Who was Dr. Donda West?

Dr. Donda West who was the mother of super musician Kayne West and the Chairwoman of the Kanye West Foundation died Saturday, November 10th. According to officials at the Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center, West died from ""complications of surgery."

West who was a young 58 year-old woman stood by her son through good times and bad times as a mother should, was not only a pillar of strength to her son, but a pillar of strength to many young students and young men and women who have gotten to know Donda West through the Kanye West Foundation which opened it's doors on February 10, 2005.

West who had worked in higher education for 31 years began her career in the early 70's at the Morris Brown College University located in Atlanta, Georgia. She then decided to change locations and took a position in 1980 at the Chicago State University where she became a professor as well as the chairperson of the Department of English and Speech. At the time of Dr. Donda West's death, she was the Chief Executive Officer of West Brands, LLC.

West accomplishment's did not stop there however. Numerous awards have been given to West which include, Outstanding Educator of the Year, Who's Who Among Black American's, Foreign Experts to the People's Republic of China as well as the Fulbright Scholar Award.

In May of 2007, Dr.Donda West wrote and amazing book titled "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip Hop Superstar". The book was a powerful piece that showed the love between a mother and her son. The book also reveals how hard it was raising a son as a single mother in an African American community. The book which became a popular seller, landed West on the Oprah Winfrey Show as well as The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she could tell the world how proud she was of her "mama's boy".

Kanye West released his debut album "The College Dropout" in 2004, his second in 2005 and his third album "Graduation in 2007. Kanye's first two album's were given many awards which included six Grammy's. As most Kanye West fans know, the teddy bear is West's mascot which is seen on anything referring to West and his music. At the time of his mother's death, Mr. West was currently on tour in Europe.

No other information is available regarding the unexpected death of Dr. Donda West. To learn more about the Kanye West Foundation please visit their website located at http://www.kanyewestfoundation.org.

SOURCE: The Kanye West Foundation
http://www.kanyewestfoundation.org

SOURCE : Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center
http://www.centinelafreeman.com

SOURCE : Wikipedia - Kanye West
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_west