Kanye West Drops Knowledge

Prints of artist Gilbert Young’s painting “He Ain’t Heavy” beautify the interiors of countless black homes. The unassuming, lightly colored rendering depicts the image of the brown, muscular arm of a man reaching down from the top of a wall to grasp an unidentified brown hand that’s reaching up toward him. Young’s well-known offering immortalizes the core value of unity that has been used for centuries to echo an all-important message of expectation and promise to black people everywhere  — “We lift as we climb.”

While the chasm between the blacks at the top of the metaphorical wall and those needing help at the bottom has lessened over the centuries, today it seems that certain societal ills in America (including unemployment, health care disparities, an unjust legal system and unfair housing practices) have led to recent troubles for those at the bottom. At the top of this list is a broken and inequitable education system that disproportionately underserves minority children in contrast to their white peers. As a result, throughout the nation largely undereducated and highly uninspired minority students are dropping out of school at frightening rates. According to sources of a May New York Times article, “Just 12 percent of the nation’s 20,000 high schools account for half of the country’s dropouts and almost three-quarters of its minority dropouts.” Moreover, while the article went on to state that “one in five American students drop out of high school,” in minority communities this number nearly doubles, with students having a 50-50 chance of graduating. From the newly installed president, who’s made education reform a priority of his tenure, to frustrated parents and drifting students, there’s a cry for change, a desire for a hand up.

Enter Kanye West — an enigmatic character whose musical genius and profound lyrics have led to the rapper, producer, musician, singer and performer garnering royal status within the music world. From Grammy awards and sold out international tours to the admiration of a cult-like fan base of “ ’Ye Heads” and the respect of his peers, who herald West as being one of the best rappers of all time, the 32-year-old has seemingly crested the all-important concept of making it in life. Indeed, he’s made it to the top in a very big way that keeps all eyes on him.

While it might seem that a self-made man who admittedly used his “arrogance as [the] esteem that powered [his] dreams” would easily forget about others facing the crippling effects of dream-killing distractions, the flashing lights certainly haven’t blurred his vision and he can see the outstretched hands of those who so desperately need his help.

The son of a college professor and former member of the Black Panther Party, he’s an intellectual man of action; therefore, such cries couldn’t go unanswered. West’s mother, the late Dr. Donda West, who once taught English at Clark Atlanta University and chaired the English Department at Chicago State University, founded The Kanye West Foundation (KWF). The goal of the foundation was quite simple, yet also ambitious. Inspired by Dr. West’s commitment to excellence in education, KWF sought to unite with organizations throughout the nation to deter students from dropping out of high school.

“[My mother and I] wanted to come up with something that was innovative,” says West about the foundation’s eventual direction.

While educators, administrators and stakeholders have scrambled for decades to develop inventive strategies to achieve the same goal, West knew exactly where he should start — with the thing that has kept both the attention and unsurpassed adoration of teens from the bebopping ’40s to the hip-hopping ’80s and beyond — music.

“The idea was to put music production courses in the schools,” recalls West. “The music that’s on the radio stations that the kids are interested in, they use … drum programming … sampling. I thought it would be really cool to put those types of machines in the schools and inspire kids to want to keep their grades up and [pay] attention because the studios are actually in the schools. Back when people had hoop dreams, which people still do, you could inspire people to keep their grades up by saying, ‘OK, you’ll get to play basketball and be on the team.’ So, I think now we need to have [music] production teams [with] competitions [in the schools].”

This is quite a salient pedagogical concept for a man who dropped out of college to pursue a music career. Although it would seem that some academic would’ve come up with and implemented such a strategy decades ago when high school retention rates began to sag, perhaps West was just the right guy for the job. Surely, he speaks from experience with the education system and an understanding of the power of music. More importantly, he knows just how critical to success education is.

“In this world, you need all of the advantages and help that you can get,” declares West, who’s traveled throughout the world and witnessed how something as little as a high school education can make a difference in someone’s life. “College is an option because you have to pay for it, but high school is a necessity.”

West is more than correct. According to a study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, four out of every 10 high school dropouts received some type of government assistance in 2001; furthermore, a person without a high school diploma is more than eight times more likely to be incarcerated than someone with one.

To do its part to lower these numbers and reverse the dropout trend, KWF is busy making connections and plans.

“[KWF has] the Loop Dreams program, which is a music education program where we bring a [music] studio into a school,” proudly boasts Joseph Collins, who now leads the foundation. “We’ve had a healthy one and a half years of that program running at the Challengers Boys & Girls Club in South Central Los Angeles. We’ve served about 200 kids in that program. They learn how to use Pro Tools, PCs, write lyrics and create art. We require that they keep their grades above a ‘C’ and give them the academic support, in terms of tutoring and mentoring, so that they stay focused on their education.”

The foundation also sponsors an intensive summer program and has partnered with the University of California, Los Angles (UCLA) to provide secondary school students with access to classes and media at the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.

Most recently, KWF’s mission brought West home to Chicago, to collaborate with Chicago Public Schools and Students Helping Our World (SHOW) to organize the second “Stay in School” benefit concert. The event is the brainchild of SHOW founder David Abrams, a Highland Park High School sophomore who envisioned that students would be more inclined to succeed in their studies if they were rewarded with free concerts. Upon learning of the idea, Collins maintains that KWF had to get involved.

“The ‘Stay in School’ event [was] a tremendous opportunity for about 3,000 kids in Chicago to meet Kanye West,” said Collins of the June 11 concert at the Chicago Theatre.

In addition to a VIP celebrity reception, the benefit featured an intimate behind-the-scenes experience where the young scholars got a snapshot of how West prepares for a concert. It will be aired nationally by FUSE TV later this summer.

A self-proclaimed strategist, Collins already has his sights on future projects and collaborations with KWF. He confirms that he and West hope to push their message into other underserved, urban areas. West concurs. For him, this is only the beginning of bigger efforts to reach out and uplift those in need. While he makes it clear that he’s not a politician, and is simply seeking to do what he loves right now, he acknowledges that over time, his mother’s inspiration behind KWF’s founding could possibly help him deliver to the world his greatest gift of all.

“Up to this point in my life, the greatest gift I [have] give[n] is actually my art itself — the music I put out, the visuals, the performance,” he says introspectively. “If you talk to me 10–20 years from now — after [the foundation] has impacted people, at that point [the service] would be the greatest gift.”

Considering West’s words and the fact that the “Stay in School” performance marked both KWF’s first major event since the 2007 passing of Dr. West and her son’s first performance in Chicago in over a year, it’s hard not to imagine that somewhere Dr. West rests easy with pride and contentment. For, with this undertaking, which began under her watch, her son continues a legacy of fulfillment through service, and unity through uplift that changed the lives of many and will surely impact the lives of more. In the end, 10-20 years from now, perhaps many will imagine that like the outstretched arm in Young’s “He Ain’t Heavy” painting, West was there to make a difference, lifting as he climbed.