Singer The Weeknd donates $250K to Black Lives Matter

Back in July, he spoke out on Twitter after two American black men – 37-year-old Alton Sterling and 32-year-old Philando Castile – were shot and killed by police.

The Weeknd has announced that he has donated $250,000 to the Black Lives Matter movement, sources tell The Fader. “It’s time to stand up for this”.

There are no posts by Tesfaye on his social media accounts confirming his donation, but several major news outlets were told of the sum from their unnamed sources; Samaritanmag reached out by email to its contact for the artist and was told he made the donation in USA dollars. The national organization fittingly has a branch in The Weeknd‘s hometown of Toronto.

The Weeknd is not the only star advocating human rights for black citizens in the US.

The foundation was created in 2012 following Trayvon Martin’s death.

The group’s stated mission is to build connections between black people and allies to fight anti-black racism, spark dialogue among black people, and to facilitate connections to encourage social action and engagement. The Canadian crooner frequently shared other tweets supporting Black Lives Matter.

While some may think The Weeknd’s generous donation is surprising, given the content of his music, the singer has been quite outspoken on the web. Would be good to know.

His wife Beyoncé said in a statement posted online: “We don’t need sympathy”.