Chance the Rapper’s Grammy Win & 5 Very important realizations

As we quickly settle back into our daily routine after our very own Chance the Rapper’s win of three major Grammy Awards, several very important realizations come to mind.

1. At 23, Chance has achieved great honors, not just because of his talent but also because of his groundbreaking approach to getting his music to listeners around the world. Chance has achieved what many bigger and better financed musicians have tried and failed to do. Chance bypassed the record companies and went straight to the consumers, shattering a barrier that is guarded at all costs by the music industry.

2. Chance’s achievement of getting his record directly to his listeners is as big as Mark Zuckerberg achievement of getting people to post all aspects of their lives on social media without inhibition. Dare I say that Chance would have gotten greater credit for his achievements if he were a white techie…possibly.

3. As quick as Chance’s success came the dubbing of Chance as a Chicagoan, with little credit given to Chatham as his home and a community that fosters creativity and greatness.

4. As we celebrate Chance’s wins, we should make note of the fact that Chatham and the South Side has produced yet another artist that is reaching great heights. Chance the Rapper is following in the footsteps of African American luminaries such as gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and singer/actor Common, both of whom have been featured in murals in the Chatham community.

5. Chance’s success speaks to another often-ignored aspect of South Side communities: he is from a middle-class black family and attended a top public high school, Jones College Prep, where he formed his first musical group and released his first mixtape. This is not a rags-to-riches story which would be so much more interesting on TV. Instead, Chance’s origin story is a far less sensational but no less impressive one: that of an educated, hard working black family that raised a smart black talented super star.

All and all, Chance’s story breaks out a less-than-newsworthy truth: the South Side is much, much more than the violence that plagues it. It is unacceptable that Chatham, a working class and middle class African American community that is under siege by a small number of violent groups, gets more local and national media coverage for violent incidents than the hard-working majority ever receives. Let’s keep celebrating all the good things we have going on and keep fighting to make our communities better, stronger, and safer.