Be The Spark - June Issue

Be the Spark: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur

Hip Hop Through the Years

Hip Hop and Activism

New York’s Reentry Resources

In This Issue Be The Spark June 2020 Letter from the Executive Director

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Word of the Month

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New York Resources

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Hip-Hop Through the Years

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Hip-Hop and Activism

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Be the Spark: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur

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Letter from the Executive Director As we’re putting this issue together, protests are taking place around the world. Though it was the video of George Floyd that set it off this time, we know that it is not just George Floyd, is it? In recent weeks, we heard about Breonna Taylor, an EMT murdered by police in her home as she slept. We heard of Ahmed Aubrey, murdered by racist neighbors while he was out for a morning jog. We heard about Amy Cooper who threatened to use her Whiteness to get the police involved against Charles Cooper. We know that in every city where they are marching there are people of color who have been abused at the hands of the police. They did not make the nightly news, there were no cameras around, and their friends and families have to mourn in private. We know that those protests aren’t just for George Floyd; they are for our own friends, and our own family members.

Oh yeah, and we’re still battling COVID-19.

It is easy to feel helpless and angry at a time like this, wondering how many marches, how many votes, and how many videos have to surface, and how many people have to die before something will be done? It is the same frustration that gave way to hip-hop. In this issue, we explore hip-hop’s roots, and how it plays a role in activism. Of course, you can’t talk about activism in hip-hop without discussing the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur.

He was born on June 16, 1971. He would have been 49 this year. You can’t help but to imagine what he would have been up to, how he would have responded to the violence that African-Americans still experience by police.

June is also Black Music Month.

We hope that within the articles, you have a little fun remembering the ways in which Tupac and hip-hop has influenced your life. More importantly, we hope that you will find ways to be inspired to use your gifts for change.

Sincerely, Porche Proffit

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Masthead and Contributors Editor-in-Chief, Porche Proffit Editor, Ericka Foster

Contributors Contributing Editor, Lakia Goodman Writer, Maggie Allen Writer, Natalie Rodriguez-Steen Nutrition and dietician Isabella Dos Santos Art Director, Willow Wood Cover image credit: Editorial credit: Sahroe / Shutterstock.com Positive Transitioning Inc. is a non–profit organization that provides information and resources for individuals reentering the community after incarceration.

In addition to this magazine, Positive Transitioning Inc. offers a 24-hour Resource/Listening Line that services all 50 states. The Resource/Listening line is staffed by life coaches, and provides individuals with the immediate support and resources they may be needed during reentry.

Positive Transitioning Inc. also provides individuals life coaches that will assist them in every step of the reentry process: housing, education, employment, vocational training, obtaining government benefits, veteran assistance, medical management, sponsorship, financial stability, family reintegration, and legal assisting.

Currently Positive Transitioning Inc. is entirely web–based as we are hoping that this makes it easily accessible for anyone to access from anywhere.

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Word of the Month te·nac·i·ty the quality or fact of being very determined; determination.

“We wouldn’t ask why a rose that grew from the concrete for having damaged petals; in turn, we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun. Well, we are the roses, this is the concrete and these are my damaged petals. Don’t ask me why, thank God, and ask me how.” – Tupac Shakur

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New York Resources  The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) CASES has a location in Brooklyn, and a location in Harlem, with satellite locations in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Coney Island, Jamaica, and the South Bronx. The organization originally started as a way to provide alternatives to sentencing but has transitioned to include a focus on all parts of the criminal justice system including prevention. Their reentry services cover a wide range of issues including therapy, community-based programs providing education, and ongoing case management. CASES also provides mental/behavioral health counseling, educational and career advancement opportunities, and early intervention.  Center for Community Alternatives communityalternatives.org/ With locations in NYC, Rochester, and Syracuse, CCA provides a variety of services, including court advocacy, health education, substance use treatment, employment coaching, and reentry support. Within these service areas, CCA seeks to meet the particular needs of youth and women. In addition, reentry services provided include services at the jail, community-based workforce programs, and a Reentry Clinic.  Community Connections https://midhudson.org/topics/sustainable-libraries/community-connections/ Locations: Livingston, Wyoming, Ontario, and Wayne Counties A compiled guide of sources from the library and surrounding area. There are 25 public libraries in Ontario and Wayne Counties as well as 17 public libraries in Livingston and Wyoming Counties, which contain books and other educational materials to borrow for free. Libraries offer free Internet access and job information materials. Some libraries have resume writing and word processing software for inhouse use. The guide includes information on counseling, education, food and clothing, health concerns, housing, jobs, temporary job services, legal concerns, substance abuse, and transportation.  The New York Public Library: Connections 2019 nypl.org/help/community-outreach/correctional-services A free guide for formerly incarcerated people in New York City including translations in Spanish. The guide provides icons for easily identifiable information such as the organization is Spanish-speaking, works with those currently incarcerated or offers alternatives to incarceration. The guide provides information on reentry programs

