Meet Pauly Jackson | Founder and Executive Director of Edifye

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pauly Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pauly, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We NEEDED to found Edifye after the police shooting of my brother, Jacob Blake, in front of his children in August 2020. Jake is one of several thousand People of Color who have been shot by American police since the pandemic began alone. But his story was different: it led to sweeping protests across the country and the world. It inspired the men and women of the NBA/WNBA to withhold their labor and stand in solidarity for reparative justice, stranding billion-dollar broadcasts to voice outrage. And most importantly, Jake survived the attack on his life, which fueled an entire nation’s collective urgency. Now we’re continuing that energy without life-threatening tragedy. We’re keeping it alive and expanding, and using the unifying force of sports to build communal power.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Edifye was founded very naturally through a series of events that called for lifelong action. From quitting my job after George Floyd was murdered to my brother being shot in Kenosha, it has all been quite the journey. I was the ones receiving phone calls from the NBA and WNBA players unions when they were striking and our brother was fighting for his life in 2020. So, Team Edifye has the lived experience of this moment, where sports and the fight for equality intersect in today’s landscape. We have relationships with local organizers and grassroots fighters through our team’s collective years of experience in activism. But our connection to the athletes and the liberators remains so unique due to our family’s experience. Our work includes and Urban Agriculture arm where we are growing natural foods to teach sustainability, wellness, and distribute farm to table foods to our communities that need it most. An expanding national community fridge series is in development. Our brake light block parties help fix tail lights and brake lights for free in order to stop overzealous police stops in America, which sometimes lead to death. Tenant rights advocacy is also a focus in our work especially in Arizona with it having the highest rate of evictions in the US as of late.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Steven Louis is our Director of Development and Co-Founder. Our Brother and our protector. he has be an integral part of our families survival and revival. His dedication for fighting and giving his time and resources to not only our family but many families and folks around the US has been an inspiring and contagious show of solidarity and love. This shoutout is a small token of recognition for all of the work he does for us.

Website: edifye.org

Instagram: @edifye2020

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamedifye

Twitter: @edifye2020

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edifye2020/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAdRAMiIIjB0r51DEkrn6cg

Other: paypal: paypal.me/Edifyetogether Venmo: @Edifye Cash App: $edifye Donorbox : https://donorbox.org/launching-edifye

Image Credits
Eric Kelly, Rob Gill, Zoe Rain