When it comes to successfully blending his creativity, concerns, and causes, Chance the Rapper cannot be stopped. He, for me is the epitome of what it looks like to thrive and excel in a multitude of areas that one might be passionate about simultaneously. Chance the Rapper, born Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, has been creating waves for the youth this year in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The city has taken major deficits to their educational budget and Chance has been very vocal about it. Earlier this year he urged Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to reconsider spending $95 million on a police training program and to instead, invest in mental health programs and the scholastic disparities faced by Chicago youth in low-income neighborhoods. His pleas fell on deaf ears, but his actions following this just simply cannot go unnoticed.

Chance took matters into his own hands and proverbially put his money where his mouth was by donating to the very schools he had been speaking up for. Earlier this year in March, he raised $2.2 million and donated $10,000 to 20 schools in the Chicago area in an effort to offset the $215 million gap in funding. While not nearly enough to fully supplement such a huge deficit, I feel like this is only the beginning in Chance's #supportCPS initiative. In a statement on his youth empowerment program's website SocialWorks, he states:

"As the people of Illinois wait for Governor Rauner, I will push towards the goal of $215 million and for every $100,000 we receive, SocialWorks will donate $10,000 to a school of our choosing. Charitable donations certainly help fill gaps to provide enrichment opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, but can't make up for less-than-adequate state funding of our schools. The state of Chicago Public Schools needs to be remedied, and it's the Governor's job to lead that effort."

Read: Illinois schools have the biggest funding gap in the nation

Chance didn't stop there. In October, he linked up with the ridesharing company Lyft in order to raise funds for his #supportCPS campaign. The company gave its riders the option to round up their fare to the nearest dollar and donate the remaining portion towards Chicago Public Schools. This was the first time Lyft partnered with a local charity organization, but it makes sense when you know Chance is a digital marketing beast who has shown us indie artists what it means to make the globe your creative poster board.

Earlier this month he kept the momentum rolling by teaming up with Google in order to bring STEM programs to the children of Chicago. Google donated a generous $1.5 million towards Chance's charity foundation, $500,000 of which will go towards the Children First Fund charity program. Their pledge is

"to bring computer science education to all schools from kindergarten to 12th grade within the next decade." Google rep Justin Steele stated that "the research says 65 percent of grade school kids are going to be working in careers that don't exist today. It's important for these kids to learn the skills of tomorrow. We don't know exactly what these jobs will look like, but we know that the skills they're going to learn in coding--analytical thinking, creative problem solving--are critical to the future."

Here's what Chance the Rapper had to say about coding when speaking to a group of 5th grade students during a surprise visit in the middle of a coding class:

"There's a lot of people that use the internet everyday and use software and hardware that were designed by people just like y'all. If y'all learn it at an early enough age, y'all gon' be way better than all the people who are learning it in college and after college now."

My sentiments exactly. Which is why I find it so vital as I begin my own coding journey to ensure that I expose my children to it as well.

Chance the Rapper is not the only emcee concatenating the arts, tech and child advocacy.

Fly Benzo

San Francisco native and word-slinging emcee Fly Benzo (DeBray Carpenter) is taking strides in his neck of the woods as well when it comes to making STEM resources and educational opportunities accessible to under-privileged communities. He recently launched his #DLearn initiative in which he states that DLearn's mission is

"to change the world through education by creating a platform in which educators are incentivized to teach, at no cost to the student, in order to remove barriers to upward mobility by making quality education accessible to everyone."

Check out the original post here
Fly Benzo is currently a Teacher at a San Francisco based program called Success Center SF where he teaches an intro to coding course called 'Code on Point' to youth and young adults.

Immortal Technique

Aside from murdering every beat or mic he touches and creating a grant writing program for high school students, a few other of Immortal Technique's (Felipe Andres Coronel) honorable mentions are the fact that he spends his time visiting prisons and juvenile halls to connect with and speak to the youth behind bars. In 2008 he formed alliances with a human rights organization (Omeid International) and donated the proceeds from his album The 3rd World toward building an orphanage for homeless children in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Check out this brief 'tech talk' with Immortal Technique & Tech 9.

Also, be sure to check out his interview by @wearechange-co recently uploaded on Dtube

https://d.tube/v/wearechange-co/gykebe4a

Thank you for taking the time to check out this post! If you liked what you read, please be sure to upvote, resteem and of course follow me @talea.monet

Also, be sure to check out my previous posts below

Techtonica apprenticeship application...final results are in..

The future of digital media platforms...

And the end is near...FINAL step in the application process!!!

My Techtonica Web Development Workshop Experience...

What's good Steemit world?! Allow me to introduce myself...

Video: Chance the Rapper feat. Saba "Angels"