Ta-Nehisi Coates spearheads new fund combatting sexual violence

Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates is teaming up with two nonprofits to launch a new fund that will make awards to champions of sexual violence prevention and that will support education and healing programs, predominantly for Black women and girls, with plans to raise $10 million over the next two years.

The Courage Fund’s first grant comes from the Ford Foundation, which announced a $1 million donation on Dec. 13. Coates, along with singer John Legend and Sacramento Kings basketball player Harrison Barnes, have also pledged to contribute to the fund. A Long Walk Home and A Call to Men, national organizations focused on sexual-violence prevention and education for two decades, will lead the effort.

Coates, who will serve as an adviser to the fund, said he was inspired to create it after seeing women come forward to testify about sexual abuse during singer R. Kelly’s 2021 trial. Kelly was jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking in a New York court.

“My own consciousness was awakened by the courage of Stephanie ‘Sparkle’ Edwards, who, in her lonely quest to end R. Kelly’s decades of abuse, lost friends, family, and a career,” Coates said in a statement. “I wanted to conceive of the Courage Award, which will honor whistleblowers who have risked everything to break this cycle of violence in our community and to support programs for underserved girls and women who are survivors of sexual abuse.”

Coates first heard about A Long Walk Home while serving a residency at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Kamilah Forbes, executive producer of the Apollo, connected him with the Chicago-based nonprofit, which uses art to empower Black women and…