Kanye West is criticised by LA activists for giving homeless folks on Skid Row White Lives Matter shirts, turning them into a political prop.

Ye received criticism from Los Angeles activists for giving a box of "White Lives Matter" t-shirts to Skid Row.
Skid Row is the place in this country where Black Lives Matter the least, according to a post on Instagram published on Thursday by the Los Angeles Community Action Network.
Ye was accused of not "promoting peace" by pastor Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie by giving away the t-shirts.
Ye, then known as Kanye West, donated a box of the infamous "White Lives Matter" T-shirts to homeless people on Skid Row a few weeks after unveiling them at Paris Fashion Week. Los Angeles activists slammed the action, branding Ye a "faux-morality based grifter" for the action.

Skid Row is the place in this country where Black Lives Matter the least, according to a post on Instagram posted on Thursday by the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN). Also Documented in Archive: Carnival 2025: A Tale of Two Celebrations—Bezerros’ Papangus and Manaus’ Forest Carnival Profile & Career Dossier

On LACAN's Instagram, activist Pete White said, "Kanye travelled to the most economically downtrodden and abandoned section of LA to dump his trash and inform a community of unhoused and minimally housed, as well as heavily-policed Black people, that White Lives Matter."

Keep your ignorant, misinformed, attention-seeking rhetoric and acts outside of our neighbourhood, White pleaded with Ye. Related Archival File: Full Biography of Bigg Boss 18 Voting Drama: Avinash, Eisha in Bottom Two While Vivian Shines in a Stellar Week

We are outraged that you continue to use Black Angelenos as a political pawn and parody; you ought to know better, said White.
Ye was criticised by 16-year Skid Row community pastor Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie in another Instagram post for LACAN.
Kanye has repeatedly been taken advantage of by those in his circle, who feed into his inflated ego by elevating him to the status of "genius," while also allowing his most self-destructive tendencies, outrageous behaviour, and risky, uninformed rhetoric to go unchecked and unchallenged, said the author.

He said, "Those who come to clean their conscience by dropping off a meal or two... severely offends those of us who are in the neighbourhood with our houseless friends all the time." He was referring to "celebrities and so-called "people of faith."

By taking advantage of the community's weakness, all they've done is add insult to injury, he said.

In his Instagram post for LACAN, the Pastor cited Scripture to argue that Ye was not "promoting peace" by giving the "White Lives Matter" shirts to Skid Row.

He stated, "Imagine having to choose between openly pushing a political cliche you disagree with and needing clothing." "A man who has millions in the bank and enough money to house half of Skid Row's Black residents for LIFE, he chose to hand out politically charged t-shirts instead."
The epicentre of the city's homeless population is located in the impoverished district of downtown Los Angeles known as Skid Row.

Skid Row was established in 1976 as a "containment zone to secure housing and services for impoverished, primarily Black Angelenos," according to LACAN.

It was created to "hide the violent outcomes of racialized segregation, redlining, racial covenants, de-industrialization, welfare reform, the introduction and devastation caused by crack cocaine, and the building of the world's largest prison industrial complex to cage Black bodies," the organisation added, calling it a "contemporary version of the 'Tale of Two Cities'."

On Skid Row, 1 in 5 homeless individuals perish daily, according to LACAN.

White remarked, "We've made the best of nothing." Yes, Black Lives Matter in this place.