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including services for education, housing, financial assistance, mental and physical health, addiction, veteran, youth, LGBTQ, women, older individuals, and disability.  Mid-Hudson Library System: Hudson Valley Connections https://midhudson.org/hvconnections/ Locations: Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam and Ulster Counties Library guide and re-entry task force provides information on job placement, reconnection with family, and additional services such as literacy providers, career counseling, computer services, adult education, English as a second language courses, and resume building.  Defy Ventures defyventures.org/ Defy provides programs to help facilitate career advancement by building entrepreneurs through training, helping them open new businesses, and connecting them with alumni who can provide support.  The Doe Fund www.doe.org/ Originated by George T. McDonald in memory of a homeless woman known as “Mama” Doe, the organization helps those reentering the community from incarceration or homelessness. Ready, Willing, and Able for men is a 12-month residential program that provides paid work well receiving social services, career training, education, and sobriety support.  Exodus Transitional Community, INC. etcny.org/ With locations in Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, Exodus has a service plan that guides participants through six life areas of healing: family & relationships, employment, education, health & fitness, community involvement, and spirituality.

One such program is the Exodus' Re-Entry Wilderness Program, which provides jobseekers with a two-week-long, soft-skills job-readiness training.  Fortune Society fortunesociety.org/ The Fortune Society employs a holistic “one-stop shop” model of service provision, offering a comprehensive array of in-house social services to over 7,000 people with incarceration histories each year via three primary New York City-area locations: their service center in Long Island City, and both the Fortune Academy (a.k.a. “the Castle”) and Castle Gardens in West Harlem. They also have a regular presence in four borough courthouses, on Rikers Island, and numerous New York State prisons.

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 Hour Children hourchildren.org/ Hour Children helps women who are currently or formerly incarcerated with the complexities of raising children. They work inside state and county jails with incarcerated women as well as by providing housing to women who have since been released from custody. Hour Children has job training, education, food pantry services, programs for children and teens, and thrift shops for affordable clothing.  Onondaga County Re-entry Task Force doccs.ny.gov/location/onondaga-county-re-entry-task-force A re-entry taskforce founded from a grant with the Division of Criminal Justice Services that helps formerly incarcerated individuals in a myriad of ways such as providing access to spiritual connections, clothing closets, food pantries, veteran services, health and wellness providers, and mental health services.  Institute for Justice and Opportunity at John Jay College justiceandopportunity.org/ The Institute provides opportunities through educational and career advancement by helping to eliminate barriers that incarcerated individuals face. Through the Institute, they make educational programs available to currently incarcerated individuals  Women’s Prison Association wpaonline.org/ The Women’s Prison Association is located in New York City. The organization is geared toward helping formerly incarcerated women achieve their goals after reentry. They provide emergency assistance for basic needs, workforce development, HIV services, law services for family law issues, and a transitional shelter opportunity. .

National Resources  American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) aclu.org/issues/prisoners-rights Prisoners’ rights to read, write, speak, practice their religion, and communicate with the outside world are often curtailed far beyond what is necessary for institutional security. Not only are these activities central to the ability of prisoners to retain their humanity, but they also contribute to the flow of information between prisons and the outside world and thus provide a vital form of oversight of these closed institutions.

