The Weekend donates $500K towards Black Lives Matter

The Weeknd has donated $500,000 of his own money to various causes associated with the international human rights movement Black Lives Matter. The Canadian singer, real name Abel Tesfaye, shared a series of receipts and subsequent thank you messages from recipients after making his donations on June 1st. Captioning the posts, Tesfaye, 30, wrote: ‘keep supporting our brothers and sisters out there risking everything to push for actual change for our black lives. ‘Urging everyone with big pockets to give and give big and if you have less please give what you can even if it’s a small amount.’ The singer’s accompanying posts show he donated $200,000 to the Black Lives Matter Global Network, a further $200,000 to American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights campaign, and $100,000 to National Bail Out, a black-led collective of abolitionist organisers.

A thank you message from Know Your Rights reads: ‘Dear Abel, thank you very much for your generous contribution in support of the Know Your Rights camp. Your gift will help the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities.’