Black History Month's Forgotten Activist: Tupac Shakur
Black History Month is the time of the year in which we remember the great socio-political leaders, people and cultures that make being black around the world so beautiful. People from different places come together and talk about the impact of what we have achieved together as a race. Canada's own Viola Desmond or Jamaica's Bob Marley; they're all celebrated as heroes of self-determination and pride. They seem to be relatable to us, while some see Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela as being so heroic and above it all in nature that they're nearly untouchable. But when I think of those great speakers, the name of Tupac Amaru Shakur comes to mind - he should be seen in the same light.
To Hip-Hop purists, the name Tupac is untouchable and unforgettable - he helped write down street life in its hardest nature and purest form. He wasn't a perfect role model, but he was perfect in his imperfections. He had so many faces, just like every person that walks the Earth. Pac's music transcended normal conventions; he showed us a strong black man who loved his mother and was able to pick up the gun if he needed to. I may not condone violence, but I have to respect someone who lived by his convictions and who didn't hide who they were. That's heroic in nature right? To be a proud black man who isn't afraid of the outcome of his attempts at a better life for his and his own.
What's the message of a man like Tupac spreads to the black youth? It's Thug Life - to do what you must do to survive in a system that doesn't want you to succeed and was never made to see that happen. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr both had religious platforms while Pac sold out stadiums, telling everyone that it'S ok to be black and proud. There isn't anything you can do about the system, but you can do something about yourself: keep your head up and keep doing what you have to do to make it. Makaveli did that everyday; it's one of the reasons that we see that he still has unreleased music as he worked continuously.
Malcolm X wanted to pack a strap while Dr. King wanted to see us come as one race, the human race, in a united front. Tupac saw both and brought them together and funnelled them into a digestible message of self-reliance for black children everywhere. Some things that are taboos in black families are explicit in his music - I know black people who could attest that Mak taught them about the dangers of unsafe sex and teenage pregnancy in "Brenda's Got A Baby" just like I know people who believed that Tupac taught them the power to make changes in their community in the aptly titled "Changes". Pac, partly due to him being closer to us in age, doesn't seem as distant or as unrelatable as some of the great Civil Rights activists of the 1950s and 60s.
To be personal, being black is hard in our society. I've been called the N-Word more times than I'd like to admit. I've been denied job opportunities based on the color of my skin. That's in Canada. I can't imagine being black in the United States, where a wrong move while talking to the cops could mean a life. We need leaders and people to listen to - the last great wave in Civil Rights was pushed by faith, whether that be Islam or Christianity. I believe that people like Pac, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar are going to influence the great thinkers and activists of tomorrow who will make a change in what it is to be black today. We don't listen to civil rights speeches every day on Spotify - we listen to Hip-Hop. So in conclusion, Tupac Amaru Shakur should be seen as a leader in our community and as someone who was flawed, but saw the problems in his world and tried to make a change - that's a hero in the same light as Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr if I've ever seen one.