Dr. Donda West tells how she shaped son to be a leader in 'Raising Kanye'

Jet, May 14, 2007 by Margena A. Christian

Dr. Donda West was an English professor for 31 years, but she'll be the first to admit that her biggest lessons in life didn't come from the classroom. Her ultimate training came from a college dropout, her hip-hop superstar son Kanye (Jet, Jan. 31, 2005).

This week West shares how she raised her only child as a single mother and what she has learned about being his mother in her memoirs Raising Kanye with Karen Hunter (Pocket Books, $24.95).

"Single mothers could benefit from something I did in raising Kanye," said West, a former professor at Chicago State University. "There will be some blessings that people might find not only valuable, but also entertaining and interesting. It's not really a how to book. This is my story."

West always encouraged Kanye to "speak his mind and to tell the truth." Kanye heard every word. From rapping about Jesus when it wasn't cool in the mainstream to speaking out against President Bush about the slow response after Hurricane Katrina to urging tappers to stop gay bashing, Kanye will speak out (Jet Sept. 26, 2005).

"He said one thing the accident did for him was eliminate all fear," said West about her son, who nearly lost his life during a car accident in 2002. "I was very grateful that he in my view was an instrument, this voice or truth, that is coming through him. He has the attention of many, a whole generation. I was proud he said those things and grateful he had that kind of courage and would step out and not be afraid."

West divorced Kanye's father, Ray West, when Kanye was 3. A former Black Panther who holds two degrees and serves as a pastoral counselor, Ray West is a former award-winning photojournalist who was one of the first Black photographers at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Though they lived in different states, every summer Kanye stayed with his dad in the D.C. area. Recently Kanye supported his father with the opening of the Good Water Store and Cafe, which serves water in its purest form, in Maryland.

West said that she and her son managed to live a good life, though money was tight back then.

"Like my mother, we could stretch a dime," she said. "We had such a full and rich lifestyle when we didn't have a lot. There were benefits to being a university professor. Our staying in China for a year was because I was a foreign expert to the People's Republic of China, teaching English."

Kanye said he doesn't believe he was a difficult child to raise.

"I don't think so. I was always rational," he said. "I never tried to make it seem like I was right when I was wrong."

In the book she recounts how they talked about everything, including sex. At age 12, she told Kanye and his friends that "masturbation was a far better alternative to having sex at such a young age. I told them it was perfectly healthy.... and they did not have to participate in sex with another partner and risk some young lady getting pregnant or contracting a venereal disease, not the least of which was AIDS." Kanye, she said, later told her the words stayed with him.

West said that she trained her son for greatness. "There is no room for shyness. I raised him that way, to think critically and analytically and not be afraid to voice what you feel. I helped shape that. I think leaders are people who must do that."

When others didn't believe in Kanye as a rapper, Kanye believed in himself. He dropped out of Chicago State University as an English major to pursue his music career. Some have called him arrogant and prone to throw temper tantrums when it comes to standing by his music. His mother sees it differently.

"I think what some people call outbursts is just his passion and insistence on telling the truth as he sees it. He's very passionate about his work and music."

There was a time when she frowned upon the term "mama's boy" to describe her son. Her definition of it today is a perfect fit. "I think lots of great men who are 'mama's boys' love their mother and know how to treat their wife," she said.

Kanye proposed to his girlfriend, Alexis Phifer, last year in Milan. They've yet to set a date.

"She is wonderful," she gushes about Alexis, who earned a degree in fashion design from Los Angeles' Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. "She is beautiful, brilliant, and very accomplished in her own right. She's a dress designer. She's so sweet. We're all celebrating Mother's Day in the Bahamas."

Kanye's First Gifts To Mom

The first gift he bought with his own money: "He was 10 and bought me some little red Isotoner house shoes."

The first gift he bought her when he made it: "The Christmas before The College Dropout came out, he bought me a diamond Rolex. I still wear it to this day."

By Margena A. Christian

JET MAGAZINE