Lost Files: The Interview with Kanye’s Non-Profit Organization

In the midst of Kanye West dropping new music, babies, and God knows what else, it’s perfect timing to drop this lost file of an interview between Respect Magazine and Kanye’s non-profit organization, Donda’s House. #WAVES

During the summer of 2015, I had originally planned on just vacationing in Chicago, Il. But, somehow, work finds a way to seep through. While having lunch at LiteHouse Whole Food Grill in the historic Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago with Keena Carson, board member of Lupe Fiasco‘s non-profit organization, M.U.R.A.L., and also who is responsible for initiating the interview(sidenote!), we were soon joined by Donnie Smith, the executive director of Donda’s House.

Donnie was a great spirit, we snapped a few pictures and got right into the interview. I learned that Donda’s House was not only named after Kanye West‘s mother, Donda West, but philosophies of the non-profit stem from her teachings as an educator. The way the non-profit started was based on the arts, and their mission was to give back to the creatives. The Chicago-based non-profit is a great outlet for youth to express their lives from on canvas, to creating lyrical content at a recording studio.

As we got deeper into the interview, I learned of the programs Donda’s House offered, from ‘Got Bars’ to ‘Behind The Mic’ to allowing their participants to travel outside of Chicago for the first time in their lives. The mentioning of collaborations between non-profits of Lupe Fiasco and Common, was also highlighted.

The non-profit is a positive force within Kanye’s brand that I wish was highlighted more. Because as a Fine Arts college graduate, I understand the value of this non-profit. Music and Arts programs are one of the first to get cut when budgets need to slice and dice. Donnie also mentioned how they wanted a Donda’s House everywhere, “something like the Boys and Girls Club,” as described in the interview.

Donnie also disclosed other gems. In the interview she mentioned how, as teens, Donda provided Kanye and his friends with a home studio to allow them to hone in on their talents to fulfill their dreams.

It worked.

Below are additional highlights from the interview:

RESPECT Magazine: What’s your role with the company?

Donnie Smith: I am the executive director of Donda’s House, and also, the co-founder.

As the executive director, my responsibilities are basically administrative. So… funding, logistical, in terms of our programming, figuring out where we’re going to do things, strategic partnerships, all of that..

RM: So you’re like the machine. Can you give us a quick background of the non-profit to those who aren’t familiar?

DS: Absolutely. So, Donda’s House started out as an idea in December of 2011. It was basically right after my husband, who is a hip-hop artist, he ran for city council here in Chicago, and lost by about 200 votes.

One of the things that we wanted to do when he started, and ran for office, is to create an art center in the 20th Ward; Which is where University of Chicago campus is located, there’s a piece of Inglewood, Washington Park.. it’s actually is where the Presidential Library is going to be built.. So, it’s a historic community.

We lost by 200 votes, we had to lick our wounds and we were sad. But we said that we didn’t have to be in office to move forward with this idea of an art center for youth.

So my husband, whose artist name is Rhymefest, real name is Che, we started having a conversation about who we can talk to that may be interested in moving forward with this idea. One of those folks that we talked to is Kanye, who my husband grew up with. Kanye loved the idea. He was also going through a process of restructuring his company and decided to name his company, Donda, which is for profit, they do a lot of design work, etc.

So we decided we would name the organization, Donda’s House. Named after Kanye’s mother, Dr. Donda West because a lot of people don’t know this about her, but, she actually setup a recording studio in her home for Kanye. He had to be 16 at the time. All of his friends, many of whom weren’t as fortunate as him to have a mom who was super supportive.. In the case of my husband, his mom had him the day after her 15th birthday. Dr. West was basically a mother figure, she was probably the only person that he knew that was college educated and she mentored all of them.. Rhymefest, GLC, Twon Gabs.. the list goes on and on..

So Donda’s House essentially, what we call it, 2.0, is recreating what Dr. West did for in her home, for young artists.

RM: That’s crazy! Wow, ok, I didn’t expect all that.. So the purpose would be more so…..?

DS: To provide access to the Arts. Unfortunately in Chicago, I’m sure everybody has heard about the historic 50-School closing.. There’s also this huge push for S.T.E.M. Education, so everybody is focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. And people look at the Arts as something that is, just, extracurricular.

The truth is, when you look at the private schools in the city.. “good schools, good education,” Arts are at the center of that program.

And so, our goal at Donda’s House is to give access to young people who may not have art classes in school or that definitely don’t have art access in their community.. and we’re just filling in that gap.

RM: Are there any educators behind the scenes?

DS: I would probably be the biggest educator behind the scenes. I got my Bachelors in Secondary Education, with a focus in English. Then, the other folks behind the scenes, are really, Art-Teaching Artists. So, Donda’s House is a fusion of actual education, and what we call, ‘Learning Science,’ and the Arts.

RM: Were any specific teaching techniques that she had that you guys exercised through the Non-Profit Organization?

DS: Absolutely.. So, on top of having a conversation with Kanye, We also interviewed a lot of her former students. She was the Dean of the English Department at Chicago State University. We probably sat down with between 50-100 people, and everyone had something different to say about what Dr. West meant to them. But there were some common threads….

Her Master’s Thesis, written in either 1977 or 1978, was about the importance of teachers recognizing Black Vernacular English (aka Slang). This is long before it became a educational trend.

She was very…. revolutionary.

Her Master’s Thesis was about Educators; Remember, she was an English Educator. And so, her whole thing was Literacy, Communication, etc.

Essentially, her thesis was about teachers not making young people feel ignorant, or unintelligent because they didn’t necessarily know how to speak “King’s English” (Proper English)…

Think about that, we’re talking about in the Late 1970’s.. This is before rap really took off as a genre. So it’s no accident, that, when her son comes along, he’s interested in producing music and being an artist.

We’d always laugh…

Kanye just got a Honorary Doctorate this year. His first album was called “College Dropout.” He would say “I didn’t need to go to school, because I got a Doctor at home….”

Which was true!

(Dr. Donda West)

Listen to the Complete Interview Below:

www.dondashouseinc.org/