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 CareerOneStop careeronestop.org/Site/american-job-center.aspx Located across the country, American Job Centers can help you look for work and offer job search workshops, free computer access, and more.  National Alliance on Mental Illness nami.org/ The purpose of NAMI Alabama is to provide support, education, and advocacy for persons with mental illnesses, their families, and others whose lives are affected mental health disorders.  National HIRE Network hirenetwork.org The goal of the National H.I.R.E. Network is to increase the number and quality of job opportunities available to people with criminal records by changing public policies, employment practices and public opinion.  National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC) nrrc.csgjusticecenter.org Funded and administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC) is the nation’s primary source of information and guidance in reentry.  U.S. Veterans Administration va.gov/ABOUT_VA/index.asp Most veterans who are in jail or prison will eventually reenter the community. VA’s HCRV program is designed to promote success and prevent homelessness among Veterans returning home after incarceration.  COVID-19 FAQs for the Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) (including the Project-based Voucher Program (PBV)) and Native American Programs hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/COVID19_FAQ_PIH_Final.pdf This is a FAQ that lists resources for individuals in public housing.

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Hip-hop: Through the Years

By Maggie Allen *click on images for photo credit In the 1970s, an underground movement known as "hip-hop" began to form in the South Bronx section of New York City. Though often considered a synonym for rap, hip-hop specifically refers to a complex culture comprising four elements: deejaying, or “turntabling”; rapping, also known as “MCing”; graffiti painting, also known as “graf” or “writing”; and “B-boying,” which encompasses hip-hop dance, style, and attitude.

Supposedly, the graffiti movement of hip-hop was inspired by Greek American teenager in 1972. He tagged, or signed, “Taki 183” (his name and street, 183rd Street) on walls throughout the New York City subway system. By 1975, youths all over the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn neighborhoods were sneaking out after dark, spray-painting colorful muralsize renderings of their names, favorite imagery, and even Andy Warhol-like Campbell’s soup cans onto the sides of subway cars and trains. Some considered it vandalization; New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority responded with dogs, barbed-wire fences, and undercover police squads as deterrents. However, many other people recognized the visual speech and its artistic value. Influential art dealers in the United States, Europe, and Japan began collecting and displaying graffiti in major galleries.

In the Iced- T directed documentary “Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap,” Lord Jamar remarked that Black people, having no room or money for instruments at home in major cities, turned their voices into instruments. It was a transition from the jazzier sounds of previous generations, while innovating and expanding upon them. "We created something from nothing, with hip-hop. That's what the whole spirit of hip-hop is. It was at a time when they were taking instruments and s**t out of the schools and all that type of s**t. See, Black people used to be pretty musical back in the days...and at some point, all of that s**t was removed from us, you know what I mean?...So they tried to take the music from us..."

Many artists and fans argue that hip-hop has a fifth element, called “knowledge of self/consciousness,” which is shown when the music

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addresses systemic issues and injustices. At its inception, hip-hop was used by teens and young adults in urban Black and Latino communities as a form of expression, channeling anger, frustration, sadness, and other emotions into a unique art form that would take the world by storm in the decades to come.

"Hip-hop is not made up from scratch. The music and the foundation of the music of hip-hop comes from records that we found in our parents' crates,” said Grandmaster Caz, a rapper, writer, and DJ for the Cold Crush Brothers.

“Old funk and soul, blues; we've given new life to artists like James Brown and Isaac Hayes...and so many other groups. Because we're rapping over their beats...So hip-hop didn't invent everything, but it reinvented everything."

To many people, hip-hop was born in the late summer of 1973. An 18 year old Jamaican immigrant calling himself DJ Kool Herc deejayed his sister's August back-to-school party. “He extended the beat of a record by using two record players, isolating the percussion ‘breaks’ by using a mixer to switch between the two records. Kool Herc's sister, Cindy Campbell, produced and funded the Back to School Party that became the ‘birth of hip-hop.’”

While Kool Herc was widely credited as the father of modern mean, you could consider Dr. Seuss a rapper... rapping for his spoken MC is someone that either has that party-rocking interjections over records. There skill or that lyrical skill. Doug E. Fresh, Busy Bee, these are MCs because these are people who are many historical precedents know how to get on the mic." cited for MCing, such as talking blues songs, the epic histories of - Big Daddy Kane (Something from West African griots, the dozens Nothing: The Art of Rap) (the ritualized word game based on exchanging insults, usually about members of the opponent’s family), and jailhouse toasts (long rhyming poems recounting outlandish deeds and misdeeds). He and other pioneers like Grand Wizard Theodore, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash also isolated and extended the break beat (the part of a song where all sounds except the drums “drop out”). This would often get the crowds to dance; contests soon developed, sparking the invention of “break dancing,” a style involving many acrobatic, and sometimes even airborne, moves.

