Comedian W. Kamau Bell announced that he has fully funded $150,000 worth of educational projects listed on Donors Choose in Oakland, following his Celebrity Jeopardy! win. He expressed gratitude towards the community that shaped him and emphasized the responsibility of helping others, especially within the Black community. His donation addresses the ongoing funding challenges faced by public education, where many teachers often spend their own money for classroom supplies. Bell aims to change this narrative and is also committed to improving the arts and culture scene in Oakland.
Scroll through Donors Choose, a website for educators to fundraise for their classrooms, and you'll find hundreds of schools needing basics like paper towels and soap, supplies like paint brushes, or books for the classroom library.
Bell made the announcement from Castlemont High School on Thursday morning, the day after he won Celebrity Jeopardy!. Bell chose to donate his $1 million winnings to fulfilling all the Oakland Donors Choose projects, as well as to schools in his father's hometown in Mobile, Alabama.
As Black people, we have a job of doing whatever we were hired to do, and we have the job of helping our people.
Most teachers spend money from their own paycheck to support their students. So this is a way to say we should stop doing that until our country understands that we need to fund public education better.
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