On Sunday night, Chance the Rapper was honored with the Humanitarian Award at the 2017 BET Awards, but when BET President Debra Lee was about to bring him onstage to accept the award, she had “one more surprise from a very special lady” before Michelle Obama appeared on the screen.
“Thanks so much, Debra, and hello, BET family,” Obama said. “Barack and I are so sorry that we can’t be there tonight in person, but please know that we are with you in spirit and we are so incredibly proud of you, Chance.”
She went on to say that she and former president Barack Obama share Chicago roots with Chance and “have known Chance and his family since he was a wee little baby rapper, and it has been a thrill watching him come into his own in so many ways.”
First Lady @MichelleObama congratulating @chancetherapper on winning the humanitarian award tonight! #BetAwards pic.twitter.com/UztlKJfvJC
— OfficialWilly2.0 (@therealwill17) June 26, 2017
“In addition to making some really amazing music, Chance has been taking that big, bright spotlight that follows him around and he’s shining it on young people in our hometown of Chicago,” Obama continued. “Time and again he has been standing up, speaking out and doing the work to get kids in our community the education they deserve. And with these passionate efforts, Chance is showing our young people that they matter. That they have something inside of them that is worthy of being expressed, and that they have so much to contribute to their communities and to our country.”
“Chance, you are an outstanding role model, and an inspiration to all of us who care about our next generation. Because of you, countless young people will grow up believing in themselves, fulfilling their God-given potential and then reaching back and lifting up other people along the way.”
As for Chance himself, he said that he felt the moment was “wildly overwhelming.”
The part about legalizing weed in Chance The Rapper’s speech after receiving the BET Humanitarian Award. ???? pic.twitter.com/ELyqH1lZ0r
— Eric Okafor (@KneWKeeD) June 26, 2017
“I had plans originally to try and tell the world and everybody watching how to make it a better place, to tell everybody in this government that y’all need to let everybody out of jail for selling weed before y’all start making it legal for people to sell it and make capital off it,” he said as the audience burst into applause. “I was going to tell the Chicago public school system not to take out a loan from Chase Bank when they know our schools are planning on failing in the district.”
“…But we have to work on ourselves before we can work on the world,” he added. “So I want to be better father to Kinsley. I want to spend more time with her. I want to be better big cousin.”
He added that he had plans to expand his activism beyond just Chicago: “I want to travel overseas and help out people all over the world.”
“Being 24, getting something like this, it doesn’t feel deserved yet, but like I said, my God is putting the pressure on me so I can become who I’m supposed to be,” he said. “I’m a good man, and I’m going to become a better man.”