To honor the one-year anniversary of the protest march in Charlottesville, Va., NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment partnered with hip-hop artist Princess Nokia and super-producer Timbaland to create the above anthem and video and kick off its public service campaign, “Erase the Hate.”

Last August 11 and 12, white supremacists gathered for the “Unite the Right” rally. They were met by counter-protesters and the clash resulted in the death of Heather Heyer when a car driven by James Alex Fields Jr. backed into a crowd in which she was standing. Fields was charged with many counts of federal hate crimes in early July, to which he pleaded “not guilty.”

The video will premiere as a roadblock airing across the networks of NBCU Cable Entertainment, which include USA Network, Syfy, Bravo, E!, Oxygen and Universal Kids, on Friday, Aug. 10, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

“Silence equals complicity. Hate and bias must be called out wherever and whenever we see it. We all have a part to play…fighting hate means using the positions and platforms we have to make the difference we can,” said Bonnie Hammer, Chairman of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and founder of Erase The Hate, in a statement. “I’m incredibly grateful to Timbaland and Princess Nokia for joining us to deliver Erase The Hate’s message of equality.”

That message can be found on ErasetheHate.org and reads: “We imagine an America in which everyone feels safe from hate and bias, no matter what they look like, where they’re from, how they worship, or who they love. To achieve this vision, we connect people with opportunities to learn more about how hate and bias work, get involved in the fight against hate, and support Change Makers already making a difference in local communities and across the country.

“Through our programs and content platforms, we will feature the stories of Change Makers — individuals and organizations taking a proactive approach to countering hate and creating inclusivity. In consultation with the Erase the Hate Advisory Council, we’ve selected six Change Makers to participate in our first-ever Accelerator against hate. With technology enabling the spread of hate in ways we’re only just starting to understand, Erase the Hate offers this new model for putting anti-hate efforts on the fast-track.”

Timbaland and Princess Nokia said they got involved because they believe in the power of music to fight bigotry.

“Music is the most powerful tool to cure any negativity in the world. Being a part of this campaign is perfect for me,” said Timbaland, also in a statement, and Princess Nokia added, “I wanted to join this campaign more than anything…simply because I have always revolved my life, revolved my music and revolved my passion around dismantling hate.”

Talent from across the NBCU Cable Entertainment slate also will appear in a video across all of those networks over the weekend, when a second Unite the Right rally is planned to take place in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 12. That talent includes Bravo’s Andy Cohen and Padma Lakshmi, USA’s Gina Torres, Ryan Phillippe, Dulé Hill, Portia Doubleday, and The New Day (WWE), Syfy’s Christopher Meloni, E!’s Elizabeth Hurley and Zuri Hall, and Erase The Hate advisory council member Soledad O’Brien.

Viewers also can go behind the scenes with Princess Nokia and Timbaland in the video below:​

READ MORE: Deadline

Tags: bonnie hammer erase the hate nbcuniversal cable entertainment princess nokia timbaland


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