Roc Nation's Team ROC has just revealed a PSA dedicated to Hadiya Pendleton, an unarmed 15-year-old girl who was fatally shot in Chicago in 2013.
When she was standing with her friends after taking her final exams, Pendleton was shot in the back and killed by Micheail Ward. The newly released PSA, which is narrated by Hadiya's mother Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, emphasizes the importance of coming together to create change in communities.
"We lost all her children, her children's children. We lost generations," her mother added. "In junior high, she had a whole PSA: 'Don't be a part of gangs' ... She stood up for what she believed in."
The PSA, which is the newest from JAY-Z and the NFL's Responsibility Program, also puts a spotlight on Project Orange Tree. The campaign was created by Pendleton's friends, with a focus on "educating youth about violence and its roots."
Hadiya's Promise, an organization that hopes to end gun violence across the country, is highlighted as the PSA comes to an end. "If we give the young people something to do, if we provide them with love and care, it would lift the awareness to the young that their voices matter and their lives matter—and they should be the ones to do something about that," said Cowley-Pendleton.
