Chance the Rapper performs at The Meadows Festival on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. (Vicky Ford/Sneakshot)
Photo Credit: Vicky Ford of Sneakshot for Okayplayer
Photo by Vicky Ford for Sneakshot/Okayplayer
Chance The Rapper will serve as the grand marshal for the oldest and largest African American parade in the United States.
The Chicago artist and activist will be coordinating the Bud Billiken parade this year and recently announced that he plans on giving away 30,000 free backpacks stuffed with school supplies to kids in attendance during the event this Saturday. Chance's charity, SocialWorks, has partnered with Brooklyn-based STATE Bags to donate the 30,000 backpacks, with some being handed out at the parade and the rest being delivered directly to Chicago Public Schools for the first day of class on September 5.
Chance recently made an appearance on the What’s Good with Stretch and Bobbito podcast, where he talked about donating $1 million to Chicago Public Schools and the current state of politics, even stating that he has "a larger platform than all politicians" and calling out Donald Trump directly during the chat.
"I have a bigger voice than Donald Trump, than literally anybody that works in politics," Chance said. "And so yes I can connect with people on a level of appealing as a person who's still a citizen, who still does what he wants. But I have ideas for how to voice opinions and make change that other people just don’t have."
