Kanye West, Common and Urban League to Create 20,000 Jobs for Chicago's Youth

Chicago natives, Kanye West and Common, are teaming up with Chicago’s Urban League on an initiative to create over 20,000 jobs for the city. Noting that any extent of street violence in the city is directly influenced by poverty of the youth, the project is hoping to not only create summer jobs for the city’s kids, but jobs that will last year-round. According to Common, the decision to get involved in a project that created jobs for youth came after a conversation with kids from Englewood.

Obviously, one of the biggest reasons our kids are going through what they’re going through is because of poverty. I was doing an event in the neighborhood and there were some kids from Englewood and I said, ‘Man, what do y’all really need? What’s gonna stop this?’ And they were like, ‘We need money. Man, if we could work.’ They want a chance.

Hoping that more work opportunities will deter youth from getting involved in crime, Kanye and Common’s partnership will be fueled by Kanye’s DONDA House Inc., as well as Common’s organization, Common Ground. Alongside this announcement, the two have noted that they will initiate an annual music festival in September at Hyde Park, hoping to raise money while also celebrating the city itself.

For more information on Urban League, head here.