Common And His Mom Are Teaming Up To Help Teachers And Students

(Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Remy Martin)

Common And His Mom Donate $10,000 For Back-To-School

Common and his mother Dr. Ann Hines have teamed up with Burlington stores and AdoptAClassroom.org for the second year in a row, to help raise money for students and classrooms around the country.

The philanthropic duo donated $10,000 to kick-off the campaign, right in time for the busy back-to-school season. Now, they’re looking at Burlington shoppers to pitch in at the register through August 19th with additional funds.

“I just feel like one of the things that’s most important to me is giving kids opportunities and chances to explore and dream and learn and grow,” Common told ESSENCE during a school visit in New York City to promote the AdoptAClassroom initiative.

He continued, “The teachers work hard and I respect teachers a lot because my mother was a teacher — a retired teacher now — but I always felt like if I wasn’t doing music or acting, I would be a teacher because I want to give to the kids.”

The Chicago rapper hopes that with the additional funds he’s helping to raise for classrooms, schools will be able to provide supplemental resources that can help mold the next great leaders, entertainers, business professionals and social activists.

“If we tap into the pool of their well of what they have within them, I just feel like we’ll get our next Michelle Obama,” he added. “We get our next David Oyelowo, Ava DuVernay. You know, just all types of dope. Even people that we don’t know their names, but just out there doing really real work too. I mean, we gotta give the kids a good chance to do it.”