Stormzy: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Image: Stormzyofficial/Instagram

The people’s champ, Stormzy has announced a £500,000 donation which will fund scholarships for disadvantaged students. This is part of his long term commitment, which he first announced in June to give away ten million pounds over a decade to help organisations that are dedicated to fighting racial inequality in the UK. 

This generous donation is a great example of how investing in our community is imperative. Often when we speak about race relations and how to alleviate the inequalities that Black Brits face, one of the most common answers is “support black businesses”. This mantra sounds excellent, although if the money doesn’t come back to the community then essentially we are only bettering our own individual interests. 

It is fair to note that slavery has had many long term effects on the black community. Some of these effects have been psychological as we have been programmed to not trust one another. As a result, paranoia plagues our community and competition is rife. This is extremely problematic because when you don’t trust your peers or your community any success you attain, you tend to hold on to a bit tighter in fear of losing it all due to the lack of opportunity available.

Stormzy’s philanthropy shows that in this dog eat dog world everybody can eat. 

The South London Rapper isn’t shy of doing the Lord’s work. In 2018, he launched the Stormzy Scholarship which would support two Black UK students, who are admitted to the University of Cambridge in autumn 2020. According to Stormzy, young black students excel at every level of education. If funding is one of the barriers to greatness then he is willing to work towards breaking that barrier down (source: Undergraduate).

The launch of Merky Books is also another example of his generous philanthropy as it marks a new generation of voices. There are too many talented writers that don’t always have an outlet or a means to get their work seen, Stormzy hopes that Merky Books will be a reference point for writers to say “I can be an author” and for that to be a realistic achievable goal (source: Thewire).

To be able to acquire so much success and still share your wealth is truly admirable. Knowing that someone who looks like you, shares a similar upbringing and has your best interest at heart restores trust in our community. 

According to statistics, ethnic minorities in London earn 21.7% less than the rest of the population. Overall, 1.9 million black and ethnic minority workers are paid about £3.2 billion less than their white counterparts every year (source: Bylinestimes). I  believe many artists should take a leaf out of Stromzy’s book because this act of selflessness will help those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are extremely talented but lack the means to explore their talents.     

By bettering the interests of our communities real change can be achieved as a shared consensus is power.

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." – African Proverb (source: Hubspot)