Square Productions and Ken Ehrlich Productions in conjunction with A&E Network. For Ken Ehrlich Productions: Executive Producers are Ken Ehrlich and Rac Clark, Producer is Renato Basile, Writers are David Wild and Phil Gallo, and Director is Leon Knoles. For Lincoln Square Productions: Senior Executive Producer is Jeanmarie Condon and Executive Producer is Roxanna Sherwood. For A+E Networks: Executive Producers are Paul Buccieri, Rob Sharenow, Elaine Frontain Bryant, Shelly Tatro and Dan Silberman.
Additionally, A+E Networks has made a commitment beyond the concert itself, to produce an ongoing series of roundtable discussions in communities across the country to bring people together to address the impact of racial inequity and bias. The network will bring together local and national speakers to address the power of unity and the detrimental impact of hate on our nation. The network will also produce a series of PSAs to air across all platforms.
Find out more here.
