The city of Chicago honorarily renamed a stretch of 78th Street as “Dr. Donda West Way” on September 22, in a ceremony attended by Kanye West himself to honor his mother’s memory.
Chicago gave Donda West a permanent place in its own history today. The city held a ceremony to honorarily name a stretch of 78th Street, in South Shore, as “Dr. Donda West Way,” in memory of Ye’s (Kanye West’s) mother. The artist himself was present at the event, held at 11 a.m. at the corner of 78th Street and South Shore Drive, as reported by ABC7 Chicago.
Donda West Chicago State University: an academic career of her own
What makes this recognition especially significant is that it doesn’t focus solely on her role as the mother of one of hip hop’s most influential figures. Donda West was a professor for nearly three decades at Chicago State University, where she went on to chair the English Department and founded the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing. She was also a Fulbright Scholar and the author of the book “Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From The Mother Of A Hip-Hop Superstar.”
Professor Garrard McClendon, who put forward the nomination for this honorary recognition, described her as a key figure in the university’s academic development, noting that her work created space to celebrate Black voices within the literary field, as CBS News Chicago noted in its coverage of the event. The honorary designation had been approved by City Council back in 2024, through an ordinance introduced by 7th Ward Alderman Greg Mitchell.
Kanye West mother tribute: who joined the ceremony
Alongside Mitchell and McClendon, the event was also attended by Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon and rappers Che “Rhymefest” Smith and Leonard “GLC” Harris, both of whom have been close to Kanye since his early days in the Chicago scene, according to Block Club Chicago. Rhymefest recalled that, as a teenager, he found things at Donda’s house that he couldn’t always get at school, referring to the environment she created for young artists and writers in the neighborhood. The home where Kanye grew up with his mother still stands just a few steps from where the ceremony took place.
Although Kanye didn’t speak to the press during the event, Complex reported that he insisted on being the one to personally unveil the sign bearing the street’s new name. Donda West passed away in 2007, at age 58, following surgical complications. Her memory remains deeply present in her son’s work: beyond the album “Donda” (2021), dedicated entirely to her, her voice can also be heard at the end of “Mama’s Favorite,” a track from BULLY, his most recent studio album, the same album that recently drove him to break an attendance record in Istanbul. That moment of euphoria stands in contrast to other, tenser chapters of this year, like when Kanye and Travis Scott surprised the crowd at a Don Toliver show in Los Angeles, in the middle of a 2026 that has placed him both at the center of controversy and, today, at the center of a deeply personal tribute.
