Breaking Bread: A celebration of storytelling and the Jordan Black Community Commitment Family

Jordan Brand knows basketball culture can create new pathways to excellence, equity and systemic change in culture. 

The Jordan Black Community Commitment (BCC), established in 2020, was also built to address one of the most destructive issues of our day head on: systemic racism. Designed to create more equitable futures for Black Americans, the 10-year, $100 million shared commitment between Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand is made to address four key focus areas: economic justice, education, narrative change and social justice. 

Narrative change is rooted in the belief that real change is possible only with a more complete understanding of how structural racism has impacted American history.

Leading with this belief in mind, the Jordan BCC is strengthening its commitment by launching new partnerships with organisations elevating the stories and voices of the Black experience: The Blackhouse Foundation, ColorCreative, The Opportunity Agenda and StoryCorps. Together, the Jordan BCC Family is using its collective power to inspire conversations across the edges of media, sport and culture, with the goal of increasing awareness of the role that racism plays in American history and driving a deeper understanding of its consequences in our everyday lives.

These new partnerships were celebrated during Breaking Bread, a two-day community gathering in New York City bringing new and existing storytelling partners (including BlackStar Projects, the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Journalism and Morehouse College), as well as Jordan BCC-connected family members, award-winning authors and leading scholars, together for the first time. 

"There's an adage that guides our work at BlackStar Projects, that archiving your history is a radical form of resistance", says Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar Projects Chief Executive and Artistic Officer. "Sharing space and community with this cohort of grantees was a special first step in identifying the ways we can create impact together through every shade of storytelling".

Engaging in collaborative conversations around the shared journey to reclaim how Black stories are told throughout the world, and through intimate and experiential gatherings, the Jordan BCC Family came away from the experience with new fellowship, inspiration and determination.

"The Black community has been the guardian of its own history for centuries in America, so this was an important moment for us to honour the tradition of storytelling that has protected this heritage, used change to heal and inspire joy, and celebrated the spirit of family that continues to advance the mission of the Jordan Black Community Commitment", says Sarah Mensah, Jordan Brand President.

To spark change at the local level, since its inception, the Jordan BCC fund has also awarded Community Grants to grassroots non-profits across America. The application window for 2024 Jordan BCC Community Grants is now open (click here to access the application). Applications must be submitted on or before 16 December 2023 and grassroots organisations are invited to apply if they meet the following criteria: (1) must be a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit; (2) have an annual operating budget of less than $3 million; (3) the organisation must be established in 2021 or prior; (4) and they must align with at least one of the four key focus areas of the Jordan BCC initiative: economic justice, education, narrative change and social justice.