Why The Game’s $1 million pledge to Flint deserves a lot more props

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

The Game is showing us how it’s done with his $1 million pledge to help the people in Flint, Michigan. This is important, because the rapper is setting a standard for how black celebrities, entertainers — all of us — should give back to our communities.

He made the announcement on Instagram, with a donation on behalf of his charity, the Robin Hood Project. This amounts to the revenue from the first 11 shows of his European tour. And for The Game, it’s personal, since his younger sister and her children live in the city, which has been hit hard by a water crisis where residents have been drinking lead-poisoned water for two years. The rapper stepped up, challenging others to do the same.

So, I'm on tour & not in the US as I'd like to be to help with this water crisis in Flint, Michigan 1st hand…. #1 because my younger sister & her children live there & 2nd because I care….. Most of these celebs on here faking using the word "Pledge" in their so called donations are not fooling anyone !!!! The truth is the population in Flint, Michigan is about 105,000 people & it takes at least 9 bottles per person a day just to use to bathe, brush their teeth, drink & cook with… So on behalf my charity @TheRobinHoodProject I am donating $1,000,000 in water bottles…. $500,000 coming out of my own pocket (which is everything I've made on tour up to this point) & the other 1/2 being met by @AvitaWater & the 1st drop is being made TODAY 1pm eastern time at "Food Bank East Michigan" 2300 Lapeer Road flint Michigan 48503 & the 1st drop will be 1400 cases of water equaling about 33,000 bottles today & everyday that follows until 1,000,000 bottles of water are dropped !!!! To those who think it's easy getting this water to Flint, it's not so the people who are PLEDGING they are, show us.. We want proof !!! Stop using others tragedies for your own celebrity gain… You're not fooling ANYONE ! I seen @Madonna & @JimmyFallon's $10,000 donations… that's cute, but not nearly enough…. So I challenge both & anyone else in the world to match me & DONATE $1,000,000 in bottled water to Flint, Michigan & we want proof, shipping order receipts, bank wire receipts, pictures etc……….. No more pretending to give a fuck….. I donate money all the time & it comes out of my pocket, out of my bank account & never once have I written anything off on my taxes because that's not why I do it !!!!!!!! So, if any other celebrity wants to MATCH MY MILLION here's the site where you can donate http://selfmadefoundation.org or pick your own.. JUST MAKE SURE THE WATER ACTUALLY GETS TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED IT !! & I don't wanna see anyone else using the word "PLEDGE" in their donation or press release because we all know that that means…. "YOU JUST TALKING & TRYING TO MAKE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A HUMANITARIAN" !!! #WaterForFlint #TheRobinHoodProject #AvitaH20Corp #SelfmadeFoundation

A photo posted by The Game (@losangelesconfidential) on

“Most celebs on here faking using the word ‘Pledge’ in their so called donations are not fooling anyone! The truth is the population in Flint, Michigan is about 105,000 people & it takes at least 9 bottles per person a day just to use to bathe, brush their teeth, drink & cook with,” he said.

“We want proof!!! Stop using others tragedies for your own celebrity gain… You’re not fooling ANYONE !” he also wrote.

And The Game even called out certain celebrities by name. “I seen @Madonna & @JimmyFallon’s $10,000 donations… that’s cute, but not nearly enough…. So I challenge both & anyone else in the world to match me & DONATE $1,000,000 in bottled water to Flint, Michigan & we want proof, shipping order receipts, bank wire receipts, pictures etc……….. No more pretending to give a f**k,” The Game added.  “I donate money all the time & it comes out of my pocket & never once have I written anything off on my taxes because that’s not why I do it !!!!!!!!”

