<p>What does mental illness look like in the Black community?</p><p>Sometimes, it's the unhoused guy on the CTA Red Line threatening to decapitate someone before the train gets to Roosevelt Road.</p><p>Sometimes, it’s the guy walking through your alley with his two Rottweilers, pulling his shopping cart with the rooster in the child seat.</p><p>Alternatively, it can look like a billionaire musical icon whose impact reached an entire generation — not only Black youth, but people everywhere.</p><div class="RichTextSidebarModule Enhancement" data-module data-align-center><a class="AnchorLink" id="module-850000" name="module-850000"></a>
<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody"><h3><b>Ye’s Chicago legacy</b></h3>Ahead of this week’s nearly sold-out Soldier Field performances, WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times asked four Black Chicagoans to reflect on the legacy of Ye (formerly Kanye West) in the city that helped shape him.<br><br>Arionne Nettles on <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/09/02/ye-kanye-west-chicago-legacy-cultural-influence" target="_blank" ><u>the legacy of the ‘Old Kanye.’</u></a><br>Nile Lansana on <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/09/02/ye-kanye-west-legacy-touch-the-sky-love-eroded" target="_blank" ><u>how his bulletproof love for Kanye has eroded</u></a><br>Mary L. Datcher on <a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/09/02/ye-kanye-west-chicago-history-legacy-dr-donda-west" target="_blank" ><u>why there’s still from at Chicago’s table for Ye</u></a></div>
</div><p>I loved Kanye. There was a time I was so proud he could be the gift my city gave to the rest of the world. His work was equal parts musical brilliance and evocative snapshots of South Side coming-of-age experiences. It captured familiar places and adventures, content that resonated deeply with many of us who grew up in this city. He was us, and we were once him.</p><p>Then he suffered the unthinkable. He lost his mom, who had been his anchor and, at times, his muse. The one person more proud of him and who he was becoming than anyone else could ever be. Speaking as a mother, I don’t think she wanted to take a piece of him with her. That's not how we love. We want to leave a piece of us with them so they never forget what true love feels like, especially in a world where compassion and vulnerability are seen as weaknesses.</p><p>I've seen up close the torment children can suffer when they lose their mothers. But the people I know had the privilege of falling apart and starting the lifelong process of rebuilding themselves in private – away from cameras, tabloids, record labels and fans. They didn't have to be everything to everyone when they themselves felt tiny under the boulder called grief.</p><p>I believe this was Kanye. This loss would have been enough to cause mental distress in many of us. He forgot how truly grand he was and the amount of influence he still had. By losing a mother his influence couldn't save, he forgot his power.</p><p>I believe that's why he said hurtful things, such as how “slavery sounds like a choice,” or talked about how much he hated Jews. He forgot how powerful he truly was. But no one else did. That's why there were Black kids calling themselves Hitler and doodling swastikas in class, when many of them could barely spell their own names.</p><p>I also believe it was the reason he never invited the kids he once recognized wanted “to rap and make dope beats, just like you” or like him, on his record label.</p><p>He knew them. Once, he was with them. He knew about the record industry. He knew about the predators who’d only give record deals to young artists willing to promote murder music, the killing of their families and neighbors, that more often than not led to their very own demise. I know. I've been to some of the funerals. He could've helped stop the carnage and given so many of these boys a chance to grow into men, but he forgot that he was powerful enough to do it. Or strong enough to save anyone else if he couldn't even save the person he loved most.</p><p>I don't hate Kanye. Especially in this season, when Jews forgive and ask for forgiveness. It’s the time where we pray for redemption. I don’t believe any of us are beyond that. Not even Kanye.</p><p>I have watched his outbursts in horror at times, just like the rest of us. And as a Jew from the South Side, I chose to forgive him and to still find ways to love him. He has plenty of people constantly reminding him of all of the problematic things he’s said and done. I choose not to be a part of that.</p><p>I love him because he loves my city as much as I do. I just want him to remember his true purpose. I want him to be the entertainer that may have left, but now realizes how important it is for him — and us — to come back home.</p><p><i>Rabbi Tamar Manasseh is a speaker, activist and the founder of the antiviolence nonprofit Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings. </i></p>
I’m a Chicago rabbi, and I choose to forgive Kanye 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-09-03 13:44:05
Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
