First he climbed the music charts, taking the stage at award show after award show. And then he told us not to worry, he didn’t believe in charging listeners because that wasn’t fair — he would make his music available to all online, free of charge. Then came SocialWorks, a charity dedicated to empowering youth through arts, education and civic engagement. And then one morning last August, without any notice, Chance The Rapper woke up and donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools. His contribution not only effected Chicago Public Schools but encouraged his fans, who may never have given it a second thought, to look in the mirror and ask ourselves — how is this all fair?

A product of Chicago Public Schools, Chance was a witness to the inequality in school first hand. In July of 2017 Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would have provided $215 million in funding for Chicago Public Schools, causing an immediate freeze of $46 million in spending. Chance took to Twitter to grab his hometown Governors attention and arranged to speak to him after this decision. After their meeting, Chance told the media he got “a lot of vague answers” and the two weren’t able to work out a solution together. Chance told CNN “while I’m frustrated and disappointed in the governor’s inaction, that will not stop me from continuing to do all I can to support Chicago’s most valuable resource: it’s children.”. He pledged to donate $10,000 for every $100,000 SocialWorks raised to individual schools throughout the city. He hushed praise and simply called it a call to action.

Let’s listen and look inward; Mississippi is no stranger to troubled education systems. According to US News, Mississippi ranks #46 in the country for education. In Madison, an A rated school district, extracurriculars are bountiful, tutors are at the ready and the school is clean and well kept. Twenty minutes down the road is Jackson, MS. So close yet so far away, Jackson public schools, covered in chipped paint, are lacking textbooks and other vital resources for its children. How can students living so close together face such opposite directions?

On March 1, Mississippi lawmakers voted against a bill aimed at reforming funding for Mississippi Public Schools. The bill was designed off a student base cost, where each district would receive $4,800 per student enrolled in public school starting at pre-kindergarten. This number would rise depending on a students special needs, gifted students, students learning English as a second language, and a rise for all high school students. Over the course of seven years, the bill would increase funding by $107 million and was organized to shift money towards districts whose students were poorer or more expensive to educate.

We are 63 whole years past Brown v. Board of Education and yet public schools across the country are facing more and more institutionalized segregation as the years go on. Our children, through no fault of their own, are having doors slammed in their faces based on where they live. It’s clearer now than ever that the action and voices of those effected and those by their sides will be our strongest tool. Chance The Rapper, whose music you may or may not like, took a huge leap in the right direction on his own, and his calls to action are urging others to look inward at their own communities. Let’s start the conversation and see where it can go.