*Macy Gray has been inspired to co-design a line of sneakers aimed to raise awareness about police brutality.
Per Women’s Wear Daily, through the nonprofit My Good, the Grammy winner has joined forces with French footwear brand Twins for Peace to introduce the limited-edition collection, and proceeds will go toward helping victims of police violence.
”Police shootings — as much as we talk about them — some people don’t really care. And that’s the reality. Through the connection with Twins for Peace and through other efforts that My Good is setting up, the group is trying to engage more people,” Gray said in an interview with WWD.“…just liking our shoes, whether they care or not, helps a family. They just help someone heal. That’s why we have partnered with Nana.”
According to the report, a percentage of each pair of sneakers sold will benefit My Good to help families who have suffered loss through police brutality. Gray noted that her new music addresses the issue of supporting these families.
“Music is the one thing that really does bring people together. You know no one cared what color Stevie Wonder was. It is the one medium where there is no race. It doesn’t matter what color or what your background is. Ariana Grande makes you feel something…that is something that we all have in common. To touch the heart and say things on a higher level from the soul, that is the one place, where race and political views don’t matter. You just feel better. You just want to sing along. You just want to sing karaoke.”
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When asked what it’s going to take to curb police killings, she said, “If I had the answer to that, I would have fixed the world already. That is such a loaded question and it’s an answer that’s been needed for years and years and years. This isn’t anything new that we’re talking about.
“People have to let go of their hate and their hang-ups and discrimination. Start at the heart always. You have to let go of all your little notions and your fears about other nations, and how you treat women and men. It really starts with yourself…it’s really from the people. It always has been.”
My Good is trying to move the conversation forward. As Blake noted, “One of the things that we’re looking to do, and we have been very interested in is [to have] a platform for the community and law enforcement to have these conversations that we hope will start to change or at least provide an opportunity to be able to hear one another. That’s something that we’ve been working on. This would take the form of a town hall or a meeting.”
The organizations are meeting with members of law enforcement to share their concerns directly.
“We’re beginning to enter a conversation with Police Chief Bill Scott, who oversees the San Francisco Police Department. He is an officer, who is highly regarded in terms of how he has commandeered the structure of the San Francisco Police Department,” said My Good’s co-executive director Charyn Harris. “He has really been a pioneer in making sure that his officers follow certain protocols. He’s become almost a model for a lot of other police departments on how to run a department. He has really looked at a lot of these instances and has had great insights and great input, in terms of how a lot of issues trickle down. There are issues in different departments as we all know now.…There are of course, great police officers out there. But we’re hearing of the ones that are not so great unfortunately.”
Continuing, Harris added, “The goal is really to be able to start a dialogue to see how we can start a dialogue, how we can work together, how we can be in the middle, and looking at the changes that are going to be happening in policing and reform.…We’re about the families. We’re about when the media dims, the lights go off and [the media] moves on to the next hashtag, the next family. What happens with these families? How are their needs being met? How can they go from surviving to thriving and being healthy?”
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