Chance the Rapper, standing before the press and a group of students in his hometown neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, signed a life-sized check for $1 million for the city’s public schools.
Chance said the money would be going to the Chicago Public Schools Foundation “for arts and enrichment programming,” according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Chance made the announcement on Monday at Westcott Elementary School, which is located in West Chatham – the neighborhood he grew up in.
The announcement came just days after the rapper met with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner about the lack of state funding – a meeting that Chance didn’t seem to be all that satisfied with.
“Our talks were unsuccessful,” Chance said. “Gov. Rauner still won’t commit to giving Chicago’s kids a chance without caveats or ultimatums.”
Chance was speaking a slightly different tune on Monday, though.
“The governor gave me a lot of vague answers in our meeting and since has called me over the weekend,” Chance said at the press conference.
During his announcement, Chance implied that there was still much more work to be done, and called on others to get involved as well, said Vibe magazine.
“The check that I donated is a call to action,” Chance said. “I’m challenging major companies and corporations Chicago and across the U.S. to donate and take action.”
This was all sparked by something that happened just moments after Chance gave his acceptance speech at the Grammys last month, where he walked away with two awards.
One of those awards was a Grammy for best new artist, said the Washington Post.
When Chance accepted the award, he thanked God “for all of Chicago,” which prompted Rauner to tweet out his congratulations to the rapper.
Rauner told Chance via Twitter that he was “proud” of him, and called him “one of our own.”
Just minutes later, Chance responded to the governor on Twitter.
“Thank you Governor, I would love to have meeting with you this week if possible,” Chance tweeted.
Many of Chance’s peers praised him on Monday for making such a major contribution to his hometown.
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