Erykah Badu to donate concert proceeds to help clear Detroit’s rape-kit backlog
Back in 2009, prosecutors in Detroit, Michigan discovered a warehouse containing 11,341 untested rape kits. (The Detroit Police Department’s crime lab had been shuttered the year before after an audit exposed numerous errors in its processing of cases.) Since then, the African American 490 Challenge has worked to raise money to perform the necessary procedures on the kits and investigate the results. (The 490 in the group’s name refers to the $490 it costs to process each kit.) The campaign has largely been a success, with 10,000 kits finished. Now, the group is getting a high-profile assist in its efforts, with musician Erykah Badu pledging to give money from an upcoming concert to help the group reach its goal—and partially fund the investigations that will follow receipt of the results.