Soul artist Erykah Badu will donate proceeds from her upcoming Detroit concert to help process untested rape kits in the city.
The singer agreed to donate $5 from each ticket to the African-American 490 Challenge, a collaboration with the Michigan Women's Foundation and the Detroit Crime Commission.
The cost of processing a rape kit is about $490, hence the name of the organization.
Kim Trent is the President of the African-American 490 Challenge. She says the group reached out to Badu because the singer is vocal about social issues.
"Having someone with her kind of star power even associated with this is going to help us get the word out about the fact that this issue still exists," Trent says.
"We want to not only raise money for the rape kits, but ultimately we want to change rape culture," Trent says. "And so I think having someone of her stature talking about the issue will help us on that front."
With state funding, Michigan and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office tested more than 10,000 kits dating back decades that were found in Detroit in 2009.
