What do you do when you win big on Celebrity Jeopardy!? If you’re W. Kamau Bell, the Oakland-based comedian, TV host, and cultural commentator, the answer is simple: you turn your victory into a mission — and a million-dollar donation into a weapon for change.
Bell’s recent $1 million win on Celebrity Jeopardy! wasn’t just a personal triumph; it was the catalyst for one of the most impactful givebacks we’ve seen to public education in years. Instead of keeping the prize, Bell funneled every cent through DonorsChoose, the crowdfunding platform for teachers, fully funding over 200 classroom projects in Oakland — where he’s called home since the late ’90s — and in Mobile, Alabama, his father’s hometown.
More Than a Donation — It’s a Statement Against the Underfunding of Schools
Public schools across the country are in a persistent state of resource drought. Teachers fill the gaps with their own paychecks, buying supplies, books, and sometimes even snacks for students. Bell’s donation wasn’t just about filling holes; it was about spotlighting a broken system. As he put it during his announcement at Castlemont High School in Oakland, “Most teachers spend money from their own paycheck to support their students. So this is a way to say we should stop doing that — until our country understands we need to fund public education better.”
It’s a message delivered not with protest, but with power — and one that echoes through every funded project now able to come to life.
Hands-On Science, Art Supplies, and a Refrigerator for Learning
The scope of Bell’s donation reads like a classroom dream list. From lab supplies at Murphy High School in Mobile, where earth science teacher Benjamin Peralta can now buy geodes for his students to crack open, to art materials for creative programs in Oakland schools — every project was a direct hit to the deficit public education faces daily.
Peralta, who had no prior connection to Bell, described the moment he learned all three of his DonorsChoose projects were fully funded as “a good morning.” Thanks to Bell, his students won’t just learn about rocks and minerals — they’ll get to experience them. “It gave us the tools we needed to do some hands-on investigation,” he said. “...It’s really energized us for our last month in the school year, but it’s something we get to use from here on out.”
Giving Backward and Forward — A Personal Connection to Place
Bell’s choice to split his donations between Oakland and Mobile isn’t random. It’s deeply personal. “This town really changed me when I moved here in 1997,” he said of Oakland. “So I’ve got to pay it forward and backward.”
For Bell, the giving is tied to a larger cultural and communal responsibility. “As Black people, we have a job of doing whatever we were hired to do, and we have the job of helping our people. That’s how I was raised, so that’s what I’m here to do,” he told students at Castlemont.
It’s the kind of ethos that fuels Bell’s work beyond the stage and screen — from his efforts with Make It Bay, a group aiming to make Oakland more livable for artists, to his continued advocacy for equity through storytelling and comedy. Now, with this donation, he’s added another chapter to his legacy: one where winning isn’t just about personal gain, but about elevating an entire community.
superhero-level generosity grounded in real-world impact
In the world of comics and blockbusters, heroes are often defined by their powers or their suits. But Kamau Bell’s origin story reminds us that true heroism comes from using what you have — whether it’s a microphone, a platform, or a million dollars — to lift others up.
There are no Easter eggs in this story, no hidden supervillains to defeat. Just a straightforward, powerful mission: support those who shape our future, and never let them do it with empty hands. Bell’s move may not have come with a cape, but its impact will be felt by students, teachers, and communities for years to come.