As his sequel to 2021’s Donda prepares to drop on Feb. 22 — maybe — Kanye West took time out for prepping to explicate his plan for “Black Future Month.” During the nearly six-minute speech, he used examples from his own life to illustrate what he sees as a disparity that needs to be addressed.
“America is made to enslave us, what they ever gave us we’d improve. We didn’t show, it’s documented, now it’s cemented, Black future it’s time to invent it,” he delivers rap-style in an Instagram video featuring a group of people wearing dark hoodies. “If Ye said it, you know that he meant it. There’s no more Black History Month, every February reminding us that we just barely can vote.”
The rapper has been teasing the movement on social media, sharing a black screen with the words “Black Future Month 2022,” which others including Antonio Brown and Pusha T have also shared on their socials.
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West leads off discussing his upbringing, then segues into how the story of Black success needs to be told differently for the future generations, using himself as an example: “I want them to hear clearly exactly what God said. I believe he uses me as a vessel. You know what they say about Ye: he ain’t crazy, he’s special. I’m not a perfectionist, I’m a betterment and betterest and it’s time for improvement.”
West believes the only way to change the narrative is to declare February Black Future Month: “If we wanna talk about Black history? Who wrote that history for us? They beat down ideas that will keep you enslaved mentally, they target you, they put you in that box to control your mind and to make you fearful. I just don’t have no fear left in me so all I got is love. I’ve been waiting for us to take the power in our own hand. I’ve been waiting for us to control our narrative.”
West explains there’s power in numbers, and compares the Black dollar to Apple in influence, using his Yeezy company — one that’s 100 percent Black-owned — as an example of success and what he believes is needed for the future. “I’m fine to take what they gotta say, ’cause it’s not about me, it’s about us,” he concludes. “It’s about our children, it’s about an example of what we can be when we decided to walk off the field and take our narrative into our own hands. Black Future Month — this is the future.”
The rapper has recently been embroiled in a personal fight made public involving family separation with estranged wife Kim Kardashian and his daughter North West appearing on TikTok. His next album, Donda 2, is due out on Feb. 22.
From Rolling Stone US
