Overview
- The ceremony at 78th Street and South Shore Drive unveiled a brown sign reading Dr. Donda West Way on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, marking the honorary designation for the South Shore corner.
- Kanye West attended the event with family and former colleagues but did not make public remarks as community leaders and mentees honored his mother.
- Chicago State professor Garrard McClendon nominated the naming and speakers included Ald. Greg Mitchell and Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon, who announced a county resolution recognizing West’s service to education and youth mentorship.
- The signs cover 78th Street near South Shore Drive and do not replace the street’s official name, reflecting the city’s practice of installing commemorative designations without changing formal addresses.
- Donda West taught at Chicago State for more than two decades, chaired its English department, founded the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and helped mentor a generation of Chicago artists, and the designation ties that academic and cultural legacy to the neighborhood where she lived and taught.