"A rapper is, you know, someone that rhymes. I

Deejays began developing new techniques for turntable manipulation.

Needle dropping, created by Grandmaster Flash, prolonged short drum breaks by playing two copies of a record simultaneously, moving the needle on one turntable back to the start of the break while the other played.

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Sliding the record back and forth underneath the needle created the rhythmic effect we know as “scratching.”

It wasn’t long before hip-hop artists outside of New York City began to make their mark. Among some of the most notable were DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith), from Philadelphia; the provocative 2 Live Crew, from Miami; and M.C. Hammer, from Oakland, California, who experienced short-lived but massive crossover success with a pop audience.

The new school of hip-hop began in the mid 1980’s, with Run-D.M.C. (pictured left) at the forefront. This was a trio of African Americans who fused rap with hard rock, defined a new style of hip dress, and are credited with bringing rap to a wider mainstream audience. Run-D.M.C. recorded for Profile, one of several new labels that took advantage of the growing market for rap music. Def Jam featured three important innovators: LL Cool J, rap’s first romantic superstar; the Beastie Boys, a White trio who broadened rap’s audience and popularized digital sampling (composing with music and sounds electronically extracted from other recordings); and Public Enemy, who invested rap with radical Black political ideology, building on the social consciousness of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” (1982).

By the late 1990s hip-hop was artistically dominated by the WuTang Clan, from New York City’s Staten Island, whose combination of street credibility, neo-Islamic mysticism, and kung fu lore made them one of the most complex groups in the history of rap.

Where You From?

You can’t discuss the origins of hip-hop without mentioning Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Yo-Yo, and Roxanne Shante.

One of the most significant responses to New York hip-hop came from Los Angeles, beginning in 1989 with N.W.A.’s dynamic album Straight Outta Compton. N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) and former members of that group—Ice Cube, Eazy E, and

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I was your standard sheltered white kid, but maybe more so because my brother is autistic and I spent a lot of time helping to watch him for my parents. In college, I started to branch out in my music taste. I also started to put on weight towards the end of high school, which made me even more shy than I usually was. I felt ugly and unsocial, which made it hard when I moved away to go to school.

Over time, I met a lot of great friends, including my now husband, who got me more into rap and hip hop. I think the thing that affected me most was Sir Mix-aLot, because even though it wasn’t directed at white women, having someone so adamant and excited about “dating” plus sized women helped me to realize that it’s not a dealbreaker. Some guys actually really like it.

It’s all fun and great self expression, for me listening and the artists making the music. ~Maggie Allen

Dr. Dre—led the way as West Coast rap grew in prominence in the early 1990s. Their graphic, frequently violent tales of real life in the inner city, as well as those of Los Angeles rappers such as Ice-T (remembered for his 1992 single “Cop Killer”) and Snoop Dogg and of East Coast counterparts such as Schoolly D, gave rise to the genre known as “gangsta rap.”

As the Los Angeles-based label Death Row Records built an empire around Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Tupac, it also entered into a rivalry with New York City’s Bad Boy Records.

Popularity grows By the 2000's, many of the biggest figures rose from the American South, including Houston’s Geto Boys, Master P, Atlanta’s T.I. and Lil Wayne from New Orleans.

From the beginning, the commercialization of hip-hop caused controversy. Seen as a passing fad, hip-hop even showed up in TV commercials.

However, if a negative consequence of popularity is commercialization, then a benefit would be its influence on other genres and popular culture as a whole

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The thing I love most about hip-hop is the storytelling. Music, especially hip-hop, is about celebration, common understanding, and healing.

I think the memory that resonates with me the most when I think about hip-hop is the incredible queen of hip-hop soul Mary J. Blige.

