Kanye West's Mom Passes
"Kanye and his Mom, Dr. Donda West"
"What a Beautiful
Soul, What a Tragic Loss"
Sleep
Well Donda. You fought the battle of Life, with a Passion,
Reverence, Respect and Love; that few, even Mothers will ever
attain. You gave us first, You, then you gave to us, your
Baby Boy; Kanye. You are a Mother many of us wish for; and
would ourselves, die for. Well Donda,
I can only ask that you be proud and know that no greater love
is there, than A Mothers Love. For it was shaped, molded and
fashioned by the greatest
Love of All..
"The
Love of
Christ"
To
the West Family, from your extended family, I am sincerely and
sadly....Lawrence
(C.J.) Cary
Donda West Laid To Rest In Oklahoma
John Legend, Anita Baker reportedly
perform at service.
Donda
West,
mother
of
Kanye
West,
was
laid
to
rest
Tuesday
morning
at
the
True
Vine
Ministry
church
in
her
native
Oklahoma
City,
Access
Hollywood
reports.
West,
a
former
college
professor
and
chair
of
the
English
department
at
Chicago
State
University,
died
November
10,
possibly
as a
result
of
complications
from
a
cosmetic
medical
procedure.
She
was
58.
Many
of
Kanye's
friends
and
supporters
attended
the
service,
including
Jay-Z
and
Beyoncé.
R&B
singer
Anita
Baker
and
John
Legend
performed
at
the
private
ceremony,
according
to
the
report.
Donda
West's
body
arrived
at
the
church
in a
coffin
via
white
hearse,
and
after
the
service
was
taken
to a
cemetery
by
two
horse-drawn
carriages,
the
report
said.
Kanye
West
was
present
at
the
service
after
flying
in
from
two
emotional
dates
on
the
European
leg
of
his
Glow
in
the
Dark
Tour.
He
became
choked
up
while
attempting
to
speak
about
her
onstage
in
Paris
on
Saturday.
And
while
he
has
not
released
a
formal
statement
about
his
mother's
passing
apart
from
a
brief
thank-you
on
the
Web
site
of
the
Kanye
West
Foundation,
he
spoke
about
her
at
length
onstage
in
Brussels
on
Sunday.
His
band
then
launched
into
a
cover
of
Journey's
"Don't
Stop
Believin',"
which
Kanye
said
is
the
message
she
would
give
him
if
she
were
still
alive.
Donda
West
was
a
native
of
Oklahoma
and
later
moved
to
Chicago,
where
her
son
was
born,
to
take
a
teaching
position.
She
left
her
academic
career
in
2004
to
co-manage
Kanye
and
oversee
many
of
his
business
dealings.
He
has
paid
tribute
to
her
in
statements
and
in
songs
throughout
his
career.
Kanye
West
is
set
to
resume
his
Glow
in
the
Dark
Tour
on
Thursday
night
in
London.
Kanye as you grieve, so to do I
grieve with you. Loosing a
Mother, (I mean loosing a Mom)
is one of the hardest events we
men shall ever experience.
Family your tears are not
alone....
Click
Above...Posted on
UTube..11-18-2007....
Kanye West, his family and
friends would like to thank
everyone for the outpouring of
support and kind words that have
come in from across the country
since the death of his mother,
Dr. Donda West.
After working in higher
education for 31 years, Dr.
Donda West and Kanye West
co-founded the Kanye West
Foundation with the mission of
helping to combat the severe
dropout problem in high schools
across the country.
The first and signature
initiative of the Kanye West
Foundation is Loop Dreams.
Designed to capitalize on
students existing interest in
hip-hop, Loop Dreams challenges
students to learn more about
what's behind hip-hop culture in
order to help them develop
skills, express themselves
creatively and be empowered.
In lieu of flowers, the family
asks that donations be made in
Dr. West's name to the Kanye
West Foundation/Loop Dreams
Teacher Training Institute."
www.kanyewestfoundation.org
Dr. DONDA WEST FUNERAL IN
OKLAHOMA CITY
November 14, 2007
The funeral for Kanye West's
mother, Donda West, will be held
on Tuesday, Nov. 20 in Oklahoma
City, OK.
A spokesperson for the
Howard-Harris Funeral in
Oklahoma City confirmed the
services would be held at the
funeral home.
The famous rapper's mother
passed away on Saturday, Nov. 10
from complications after plastic
surgery a day earlier.
Donda West went to high school
in Oklahoma City, where her
parents and brother still
reside.
A memorial service for Donda
West will reportedly be held in
California before next week's
funeral.
11-16-2007
Donda West joined her son, Kanye West,
backstage at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in
2006.
