Kanye West is preparing for the release of Donda 2 on February 22 with a celebration of Black culture and the transformation of Black History Month into “Black Future Month.”
The six-minute, cinematically shot speech uploaded to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 8) finds Ye at the center of a group of people wearing hoodies, describing the disparities he feels as a Black man in America and, more specifically, as a Black man with a family.
“America is made to enslave us, what they ever gave us?” he proclaims rap-style in the clip. “We’d improve. We didn’t show, it’s documented, now it’s cemented, lack future it’s time to invent it. 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.”
“We shouldn’t have to be a tech genius, a basketball God, a musical wizard to be able to hold down your family,” he continued, before noting that its been “four or five days” since he has seen his children. “But we in America, ain’t we? That’s just how it is. When they write the history, when they write the narrative, when they take something that’s strong and make it look like it’s an embarrassment, when they take something that’s weak and even try to make a comparison, when you say something that’s strong and they say that you arrogant.”
To change the narrative, Ye is declaring 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,” he said. “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.”
See Ye’s full video here.
The rapper previously debuted “The Future Brunch” on Sunday (Feb. 6), which was the first step in his mission to make his declaration more than just a social media moment. Co-hosted by Hollywood Unlocked owner Jason Lee, the brunch brought together a think tank of 50 Black journalists and media executives to discuss a number of ways to amplify Black voices.
Among the invited guests were BET exec. vp, specials, music programming & music strategy Connie Orlando; Fox Soul head of programming James DuBose; Amazon Studios senior creative film executive Amber Rasberry; Spotify creative director, head of urban music Carl Chery; and Vibe staff writer DeMicia Inman, as well as journalists from Billboard, Essence, Ebony, The New York Times, Forbes and InStyle. Joining midway through the conversation was surprise guest, NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Following the brunch, the first Sunday Service with the media in attendance was performed.
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