Sophia Michaels
Kanye West says he is still not a fan of books — despite having recently launched a mysterious private school called Donda Academy (named after his late mother Donda West). Infact, he just doubled down a refrain he has previously made through the years, that he hasn’t read “any book.”
He even went as far as to liken reading to eating Brussels sprouts, which, for the record, can be pretty tasty and healthy. His comments came during an appearance on the Alo Yoga podcast, Alo Mind Full. During the chat with Alo Yoga’s CEO and co-founder Danny Harris, West commented on Harris’s reference to a book. “When you said I hadn’t read this book, I actually haven’t read any book,” he said. “Reading is like eating Brussels sprouts for me.”
His apparent longstanding refusal to read is an especially odd choice, given his new venture into education with Donda Academy in Simi Valley, California. It’s the first location he’s opened, though he’s already expressed his interest in expanding and opening up campuses across the country, including a Donda University. Not a lot is known about its academic offerings, but as Rolling Stone noted in a recent report, the website for the currently unaccredited school notes that students’ daily schedule includes “full school worship; core classes of language arts, math, and science; lunch and recess; enrichment courses including World Language, Visual Art, Film, Choir, and Parkour.” The seeming secrecy around its offerings appears to extend to the family members of those who wish to attend: two sources told Rolling Stone that families are required to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Beyond the questionable rejection of reading books, West also made an interesting, albeit difficult to execute, proposal during the podcast. He advocated for designing a world geared more toward the elderly by replacing stairs with ramps. “I’m really big on outlawing stairs. We can have up-ramps but not up-stairs. Everything should be designed like an old-folks home. If we’re lucky, we’ll all turn to old folks,” he said. “Why, while we’re in the position of power to determine what the world looks like and how it functions, are we all selfishly designing and not considering how it should be in the future?”
