Kanye West on Thursday (June 4) donated $2 million to charities associated with the three recent black men Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, as well as women killed by police officers.
Kanye also promised to handle legal costs for the Arbery and Taylor families, a rapper rep said to Variety, and he set up a college fund to cover tuition for George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna. In addition, Ye’s rep said the Chicago native would be helping black-owned businesses with financial contributions in his home town.
This change comes after fans noticed that the normally outspoken Kanye had been uncharacteristically quiet about the homicides of Floyd, Taylor, Arbery, and Tony McDade, a Tallahassee black Trans man.
In the early hours of June 4, Ebro Darden, a radio personality/executive/hip-hop journalist, questioned, “And furthermore, why is Kanye so quiet?” “I think everybody is good with that,” answered Jemele Hill, a Uproxx journalist.
Others noticed that Kanye seems to be Donald Trump’s loyal supporter – hadn’t cast his support behind the nationwide Black Lives Matters demonstrations or called for charges against the three other officers in the killing of George Floyd.“this is the first time @kanyewest has been silent in his whole life, and god is it deafening,” a fan wrote on Twitter.
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While up to this point Kanye was silent, his wife had not. Kim Kardashian responded with a rubber bullet to news of a Minneapolis teenage girl getting “disfigured” after getting “point-blank shot.” “This is heartbreaking and so disturbing.Does anyone know how I can get in contact with her? I would love to help her with her medical care if she needs it,” Kim tweeted, 39. Kim was also quick to suggest # JusticeForGeorgeFloyd through her platforms on social media.
In a May 30 Instagram post, Kim K wrote, “For years, with every horrific murder of an innocent black man, woman, or child, I have always tried to find the right words to express my condolences and outrage, but the privilege I am afforded by the color of my skin has often left me feeling like this is not a fight that I can truly take on as my own. Not today, not anymore. Like so many of you, I am angry. I am more than angry. I am infuriated, and I am disgusted. … Even though I will never know the pain and suffering they have endured, or what it feels like to try to survive in a world plagued by systemic racism, I know I can use my own voice to help amplify those voices that have been muffled for too long.”