Meghan Thee Stallion Offers Two $10,000 Scholarships To Women Of Color Pursuing Higher Degrees

[Oct. 19, 2020: Guy Martin]

There just aren't enough random acts of philanthropic largesse landing in the right places these days, least of all in education, or among the young, or among habitually marginalized or wholly disenfranchised communities, so it was with her now-patented brand of ebullience that Texas-born rap supernova and apparently permanent resident of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Meghan Thee Stallion, nee Megan Jovon Ruth Pete of Pearland, Texas, announced her cooperation with Amazon Music's Rap Rotation to offer two academic stipends on — where else — Instagram (Note: all emojis Megan Thee Stallion):

"COLLEGE HOTTIES LISTEN UP BECAUSE THIS ONE IS FOR YOU ‼️‼️‼️ I AM GIVING AWAY TWO 10,000 DOLLAR SCHOLARSHIPS TO WOMEN OF COLOR PURSUING A DEGREE IN ANY FIELD OF STUDY IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD??? APPLY RIGHT NOW LINK IN MY BIO #DONTSTOPSCHOLARSHIP ? let’s get these degrees ladies ??."

At 5:46 a.m. on October 9, she continued from her 'Hot Girl Meg' Twitter handle that the "application" process consisted of an essay, "basically about yourself, what you are majoring in, and why you need the degree! Doesn’t matter how many words or pages just do your best hotties !"

Put another way, it's a fine step in the philanthropic waters for the 25-year-old singer and writer, and it dovetails nicely with her own surprising academic background. Because: Ms. Pete is, in addition to her day job of racking up platinum hits, admirably pursuing her degree in hospital administration from South Texas' own Texas Southern University in her hometown, Houston. The "WAP" hitmaker is typically upfront about her motivation, urged on by her late mother, Holly Thomas, also a rapper, who died of brain cancer last year, and by her grandmother, who is a teacher.

In a larger sense, these two stipends, though seemingly modest in aspect, raise big hopes not just for the women who will be furiously now penning essays for Ms. Pete, but for Ms. Pete's continued, deeper philanthropic moves in education. That noted, the scholarships are not her first move in philanthropy: A portion of the earnings from her Top-Ten collaboration with Beyonce, "Savage," have gone to a Houston charity, Bread of Life.

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Career-wise, she could not be hotter. Her many vibrant stage personae — Thee Stallion, Tina Snow, Suga, et.al. — and her theatrically potent lyrical abilities are racking up the hits. Two years out of the blocks, Pete has recorded, famously, with Cardi B, Beyonce, and Niki Minaj. She's tied Drake for the number of nominations (8) for the BET Hip Hop Awards, and she's just been minted her as one of the Time 100 most influential people. Her now-notorious and unapologetically ebullient duet with Cardi B, "WAP," literally overtook the culture, as "Hot Girl Summer" did.

Put another way, Meghan Jovon Ruth Pete is not waiting until she is comfortably mid-career before she starts to "give back," and the gesture will resonate strongly among her millions of fans, especially among women. Kudos to her, and to her inspiration, the women in the Thomas-Pete family, for that.

This Brighter Side of News post courtesy of Forbes.