Kanye West donates $2 million to help families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor

Kanye West has set up a fund to help with the education of George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, Gianna, a representative for West told CNN. The rapper reportedly established a 529 education plan to fully cover her college tuition amid the ongoing nationwide protests following Floyd's death in police custody. West will also assist with the legal fees for the families of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and has made a $2 million donation to help all three families. The donation also includes funding to help black-owned businesses in crisis in his Chicago hometown and elsewhere, his representative said.

News of West's donation comes demonstrations against Floyd, Arbery, and Taylor's deaths continue across the world. A number of celebrities have raised their voices against the death and are calling for an end to systematic racism, police brutality, and action from political leadership. As a result of the growing outrage, on Wednesday prosecutors charged Derek Chauvin—the officer who pinned Floyd to the ground by his neck for nearly 9 minutes—with a count of second-degree murder, a more serious charge than the previous charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The three other Minneapolis Police officers arrested in connection with Floyd's death made their first court appearance on Thursday. Their bail has been set at $1 million each, or $750,000 under certain conditions, including that they do not work in law enforcement or have any contact with Floyd's family. This particular incident of police brutality towards members of the black community comes about a month after Taylor, an EMT, was shot at least eight times in her home by three officers who entered the apartment by force in March. Officials are yet to make an arrest in relation to her death. Meanwhile, three white men have been arrested for fatally shooting Arbery, a black man, while jogging just outside Brunswick, GA., on February 23.

Apart from donating 2 million to help the families of all three victims of racism, West reportedly joined protesters in Chicago on Thursday. According to TMZ, the rapper was spotted with Chicago Public Schools students to protest the killing of Floyd and demand CPS cancel their contract with the Chicago Police Department.

Floyd's family has also set up an additional fundraiser to help Gianna's mother Roxie Washington with "Gianna's care and future." Netizens flocked to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign for the young girl, who recently won hearts on social media after a video of her shouting, "Daddy changed the world!" while on the shoulders of former NBA player Stephen Jackson during a protest went viral across platforms. As of Friday morning, the campaign has raised over $1.6 million.

"Because of her father’s tragic murder due to police brutality, Gianna will now go through life without her dad. In addition, their family has lost their provider, and will no doubt suffer financial hardship after this tragic loss," the fundraising campaign states. "As a community, we want to come together in this time of need and assist Gianna’s mother, Roxie Washington, by donating whatever we can to help provide mental and grief counseling for George Floyd’s youngest child, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist Roxie (Gianna's mother) in providing for their child’s continued well-being and education."

During a recent interview with Good Morning America, Washington spoke of the special bond Floyd shared with his daughter. "He just wanted her to have the best," she said. "We were struggling so he did what he had to do as a man and he had to come here [to Minneapolis] to work. And he said I’m going to come back and get y’all. I mean, that was his baby. He loved his little girl. He would put her on his shoulders. She didn't have to play with nobody else because daddy was gonna play all day long. And they played. They had fun."