Chance the Rapper took Chicago City Council members to task on Wednesday morning for failing to spend money on improving local schools and instead focusing on more policing.
Chance The Rapper was among the attendees at the City Hall meeting, where he and other campaigners urged politicians not to develop a $95 million (£72.4 million) police academy, as proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and instead find other ways to “transform the city without policing”.
Chance, who has been pouring his own money into the Chicago Public School system after becoming disillusioned with local government, was among those to address the assembly, and during his speech, he urged council members to reconsider how that money should be spent – especially as the city doesn’t currently have the funds to pay for the cop academy.
“What is y’all doin’ (sic)?” he asked the lawmakers.”I’ve been asking for money for school for years and now you have $95 (million) for a cop academy?”
Chance continued to rant against the project, adding, “It doesn’t make sense. I’m very confused. But… you guys have a lot of power, and that’s why I showed up at 8am, because I feel like it’s – maybe if you guys just hear me say it. I’ll take pictures with everybody afterward if you want me to (sic).”
Despite his passionate plea, council members voted 48 to 1 in favour of moving forward with the police academy, and Chance took to Twitter after the meeting to vent his frustration.
“THIS WHOLE THING IS ILLOGICAL,” he tweeted. “LETS JUST STEP BACK AND FIGURE OUT THE THINGS WE REALLY NEED (sic).”
Chance has been a strong supporter of his hometown’s school systems and he personally donated $1 million (£762,550) to the Chicago Public Schools Foundation in March (17). He has also spearheaded a campaign raising another $2.2 million (£1.7 million) for the city’s public schools through his organisation, the New Chance Arts and Literature Fund, and provided free music courses to young people in his home city over the summer (17) via his SocialWorks non-profit organisation.
