Hometown hero Chance the Rapper served as the Grand Marshal at the 88th Annual Bud Billiken Parade, the back-to-school event held in Chicago’s South Side, on August 12th. Chatham native Chance surprised paradegoers with two treats: his non-profit, SocialWorks, donated 30,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to children in attendance, and he gave out passes to a free concert with special guests held that evening. His concert, dubbed the Bud Billiken Bash, featured guests Future, MadeInTYO, and Jeremih during the performance at The Auditorium Theatre. Barack Obama even made an appearance in a message for Chance, congratulating him on his efforts to better the city of Chicago.
Chance used the opportunity as Grand Marshal to further his mission in improving funding for Chicago Public Schools, claiming that he “wanted to make sure I can identify all those teachers that support our youth and build our children up, all those fathers that are out here with their families, the cornerstones of their houses, bringing their families out—I want to make sure I can identify y’all so my people can get you some free tickets.”
#BudBillikenParade grand marshal @chancetherapper 👑 pic.twitter.com/jeGjnSzL3m
— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) August 12, 2017
Earlier this year, Chance called upon Governor Bruce Rauner to “do your job“, and proceeded to donate $1 million to the Chicago Public School Foundation. He recently criticized Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill 1, which would remove $250 million of CPS funding, on Twitter before the Bud Billiken parade.
You can help CPS too by donating school supplies via Kits For Kidz on the CPS website, linked here. Donations range from $5.75 to $13.50—so skip a latte one morning, or a cocktail this weekend, and give back to our community.
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