Chance The Rapper Donates $1 Million To Chicago Public Schools

Chance the Rapper writes $1 million check to Chicago Public Schools as a 'call to action'

Hours after Gov. Bruce Rauner offered two options to provide $215 million to help the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools, Chance the Rapper put up $1 million to support arts programming in the district.

The rapper called his donation a “call to action” and asked for matching contributions from the city’s business community. While promising via Twitter to present a plan for CPS, Chance at his South Side news conference said it wasn’t his job to propose policy. Instead, he still leveled a series of criticisms against the Republican governor following a meeting with Rauner last week the rapper described as “unsuccessful.”

“This isn’t about politics, this isn’t about posturing. This is about taking care of the kids. Everybody and their momma knows about what’s going on in Chicago, it’s constantly talked about. But we’re about to enhance the conversation,” the rapper said.

Chance the Rapper’s news conference Monday was at the Westcott Elementary School, a highly rated campus in the West Chatham neighborhood that educates students who are almost exclusively black and poor. In addition to his $1 million donation, Chance donated $10,000 to Westcott.

The donation, Chance said, was “made possible by the fans,” and was funded through ticket sales from his spring tour, support from AEG and Live Nation, and independent venues. Additionally, Chance called on major companies and corporations to lend their financial support to CPS, and said his SocialWorks non-profit organization would donate $10,000 to a specific Chicago school for every $100,000 donated by a company, starting with Westcott Elementary School.

Chance The Rapper proves himself as man of action. $1 million dollar is a lot but it may not be enough, so we hope he inspires other black celebrities to come and help people from their hometown just like Chance did.