Kanye West was among hundreds of others who protested in Chicago on June 4. The rapper kept a low profile as he joined a crowd of protesters for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. A local Chicago morning show host, Kendra G, shot video of Kanye marching. He stayed silent while wearing a protective face mask and the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up.
In the caption of her video, Kendra revealed that Kanye did not have his usual camera crew with him, and that he “actually did not want to be filmed.” The rapper did not seem to object to the dozens of iPhone cameras that were filming him in Kendra’s video, but he did not interact with them, either. Kanye’s surprise appearance at this Chicago protest came just hours after it was revealed that he had donated $2 million to help George Floyd’s family, along with the families of another black man (Ahmaud Arbery) and black woman (Breonna Taylor), who were also recently killed by police officers.
Kanye’s $2 million donation went to legal funds for George, Ahmaud and Breonna, while he also set up a college fund for George’s six-year-old daughter, Gianna. Additionally, he vowed to cover legal feels for Ahmaud and Breonna’s families as they fight for justice.
Before this, fans were not hesitant to point out that Kanye was one of few celebrities who had remained publicly quiet about these deaths. Considering the rapper is normally extremely outspoken, the public expected to hear from him about this. It appears that, rather than speaking out, though, Kanye has decided to show his support through his actions.
Meanwhile, Kanye isn’t the only star who has shown up at a protest to fight for racial equality. Halsey, Yungblud, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Ariana Grande and many more celebrities have also taken to the streets to show their support for Black Lives Matter, as well.
These demonstrations began after George was killed by white police officer, Derek Chauvin, during an arrest on May 25. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Meanwhile, the three other cops at the scene of the arrest have all been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.