Kanye West has been taking an active role in the ongoing campaign for justice for George Floyd. The rapper joined the protesters in Chicago on Thursday and also donated $2 million for the families of the African American individuals that were killed this year.
West joined the students of the Chicago Public Schools to protest the killing of Floyd, the unarmed black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck. Kanye also demanded the CPS to cancel their contract with the Chicago Police Department.
Protest organizers from the Good Kids Mad City told USA TODAY that the rapper called them and expressed his willingness to join the protest. The orderly rally, however, quickly became a little chaotic after West got out of his SUV wearing a face mask and a hoodie.
Organizers got upset about the disorder. Taylore Norwood, 20, was seen in a video grabbing a megaphone and told her fellow protesters that the Chicago march was a youth-led protest and that she didn't want a "celebrity" hijacking it from them. According to USA TODAY, West left the place after a short stay, and demonstrators proceeded to their plan to march to Chicago Police Department headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Jesus Is King rapper also donated $2 million to assist the families of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor as well as their legal teams in pursuing their respective cases in court. In addition, Kim Kardashian's husband also set up a college fund for Floyd's six-year-old daughter, Gianna.
On May 25, Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. This sparked demonstrations across the country as protesters demand an end to systematic racism and police brutality.
Arbery, on the other hand, was shot and killed while he was jogging in Glynn County, Georgia in February. The unarmed 25-year-old man who was chased by three white men who, allegedly, believed he fit the description of a burglary suspect in the area. The three men have been arrested in his death.
As for Taylor, she was shot and killed by Louisville cops in her own apartment by force in March. The police, allegedly, busted her home without warning. Taylor was an emergency medical worker and the FBI already opened an investigation into her death.
Kanye also made donations to several black-owned businesses in Chicago and in other cities that have been impacted by the unrest in the U.S. The rapper was born in Georgia but he and his mother moved to Chicago when he was three after his parents divorced. West is the latest celebrity who expressed support to the demonstrators over Floyd's tragic death while in police custody.
