The Cocoa Butter Kisses rapper donated $1 million (£800,000) to the Chicago Public Schools Foundation in March (17) and has spearheaded a campaign raising another $2.2 million (£1.7 million) for his hometown’s public schools through his organisation, the New Chance Arts and Literature Fund.
Chance, who is a new dad to 20-month-old daughter Kensli, spoke about his initiative on TV show The View on Thursday (01Jun17), explaining just why he is so driven to help the cash-strapped education system in Chicago.
“That’s the biggest topic in the city,” the rapper explained on the talk show. “I’m a new parent and I want my daughter to be a CPS (Chicago Public Schools) kid, and if there’s no more CPS then how’s that gonna happen? I’m trying to play my part.”
The 24-year-old famously comes from a family of activists. His father has worked for several politicians including a young senator called Barack Obama before he became U.S. President.
“My grandmother volunteered herself and all her kids to work for (former mayor) Harold Washington’s campaign when they had no money… There’s just always been a calling to, if there’s something wrong in the world to try and put some type of dent in it,” he explained.
Despite his family’s legacy of public service, the Grammy Award-winning rapper has no plans to run for office himself.
“Politics is the reason why a lot of stuff doesn’t get done, there’s a lot of limitations,” he sighed. “There’s a lot of people who become a little silenced and a little bit stagnant when they get in office.”