I put up $1,000,000 yesterday for water in flint but even that won't be enough being that it will only provide 9-10 bottles per person a day just to barely get to the next day… The population is a bit over 100,000 so what we're donating is all good but it won't last forever & will be consumed in just weeks…. This situation isn't about who has the most money or who's getting the biggest media coverage, it's about bringing awareness to this tragedy to the millions of people on the outside looking in on flint Michigan wondering how to help. It's about not one person trying to make a difference but everyone pulling their resources together and doing what's best for the community of Flint, making sure that the dollars set in place to actually help Flint not only gets to Flint but gets there in a timely manner. It's not just about giving water away but the make up of the whole process, from workers bottling useable water, to trucking companies delivering water down to the people who takes the water when it's time to distribute the water. It's a whole big picture people don't see. If I give 1000 cases of water away and 200 get into the hands of a person who truely isn't in need and is just taking water because it's free, then those people are just as big as the problem. Or if someone donates money for water but the company who gets money donation knows that realistically they can't get water to flint for several days or weeks then that company is part of the problem. That's why I choose to team @therobinhoodproject up with @avitawater through @moneygangworldwide. They are for 1, a Michigan based company only hours away from Flint Michigan so getting water to Flint is no problem. It's also very important that all donations touch the community of Flint. It's a underlying problem bigger than the water itself and people need to see and understand that….. when they are trying to figure out what roll they can play in this situation… If you want a trustworthy charity organization to donate to… Selfmadefoundation.org & whatever you donate will help get the city back on track….. They deserve it !

A photo posted by The Game (@losangelesconfidential) on

This latest move by The Game comes as Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, announced she will provide free hotel rooms to 50 Flint residents and donate food to residents there. And there are other celebrities and athletes who are doing their part as well. For example, Mark Wahlberg and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs donated 1 million bottles. The Detroit Lions, led by defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, donated 94,000 bottles. Rapper Meek Mill, boyfriend of Nicki Minaj, sent 60,000 and money to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

If there is going to be a battle among artists, let it be over their compassion and generosity as well as their skills, because these high-profile artists know that without the community that supports them, they are nothing and going nowhere. And the decision by The Game is significant because it comes at a time when hip-hop culture has become known for not giving back enough.

In case you didn’t know, the African-American community finds itself in the middle of a movement, as we fight against poisoned water, the cops killing our babies, too many of our folks behind bars, you name it.

Back in the day, like the civil rights movement of the 1960s, we had actors, athletes, singers, musicians and writers who were a part of that movement, and some of them put their lives on the line and their money where their mouth is. In 1964, Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier drove down to Mississippi, in the heart of Ku Klux Klan country under threat of bodily harm, with $70,000 to take to Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Now that takes heart and conviction. And the music and the musicians of the time reflected the tone and tenor of what was going on then.

If you are a performer, and your people are suffering, even dying over toxic water, and you have no connection to that, no response to that, then what exactly are you doing? What is it that you are about, and where is your social conscience? And who cares how much money you have, or how many cars you just bought?

Now, no one expects bottled water to save the world. Given the scope of the problem in Flint — the role of state government officials in creating the crisis, the need for federal government mobilization and a new water system — water bottles are nowhere near enough. And after all, thousands of children have already been exposed to lead poisoning. As The Game said himself, “I put up $1,000,000 yesterday for water in flint but even that won’t be enough being that it will only provide 9-10 bottles per person a day just to barely get to the next day… The population is a bit over 100,000 so what we’re donating is all good but it won’t last forever & will be consumed in just weeks.”

Not to absolve Governor Snyder and others of their responsibility, but imagine if all public citizens who were able to help actually did something? One day, it could be Flint, but the next day it could be pooling our resources together to support the HBCUs or start a film studio to tell our own stories, whether or not the Oscars recognize us. Imagine how much of a difference that would make.

“This situation isn’t about who has the most money or who’s getting the biggest media coverage, it’s about bringing awareness to this tragedy to the millions of people on the outside looking in on flint Michigan wondering how to help,” The Game said. “It’s about not one person trying to make a difference but everyone pulling their resources together and doing what’s best for the community of Flint.”

So let’s give The Game his props, because these acts of generosity never receive the attention they should.

Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove

SHARE THIS ARTICLE