For Immediate Release: JusticeAid Presents Mavis Staples with Special Guest Amy Helm: A Concert for Neighborhood Defender Service

For Immediate Release:

JusticeAid Presents Mavis Staples with Special Guest Amy Helm:

A Concert for Neighborhood Defender Service

Oct. 19 at Lincoln Theatre in Washington D.C; JusticeAid Spotlights Neighborhood Defender Service’s Police Accountability/Community Empowerment Program as 2021 Grantee Partner

Tickets on sale now!

Washington, D.C.—Aug. 30, 20201—JusticeAid, a group of civil rights advocates and music lovers whose mission is to promote justice through the arts, is pleased to announce JusticeAid Presents Mavis Staples with Special Guest Amy Helm: A Concert for Neighborhood Defender Service which will take place on Oct. 19 at Washington D.C.’s famed Lincoln Theatre. Tickets are, as of today, available for purchase by clicking here.

One of America’s national musical treasures, Mavis Staples’s soulful growl has entranced listeners and affected social change and awareness for more than half a century—from her time in the Staples Singers to her modern-day collaborations with Hozier, Norah Jones, Run The Jewels, and many more. Joining Staples on the bill is nearly-lifelong musician, singer and songwriter, Amy Helm. A scholar of American roots music, Helm has contributed her signature, grainy alto to record after record over the last 30 years, including a number of solo albums and as a co-founding member of alt-country collective, Ollabelle.

Also announced today, in conjunction with ticket on-sale, is the event’s charitable cause—JusticeAid’s 2021 Grantee Partner—Neighborhood Defender Service’s Police Accountability/Community Empowerment (PACE) Program. “Each year JusticeAid selects an issue of vital importance. America criminalizes the poor, people of color, children, immigrants, even the innocent—and now threatens democracy by disenfranchising voters. This year, following the murder of George Floyd, JusticeAid spotlights police accountability and community empowerment by reimagining public safety,” says Stephen Milliken, JusticeAid’s Co-Founder and CEO. 100% of funds raised from the Oct. 19 show at Lincoln Theatre, ticket sales and sponsorships, will aid Neighborhood Defender Service’s PACE program which exists to provide freedom by creating long-term, structural change. PACE reckons with police impunity, reduces over-policing, and builds community power and wealth. It helps individuals and communities alike secure their futures by addressing the police misconduct that marginalizes them, providing them with resources, and working alongside them to reshape policy in ways that reverberate across generations. JusticeAid President and Board Chair Kim Duckett Coaxum says of the partnership, “Racist policing is an insidious and destructive practice that destroys lives and communities.” And continues with, “Every day, we see reports of Black and brown citizens wrongfully arrested, beaten or killed by police officers who then face no consequences. It is not enough to sit by and hope for change. We must actively engage which is why JusticeAid is supporting NDS’s PACE Program.”

Rick Jones, Executive Director, Neighborhood Defender Service expands, “For decades, NDS has worked in the courtrooms and communities to secure justice for our neighbors. As public defenders serving the Black and brown neighborhoods enduring the most police misconduct, we are determined to build power with, and for, our clients to reckon with the injustices they face—and are thrilled by the opportunity to partner with JusticeAid to do so. The PACE Program, made possible by the support of JusticeAid, will change the way public safety happens in this country. It is the next generation of groundbreaking work from NDS, designed to bring about long-term structural change.” To learn more about the work of NDS, please visit neighborhooddefender.org.

About Mavis Staples: There are few living musicians who can lay claim to being the voice of America’s conscience, and even fewer who continue to make vital music. For six decades multi-GRAMMY® winner Mavis Staples has been the solid rock of American music. Alongside the family group she is so identified with, the Staple Singers, Mavis has managed to transform herself as she goes, yet never alter. She has performed on nationally televised concert tributes for Paul McCartney, Al Green, and Bruce Springsteen. She has graced the stages at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, toured with Bob Dylan and joined Presidents Obama, Clinton and Carter at the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. Her extraordinary life is the subject of an HBO full length documentary film Mavis!. In addition, she has been completely embraced by the younger generation of musicians and special guests on new tracks by Hozier, Gorillaz, Arcade Fire, Benjamin Booker, Norah Jones, Run The Jewels, among many others. Ry Cooder, M. Ward, Jeff Tweedy and Ben Harper have all produced her most recent studio albums.

About Amy Helm: Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Amy Helm’s third album, What the Flood Leaves Behind, is her most autobiographical yet, both in content and creation. Released on June 18, 2021 via Renew Records/BMG, these 10 songs represent a gathering of ideas and experiences, friends and collaborators. Yet, the album also marks a landing—a pause for the traveling musician and mother of two young boys who was seeking clarity in her calling and career.

After making multiple albums and performing in far-flung places, Helm returned home to Woodstock’s Levon Helm Studios just before the pandemic to record What the Flood Leaves Behind and reclaim a sense of self.

“Going back to the place where I learned so much about how to express music, how to hold myself in music, how to listen to music,” she begins, “it was humbling in a funny way. I could see clearly where I came from and where I am now in my life. I was singing from a different place now and for a different reason.”

Born into music as the daughter of The Band’s drummer/singer Levon Helm and singer songwriter Libby Titus, Helm was raised between Woodstock, NY, NYC, and Los Angeles. She is a founding member of folk group Ollabelle and a longtime member of The Midnight Ramble Band. What The Flood Leaves Behind is her third solo album.

Event Details: Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 @ Lincoln Theatre (1215 U Street, NW, Washington D.C)

Tickets for JusticeAid Presents Mavis Staples with Special Guest Amy Helm: A Concert for Neighborhood Defender Service are now on sale, please click here to purchase.

Can’t attend but still want to support? Please consider becoming a Justice Ally sponsor and help fill the Lincoln Theatre with justice allies (such as public defenders serving indigent clients), who will be invited to attend.

COVID protocol: Public health is paramount to JusticeAid, and event organizers are taking all precautions to ensure the safety of artists, attendees, and venue staff. Proof of full vaccination will be required for entry along with a matching photo ID. Proof of vaccination can be a physical vaccine card or a photo; masks may be required.

More About JusticeAid: JusticeAid, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity, leverages the community-building power of art and music to transform awareness into action in the fight against injustice. Each year we identify and raise funds for justice causes by hosting music, arts, and educational events. Since 2013 JusticeAid has granted over 1.3 million dollars to nonprofits that are ending mass incarceration, addressing the criminalization of poverty and inhumane immigration policies, and protecting civil rights for all.

In 2021, JusticeAid’s focus is police accountability and community empowerment. Through October 2021, 100 percent of your donation will support the expansion of NDS PACE, the Police Accountability/Community Empowerment program of Neighborhood Defender Service.

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Media contact: IVPR, Maria Ivey, maria@ivpr.co