(AP photo
by Reed Saxon / February 8, 2006)
UPDATE: Donda West was brought to the
Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Marina Del Rey by
paramedics before 9 p.m. Saturday, hospital spokeswoman Cyndee
Woelfle told the Tribune. Woelfle said it was her understanding
that West had had some cosmetic surgery, and that her "problems
were a result of the surgery but it was not done at this
hospital."
The Associated Press, quoting a coroner's official, reported
that West, the mother of rapper Kanye West, may have died of
complications related to a surgical procedure performed at a
Southern California hospital.
Preliminary information from officials at Centinela Freeman
Regional Medical Center, where Donda West died Saturday,
indicated she died from "complications of surgery," Lt. Fred
Corral told the Associated
Press. An autopsy was
expected to be conducted by Wednesday, Corral said.
Two years ago when multiplatinum producer and rapper
Kanye West was making the rounds to promote his much-anticipated
sophomore album, "Late Registration," he talked to critics about
what went into creating the album, which took on everything from
conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone to disgruntled, gold-digging
women.
Then there was the song "Hey Mama," a tribute to his mother,
Donda, a former Chicago State University English professor who'd
often told her son he needed a college education in order to be
successful.
"Hey," West said at the time, "we need something to perform at
the Grammys."
But it was more than just a song that could be embraced by a
mainstream audience. It was a salute to a mother who, despite
her scholastic achievements, stood by her son when he decided to
drop out of college and pursue a childhood fantasy of becoming a
hip-hop star.
In the tune, he raps, "Forrest Gump mama said 'life is like a
box of chocolates'/My mama told me go to school, get your
doctorate/Something to fall back on, you could profit with/But
still supported me when I did the opposite."
Ms. West, 58, a longtime Chicago resident, died late Saturday or
early Sunday in Los Angeles of undisclosed causes.
Other than confirming the death, a spokesman for Kanye West
offered only a statement saying that "the family respectfully
asks for privacy during this time of grief." The loss of his
mother comes as a blow in an otherwise high time in West's life.
The Grammy Award winner is celebrating what likely will be one
of the best-selling albums of the year with his recent release
"Graduation," which in its first week sold about 957,000
copies.Kanye West, who was in Chicago last week as a surprise
guest for Jay-Z's "American Gangster" concert at the House of
Blues, was overseas in London at the time of his mother's death.
Friends close to him say that he is devastated.
The two shared an undeniable bond, as evidenced in the music
West made and the public affinity they had for one another. This
fall Ms. West released the book "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons
from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star," a memoir she'd penned with
author Karen Hunter about bringing up her famous son.
In August, she told the Tribune: "He told me, 'There's no real
acrimony between us—there's no controversy.' [So] he didn't
think people would buy [the book]. But I felt there are a lot of
things about Kanye and I that might be beneficial to other
mothers and their children. People don't get a sound bite from
Kanye, they get a full idea of what Kanye is really like."
In 2004, just before his debut album, "The College Dropout," was
released, Ms. West told the Tribune that his talent was evident
even as a boy.
"We were coming back from a short vacation in Michigan when he
was 5, and he composed a poem in the back seat," Ms. West said
in the interview. "The one line that sticks with me is 'the
trees are melting black.' It was late fall, and the trees had no
leaves. He saw how those limbs were etched against the sky, and
he described them the way a poet would."
Though she gained fame through her son, becoming one of the
higher-profile mothers in hip-hop, Ms. West also was an academic
and former chairwoman of the English Department at Chicago State
University.
She received a bachelor's degree in English from Virginia Union
University in 1971 and a master's and doctorate degree from
Auburn University in 1980. Ms. West spent 31 years at Chicago
State before retiring in 2004 to work full time for her son.
In "Hey Mama," Kanye West paints a picture of life with a mother
who, as a single parent, worked hard so that he wanted for
nothing. Ms. West split from Kanye's dad, Ray, one of the first
black photojournalists at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a
former Black Panther who became an award-winning
photojournalist, when he was 11 months old. The two divorced
when Kanye was 3."This record alone just shows you the
relationship he had with his mother," said DJ Khaled, a
Miami-based producer who last summer released the single "Grammy
Family," which featured West. "He always big-upped his mother in
his career. There are always pictures of him and his mother. His
mother is his life. And he had a close bond with her, they were
best friends.
"Kanye is a special person. You feel me? . . . When he drops a
record everybody listens. So when he dropped the record about
his mother, it got everyone's attention."
Ms. West also was chief executive of West Brands LLC, the parent
company of her son's business enterprises, according to the
biography listed on her son's foundation Web site.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
