Philadelphia father William Spratley is raising his three grandsons after losing his only daughter. Recently, Spratley uploaded a video as part of the BME Challenge to talk about how his daughter’s death spurred him to be an advocate for eradicating domestic violence. 

“Whatever it takes me to do, to make sure I have my voice heard and listened to, I plan on doing it,” Spratley said in the video.

“We need to step up and say enough is enough,” Spratley said. “We can’t stay dormant for much longer.” 

The BME Challenge, sponsored by Knight and the Open Society Foundations, highlights the stories of unsung heroes among Philadelphia and Detroit’s black men and boys. Philadelphia and Detroit residents can share their stories of leadership in writing and through video on the BME website. Anyone, anywhere can make nominations through Sept. 30.  Entrants in each city will be invited to a celebration event in October, and will be eligible to apply for financial and nonfinancial support of their projects in the campaign’s second phase. 

Read more about BME from Knight Foundation’s Rishi Jaitly, who earlier this month asked all Detroiters to take the BME Challenge.