- Kanye West’s parents, Donda West and Ray West were married from 1975 to 1980
- Ray, Kanye’s father had a career as a photojournalist, had a Christian bookshop, and is a philanthropist while Donda was a professor
- Died in 2007, Donda’s death prompted the signing into law the “Donda West Law”
Donda West (mother) and Ray West (father) are Kanye West’s parents. While their fame is associated with their iconic hip-hop singer son, they have equally excelled in their own rights. Ray is an award-winning former photojournalist who has worked with several celebrities, including Maya Angelou while Donda was an educationist, author, and first black female to become a chairperson at Chicago State University.
Everything to Know About Kanye West’s Parents
His Parents Were Only Married for 5 Years and it Affected His Relationship with His Father
West’s parents were married in 1975 and divorced after 5 years in 1980. According to him, the divorce led to his being raised by his mother in a different State.
As a result of Donda and Ray’s divorce, Kanye’s relationship was his father was not solid and it affected the rapper. This has contributed to making him determined to not let his 4 children go through the same path he went through.
Instead, after Kanye’s divorce from his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, he went ahead to buy a $4.5 million property across from his ex-wife’s home.
Kanye West’s Father was a Photojournalist and Black Panther
Born on August 28, 1949, Ray West had a successful career as a photojournalist. He was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
More to the older West’s career, he worked with famous activist and poet Maya Angelou as well as politician Ronald Reagan.
More about his life, Ray was a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) – a political organization with an ideology of Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense against police brutality in America.
In 2006, Ray started a Christian bookshop in Maryland.
Despite the successes that he may have recorded, Ray is mostly remembered for being a philanthropist.
One of his works as mentioned by Ye in an interview is when Ray moved into a homeless shelter sometime around 2006 because he wanted to get close to ex-drug addicts and help them in ways that he could.
More to this, he started a foundation called the Good Water Foundation and moved to the Dominican Republic to help curb prostitution and extortion among other things.
The Jesus Walks Singer’s Mother was the First Black Female Chairperson of the English Department
Donda West, Kanye West’s mother was born on July 12, 1949, and rose to become the first black female chairperson of the English Department at Chicago State University.
Her rise to the level started after she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Union University in 1971 and later obtained a doctoral degree from Auburn University.
Her teaching career started in the early 1970s at Morris Brown University in Atlanta and later at Chicago State University in 1980.
She served as head of the department of English, communications, media, and theatre.
Moreso, Donda is famous for her role in establishing the Chicago State University’s Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing to teach African-American authors and poets.
She made a remarkable mark that even years after her death in 2007 from coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors from cosmetic surgery, she is still remembered in the Black community and beyond.
One of the ways she is remembered is through the Donda West Law that was signed by the then-California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009.
See Also: Taylor Swift Parents: Meet Andrea Swift And Scott Kingsley Swift
Kanye West Has Honored His Parents in His Works
Ye has celebrated and brought his parents into some of his works. In 2013, about 6 years after Donda died in 2007, he co-started a non-profit organization, Donda’s House.
The organization is a free music writing program to help youth between the ages of 15 to 24.
She was also the subject of Ye’s song, Hey Mama (2005) off of his second studio album, “Late Registration”.
In 2012, the rapper named his creative company after her, and in 2021, he released an album titled, “Donda”. A year after, he released his 11th studio album, “Donda 2”.
In respect to honoring his parents, Ye featured his father in his Jesus is King music video. He also continually speaks highly of the older West and even calls him a “Best Friend”
