(AllHipHop News) Queen Yonasda, the lifeline activist and new star of BET’s “Copwatch America,” continues to put in work. The one-time rapper revealed in an interview that Jay-Z has helped her assist Indigenous people in South Dakota.
“I hit up Ebro and was like, ‘Man, you guys do these back to school in the hood events. What can we do on my reservation?’ He was like ‘Send me over me over everything, the statistics.’ And I did. He sent it over to Jay Z and he said man lets help her. And so Jay-Z took care of 2,000 students on my entire reservation from Puma. So, shout out to Puma to give them all sneakers, hats, jackets, hoodies, backpacks and everything.” She also said that Emory Jones (of Roc Nation and Jay-Z’s longtime friend) helped make things happen because he has worked closely with Puma.
Statistically speaking, Yonasda said Native people are the most likely to die due to murder in the United States of America. Other stats show Indigenous Americans groups are prone to heavy drinking, alcohol dependence and illicit drug use. Natives have historically lived in poverty, but gaming and gambling have helped in some instances.
Yonasda also told interviewer Chuck Creekmur that the giveaway happened earlier this month in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. “I cried when I got the news [that Jay-Z and Roc Nation] would be helping me and the reservation youth.
She said, despite some of the views surrounding the NFL and Colin Kaepernick, Jay-Z has been helping activists for a long time.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that Jay-Z has helped so many activists and so many families not for recognition. If he did it for recognition, you all would know. He has been on the front lines of so many of our people, ones you would least expect. I’m like ‘Let me call the people in the mud and see who’s doing what.’ And that’s who I roll with. You can talk a whole bunch of talk, but let me talk to the people that are in Miami, in Overtown, Liberty City – who’s helping you? What celebrities are really giving back? You know, if that’s what we’re talking about – giving back. Chicago, who’s really giving back? Who is in the mud with y’all? LA. That’s all around I always want to know like who’s really really giving back.”
For more Queen Yonasda is doing for the community, both Black and Native, click here.
