02.18.22
Never Whisper Justice, Old Spice, and Stride, Inc. are teaming up to provide a free digital learning course to more than 200,000 students, 400-plus school districts, and 7,000-plus teachers nationwide.
The partnership follows this week’s screening of the award-winning film, Black Boys, at Brand Storytelling 2022—a sanctioned event of the Sundance Film Festival. The film is also an integral part of Old Spice’s 10-year commitment to help increase high school graduation rates by +10% in underserved communities.
Never Whisper Justice, a social justice film company fusing bold storytelling with concrete, meaningful social impact, has teamed up with P&G’s grooming brand Old Spice to address systemic bias in education, while reimagining society’s shared humanity beginning with Black boys and their experiences.
In 2020, Never Whisper Justice (NWJ) produced Black Boys, and the film became an official selection at this year’s Brand Storytelling 2022. It was chosen as one of the 15 films by the executive selection committee from over 160 submissions. The documentary celebrates the full spectrum and humanity of Black men and boys in America, while showcasing the effects of racism. The film also invites audiences to imagine a world in which Black boys experience true belonging and unlimited possibilities.
Along with the partnership, NWJ extended Frontlines of Justice (FoJ), an eLearning platform aimed to improve the learning outcome of tens of thousands of underrepresented students nationwide through personal and professional socio-emotional development.
“Now is the time to take digital media in the classroom to the next level,” said Niyoka McCoy, chief academic officer of Stride. “We must elevate our students’ voices by connecting film and curriculum to foster critical conversations around social justice and racial equity through deeper learning. As the nation’s leading provider of online and blended learning programs, Stride’s mission is to provide a high-quality education for anyone—particularly those from underserved and historically underrepresented communities”
Supported by Old Spice’s School of Swagger initiative designed to increase youth mentor sign-ups, the partnership showcases how Old Spice’s investment in purpose-driven storytelling, community engagement and actionable initiatives has charted a new path for accelerating impactful-measurable change in the lives of young people nationwide.
Since the fall of 2020, Old Spice has been committed to a 10-year initiative to improve high school graduation rates for underserved students by 10 percent. NWJ’s film Black Boys is streaming now on NBC’s Peacock. The film illuminates the dominant conversation and consciousness that some young people, particularly Black and brown boys, experience systemic barriers that result in unequal opportunity.