Posted on 11/12/2007 8:52:17 AM PST by Borges
An educator for 31 years, she was her superstar son's inspiration
A publicist for Donda West told the BCC the former Chicago educator and mother of hip-hop superstar Kanye West died "as the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure." The publicist, Patricia Green, gave no more details.
Donda West died Saturday in a Los Angeles hospital. She was 58.
A spokesman for the rapper released a one-sentence statement: "The family respectfully asks for privacy during this time of grief."
An educator for 31 years, Donda West started her teaching career in the 1970s at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. Her only son, Kanye, was born there in 1977. In 1980, she moved to Chicago to accept a position in the Department of English and Speech at Chicago State University, and she was serving as the department chair when she left in 2004 to become Kanye's general manager.
Kanye West, 30, has attributed his outspokenness to his mother and his father, Ray West, a former Black Panther who later became a photojournalist and is now a Christian marriage counselor. After Ray and Donda West divorced when their son was 3, Kanye lived with his mother and spent summers with his father.
"Both of my parents are teachers; I can't help but want to tell somebody something they didn't know," Kanye told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2005.
Celebrated her in his music In Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar, co-written with Karen Hunter and published last spring, Donda West wrote about being a single mother in the African-American community.
She noted that she was proud to have expanded her son's worldview, and she always encouraged his talents: When he was 10, he spent a year with her in China while she was teaching English at Nanchang University, and when he was 13, she gave him $1,000 to buy the recording equipment that launched his career as a rapper and record producer.
The entertainer didn't hide the fact that he and his mother were close, and he often took her to music industry awards ceremonies.
"I never make any important decision without consulting her," he told the Sun-Times in 2005, and his work is peppered with tributes to her. "Hey Mama" is the most obvious of these songs -- in the choruses, Kanye raps, "Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you/'Cause I'm so proud of you" -- but even more moving is "Never Let Me Down," in which the artist recalls his mother's role as an advocate of civil rights:
"I get down for my grandfather who took my momma/ Made her sit in that seat where white folks ain't want us to eat," Kanye raps. "At the tender age of 6, she was arrested for the sit-in/ With that in my blood I was born to be different."
Donda West moved to Los Angeles two years ago. There, she served as the chair of the recently created Kanye West Foundation, which is dedicated to curbing the high school dropout rate through initiatives such as Loop Dreams. Loop Dreams will begin training Chicago teachers this spring to incorporate hip-hop in their curriculums.
Donda West shared the stage with her son during a star-studded benefit concert for the program last August at Chicago's House of Blues. She was often seen in the VIP section at her son's local performances but was not in attendance last Thursday when he joined his mentor, rap icon Jay-Z, for several songs at the House of Blues.
Sources close to Kanye West said he had just arrived in London when he learned of his mother's death on Saturday, and he immediately flew to Los Angeles to join family members.
It's that final fast where you lose the most weight.
Stay classy, Reagan Fanatic.
What makes you (or the other that were insulting on this thread) think that it’s even remotely reasonable to make a remark like this? His mother, to whom he showed the very conservative value of respecting one’s elders, just died. She died today. She died young. Is cosmetic surgery elective? Sure but would you have made jokes if Bush Sr.’s parachute didn’t open over the weekend? As far as I can tell, that’s an elective act as well. The sentiment is sick and your sympathy is obviously insincere and if you are not ashamed you still should be.
“My beef is with Kanye himself, separate from the tragedy, which is the reason for the second part of my post.”
Oh, are you “beefing” with Kanye? I bet he is crushed!!
“I clearly expressed my sympathy over their loss in the first part of my post”
So that paints you as a turd who knows people won’t accept outright jacka$$ery. Good for you!!! It’s always so heartwarming to see someone clumsily mask their true motives in fake noblility.
Unfortunately, no one cares about your fake sympathy or your “beef” beyond the obvious annoyance that it presents.
Thanks for your contributions!
You know, I couldn’t care less about your opinion. If you don’t like my post, ignore it, hit the abuse button or take it elsewhere.
“You know, I couldn’t care less about your opinion.”
Hey.. this is the internets. We ALL couldn’t care less.
In fact, I don’t even care if you care if I care. And yet, you have 1. Felt the need to proclaim your feelings about Kanye West and 2. Defended your post. So on some level somewhere, there is a tiny shred of care in you. It is that very shred I call upon to deservingly tweak your remorse.
I just want you to know that your Beefy McBeeferson inappropriate attitude has been noted for its inappropriateness. Hopefully, you’ll take this opportunity to allow yourself to recognize your motivation for posting today, which will lead you to greater self-awareness.
Ugly in there, isn’t it?
You can thank me later or never, whatever. The important thing is, I’ve done my good deed for the day.
Have a gipperiffic day!!
Quitcher bitchin. You know there are going to be posts like this. Let it go already.
Thanks for those options (ignore, abuse or take it elsewhere) but I prefer confront ignorance when it litters the places I care about. If that is your beef “Mr. I’m down got beef hip hop guy” then just take a breath, oxygenate the one or two brain cells that you have that know anything about class, etiquette, decency or just plain common sense and serve said beef on a better day. In addition, your comments being associated with Reagan’s name is an insult to the man who would never have an unkind word for someone on a day like this. When you post here, you represent the forum (yes Mr. Beef - “representn”) and you should show it more respect.
“Quitcher bitchin.”
I believe it is now known as “beefing”.
“You know there are going to be posts like this. Let it go already”
Why should I let them have all the fun?
If they want to use the death of a famous person’s mother to air grievances, then I think it’s perfectly acceptable for me to use it as one to air mine.
Or am I destroying a perfectly good chance to facelessly bash people not around to defend themselves?
Why shouldn’t we expect decency from people? Aren’t the forums here to discuss ideas? What’s wrong with discussing the idea that insulting someone on the day that there mother dies tragically is not good, decent, appropriate, a positive reflection on the forum or a way to convince people of correctness of conservative ideas? If I’m off base, do let me know where & how.
Word.
Eventually. Not immediately.
Depends on the diet.
(c;
Sick1, I would love to hang around and trade urban slang terms with you, but I’m busily scanning the lifestyle section of my paper to see if anyone I could reasonably consider a political “opponent” has had the recent misfortune of having their mother die.
To offer condolences, naturally.
I’m afraid “Peace out” is about all I can manage at this time.
So.. peace out.
Peace Out works just fine. Thanks for the help in picking up some of the trash that accumulates around here. I’ve found that most people who post ignorance like that (here or on DU) have very shallow understandings of their movement, its intellectual underpinnings, and the ability to convince others of the power of their ideas. I also find that most, when you meet them in person, wouldn’t dream of saying something so ignorant and provocative where the “beef” might be the foundation for “keeping it real”, “a beat down”, or the “busting” of “caps” in various posteriors. Not sure of how much of that fits the original poster but I am sure that President Reagan, his namesake, would have been even more disgusted by a post so lacking in basic human kindness. I’ve no illusions that we’ll change his mind but if some non-freepers read this I’m glad there’s a record that most of us are decent about such things.
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