Amazon gives $10 million to support social justice and black communities
The donation is part of a series of pledges from major tech companies, including Apple, Google and Facebook.
Amazon said Wednesday that it will donate $10 million to groups focused on social justice and aiding black communities.
The pledge is one of several from major tech companies made this week after a white police officer in Minneapolis was charged with the second-degree murder in the death George Floyd, a black man.
The funds will go to organizations fighting against systemic racism and working to expand educational and economic opportunities for black communities. The organizations, listed below, were chosen with the help of Amazon's Black Employee Network:
- ACLU Foundation.
- Brennan Center for Justice.
- Equal Justice Initiative.
- Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
- NAACP.
- National Bar Association.
- National Museum of African American History and Culture.
- National Urban League.
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
- UNCF (United Negro College Fund).
- Year Up.
Amazon, though, faced criticism for how it addresses police surveillance and racial injustice in its own organization, with two employee groups calling out the company on Twitter for not doing enough on either issue. For example, We Won't Build It, an employee group opposing Amazon's development of surveillance technology for law enforcement, asked whether the company ended any of its police contracts.