George Clooney and Amal Clooney want to fight hate. Bless them for that. The Clooneys have been on vacation in Como, Italy for much of the summer, relaxing and enjoying their twins. George is due to premiere Suburbicon at the Toronto International Film Festival, so their holiday will be over soon enough. Still, they haven’t been ignoring the news out of America, and George must have been particularly irked to see all of the sh-t that’s gone down in the past few weeks, what with actual neo-Nazis marching on the street. So George and Amal are donating $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Responding to the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the initial reluctance of President Donald Trump to condemn the actions of white supremacists, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is partnering with the Clooney Foundation for Justice to increase the capacity of the SPLC to combat hate groups in America. The George & Amal Clooney Foundation has bestowed a $1 million grant through the Clooney Foundation for Justice.
“Amal and I wanted to add our voice (and financial assistance) to the ongoing fight for equality,” the couple said in a statement. “There are no two sides to bigotry and hate.”
The Clooney Foundation for Justice was co-founded by the Clooneys in 2016 to advance justice in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world. The SPLC is a non-profit that monitors the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists, currently tracking more than 1,600 extremist groups operating across the country. It has used litigation to win court judgments against 10 major white supremacist organizations and 50 individuals who led them or participated in violent acts.
“We are proud to support the Southern Poverty Law Center in its efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States,” the Clooneys said. “What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate.”
I donate to SPLC from time to time as well, but I’m not always brave enough to read the literature they send me after I donate. I end up getting too freaked out when I read their newsletter – the spread of hate, the rise of white supremacist domestic terrorism, all of it has dramatically increased over the past decade especially, magically coinciding with the election of Barack Obama and then the election of Donald Trump. The SPLC is one of the few organizations in America keeping close track of white nationalists and domestic terrorists, and often they have better data than the FBI. This is a good use of the Clooneys’ money, basically. And I had totally forgotten that they started their joint foundation, The Clooney Foundation for Justice. I should start a foundation! The Kaiser Foundation For Punching Nazis In The D-ck. Would you donate??
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Kaiser Foundation…. where do I send the cheque?
LOL…same here. And I can’t wait to get the monthly “These are the Nazis who were punched in the d*ck” newsletter. 😀
Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Yes. I’ll donate & tshirts. They can feature close ups of the Nazi dick punch.
I knew those boxing lessons would come in handy.
LOL!
Yes, but remember the Lady Nazis. Where do we punch them?
I think punch all of them in the mouths that spew all this hateful garbage.
those ladies are honorary dicks, so i feel you could technically punch em anywhere.
I will donate, but only if my charitable receipt reads In Donation towards the Dick Punching of Nazis.
Eh I stopped donating to them once they equated the Black Panthers with other hate groups like the KKK. Same reason I stopped donating to the ACLU. No more.
They equated the new black panther party with the kkk not the panther party from the 60s and 70s. If you go to their website they do make the distinction between the two groups.
They may not be perfect but they’re waaaaayyyyy better than President Orange.
Still doesn’t get my money. There are local groups that do better work.
@Nicole
Which groups do you donate to? I’m not a fan of ACLU after what went down in Charlottesville but I’ll still back the SPLC. The New Black Panthers are a hate group in my opinion but no group is on the level of the KKK because of their history, power dynamics, size, organization, etc.
Color for Change and BLM local chapters. Then I donate to local legal defense funds and typically the bail fund after big protests. I don’t know what your local resistance is like but the bigger orgs typically have ways to donate locally.
And tbh its always better to donate local because they tend to have a focused way to use the money that affects your community
@Jessica and @fingerbinger
The New Black Panther Party is not a hate group… they are for the solely looking out for a progressive state of living for black ppl and pushing us to be armed as the KKK mfs aint playing…
I almost want to say no Panthers have ever lynched, terrorized, and or rammed a car into a group of white people….
I would 100% support the Kaiser Foundation For Punching Nazis In The D-ck.
Did they sue those paps who got the twins first pics?
Good for them! The SPLC could definitely use the $!
Yes, good for them! I like that they are putting their money where their mouth is.
Re KFPNID, I volunteer as tribute.
Good for them! I love when celebs do good 🙂 We should see more of it.
I support the Southern Poverty Law Center too. The US Dept of Justice has stopped tracking white supremacy groups in the USA even though they are by far the largest source of domestic terrorism. Someone has to do the dirty work of tracking, opposing and warning.
SPLC occasionally has regional events with Morris Dees. If one happens near you, don’t miss the opportunity. He is amazing.
Ha, I’m in small town Ontario, Canada but I know he’s a force of nature. I’m a dual citizen and care deeply about these problems.
Also, peeps can donate in honour of someone (living or dead).
I support SPLC too. Their “Hate Map” is horrifying to see, but critically important. And yes, they do work that should be done by our government agencies–but programs are being shuttered, so they’re more important than ever now.
Stopped supporting SPLC when they called Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Maajid Naawas ‘extremists’.
I don’t know about Maajid Naawas, but Ayaan Hirsi Ali is gross and has been for years about Muslims who haven’t renounced Islam as she has, feeding into all the anti-Muslim tropes currently populating the alt right.
Aayan hirsi ali has suffered and is telling her story about islam. just because it’s about Islam you don’t get to deny her truth. People like her are how religions change for the better. Where i come from, widows were burned alive only 300 years ago and it took courageous people that stood up and called out the wrongs, which is why i am here.
I do not understand nor respect the blind eye democrats and liberals turn toward the fact that islam and islamic countries need reform, to guarantee basic human rights!
Good for them!
I really applaud theme for doing this. As a side note, i have a question: is it practical for every other celebrity to create their own charity oraganisation, focusing on a relitively small initiative, rather than donating to a bigger, global organisations, like UNISEF? This is not a criticism, just a honest need to understand how all of this works. Sorry for any mistakes – english is my third language!
George and Amal’s Clooney Foundation for Justice has certain issues they focus on. One of those is the education of Syrian refugee children receiving no education, Last month they announced 3,000 Syrian refugee children now being sent to school.
They have actually partnered with UNICEF for this program, with a significant contribution from Google, etc.
This link is about their effort. Three thousand children is only the beginning. In Lebanon, 200,000 Syrian refugee children are not enrolled in school. So this is a program just getting started.
https://cfj.org/project/classrooms/
I think like Jayna said, they generally do partner with large charities. I’m sure setting up a foundation has something to do with the money management, taxes, etc. The foundation can invest money for future growth and future donations.
Individuals can only give away (“gift”) a certain amount (in the millions) in their life before they pay a special tax. Weird, huh? Setting up a foundation allows them more flexibility in supporting programs (esp.those that might not be 501c) without hitting that limit.
I love it. I love when the wealthy put their money where their mouths are.
Respect!