After revealing that she will be a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, which airs its first episode today (Februaey 28), Nicki Minaj has announced that she will be donating $25,000 to the St. Jude’s Home for Girls in her native Trinidad.
After visiting the girl’s home yesterday (February 27), Nicki said to the teachers: “I wanna thank you for giving them hope and inspiration and they’ve even given me hope and inspiration being here today.”
Minaj encouraged the girls to push through hard obstacles in life, even referencing her own experience with domestic violence: “I’ve experienced being in a home with domestic violence. I’ve experienced, you know, being at a very difficult crossroads in my life as a teenager. And sometimes as a teenager when things happen, you feel like there’s no up from there.”
She added: “It’s very important that as young women, we don’t point the finger at each other.”
The “Tusa” singer also suggested plans to build a recreational centre “where young people can go and have recreational fun”.
Minaj is no stranger to speaking up for women’s rights. Last year, the artist joined the likes of Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and Lady Gaga in protesting the surge of abortion law rollbacks in the US.
Fellow philanthropist Rihanna – who was recently honoured at the NAACP Image Awards – has also been a champion of young women and young people’s education with her Clara Lionel Foundation, previously raising over $2 billion for global education, and calling on political leaders to do their part to aid organisations supporting people in poverty and with little access to education or employment.
Watch the video of Nicki Minaj at St. Jude’s Home for Girls below.