Never one to bite his tongue, Chance the Rapper got real about the recent Chicago public school closings during an interview with journalist Adrienne Samuels Gibbs as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s collaborative discussion series with Chicago-based Pitchfork Media.
In February, the Chicago Board of Education decided to shutdown four South Side high schools and convert a high-performing elementary school into a new neighborhood high school despite protests from people across the city, including the Chicago Teachers Union.
Chance, who has shown support for his hometown through various philanthropic efforts — including donating $1 million to Chicago Public Schools — expressed his disappointment over the closings.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the rapper told Gibbs he feels “angry and cheated and vengeful.”
“You grow up feeling like you’re fighting against the man, or like you’re fighting against this faceless entity of people who are out to get you — but these people have names, know what I’m sayin’?”
Chance pointed to the poor leadership under Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other Democrats as reasons for the closings, but added that change still has to begin at the ground level.
“It starts on the my neighborhood, my ward, my block type s–t. It starts with block club presidents. It starts with starting a block club. But all those levels are accessible, you know?” he said.
“But I’m here, I’m posted. I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna live in Chicago until the day I die. I’m gonna leave every once in a while, I’m gonna travel, I’m gonna do some tours — get that bag. Then I’m gonna lobby for y’all.”