Chance the Rapper to Receive 2017 BET Humanitarian Award
Humanitarian of the Year
The BET Awards 2017 will take place on Sunday, June 25, where Chance the Rapper will be recognized as Humanitarian of the Year. Alongside his four music award nominations, he will receive the honor of the BET Humanitarian Award due to his rigorous efforts to empower communities in the city of Chicago. As both a rapper and a philanthropist, Chance has been able to reach a variety of groups of children, teens and young people through grassroots organizing and monetary donations.
In a release from BET, the station said, “Chance has consistently used his musical platform to support a number of impactful educational, social and political initiatives — positively impacting both local and national communities.” Past recipients of the BET Humanitarian Award include Jesse Williams, John Legend, Magic Johnson, and Muhammad Ali.
This award comes after a variety of other notable recognitions for his great community work:
- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel named Chance Chicago’s Outstanding Youth of the Year in 2014 after promoting the “#SaveChicago” campaign. This campaign sought to combat gun violence in his hometown over Memorial Day weekend that year.
- In April 2016, Chance met with President Barack Obama in to discuss My Brother’s Keeper Challenge, which is a US Federal Government initiative that calls on civic leaders to help address the unique challenges of young men of color.
- After a meeting with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss the $215 million budget deficit of Chicago Public Schools, Chance wrote a check for $1 million. This money, coming from ticket sales from an upcoming tour, is to serve as a call-to-action for the city’s businesses and philanthropic communities to help support the school district.
We are eager to congratulate Chance on the BET Humanitarian Award, and to watch as his community organizing continues to make a difference in the lives of young people across Chicago and around the world.