Growing up, I owned her album the Breakthrough and I listened to it so much that everyone in my house knew the songs too. I'm pretty sure I burned a hole into the CD too. In that album, she spoke about joy and suffering in a beautiful way.

But so many songs bring back memories such as dancing to them in the car on the way home from school because they allowed you to escape through the music. To this day when I hear a classic Ashanti song like What’s Luv? I can’t help but sing along. ~ Natalie Rodriguez-Steen

When the century turned, hip-hop soon solidified its standing as the dominant influence on global youth culture. Hip-hop influenced the sound of some of the boy bands of the 1990’s, and to this day, there are variations across cultures all over the world. The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC drew heavily on hip-hop sounds and styles, and rhythm and blues and even gospel had adapted so fully to the newer approach that stars such as Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, and Kirk Franklin straddled both worlds. It also began to generate huge sales of products in the fashion, liquor, electronics, and automobile industries that were popularized by hip-hop artists on cable television stations such as MTV and The Box and in hip-hop-oriented magazines such as The Source and Vibe.

Music has always played such a major part of my life. I have always loved every genre of music and the way that it people together. Music is what really got me through my high school years, I NEVER watched TV and spent all my time listening to music.

Although, I have always loved every genre of music, the stories that hip hop tells taught me so much and gave me a different perspective on life, equality, poverty, and justice.

My favorite memories primarily revolve around me learning and having self-awareness.

One of my favorite memories is me and my best friend driving around late at night with the music turned up LOUD and listening to DMX’s cd’s Blood of my Blood.

We listened to this CD every day on the way home from school for at least a month, and we made sure that we always recited “BLOOD of my BLOOD, Flesh of my FLEEEESSSSHHHH” which was obviously our favorite part because we would also yell it to each other in school between class to get each other's attention in the hall. What makes this story even funnier, is this is the exact opposite of the music that my best friend would listen to. It really showed how music can reach and resonate with anyone! ~ Porche Proffit

Hip-hop has always been a powerful medium. It has shared so many lived experiences with people who might never have known otherwise, by elevating Black and other minority voices. It has brought to light structural injustices, and many people are fighting to this day to get them fixed. Artists and their listeners have formed strong connections, and now, rap and hiphop also serve as platforms to celebrate the acquisition of power, where once there was none at all. Cardi B was a teenage stripper who used social media and music to elevate herself into financial stability and fame. Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” details his journey from having nothing to rising to the top with his “whole team.”

Hip-hop is the music of strength and solidarity, in the face of adversity. It has been bringing more and more people together, and while a lot of progress has happened, I think we need its power now more than ever before.

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Hip-hop and Activism

By Ericka Foster and Maggie Allen *click on images for photo credit

Music has a long tradition of putting into words the frustrations of a people.

From the beginning, hip-hop has served as a voice for people who couldn’t reach mainstream America. It started as early as The Message, “Don’t push me/ ‘cause I’m close to the edge…” In 1988, N.W.A. made national headlines with their hit – you know the name – that put a national spotlight on police brutality. Police brutality that is causing people around the world in 2020 to march in protest. As hip-hop became more sophisticated, so did the ways in which it made a contribution to America’s psyche.

Artists like Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, and The Roots integrated thoughtful lyrics with hip-hop techniques to create a movement of artists dedicated to social change.

Born in London, raised in Sri Lanka, and trained as a graphic designer, M.I.A. (pictured left) wrote politically radical lyrics that are set to musical tracks that drew from wildly diverse sources around the world. Not only was her album Kala named the best album of 2007 by Rolling Stone, but M.I.A. was also listed as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People”— illustrating the reach and power of a music born decades earlier on litter-strewn playgrounds.

Over time, many rappers have used their fame and influence to bring visibility to causes that are important to them.

Jay-Z supports criminal justice reform Jay-Z has had the platform and means to continuously speak out on behalf of Meek Mill and the unfairness of the criminal justice system. Meek, and Jay, along with several others founded the Reform Alliance, which seeks to reduce the number of affected by parole and probation law by 1 million over the next five years. He was also produced the documentary on Kalief Browder, the young man who spent 1000 in pre-trial lockup, and ultimately committed suicide. In 2006, he paid for and produced Diary of Jay-Z: Water

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For Life a film meant to raise awareness on the lack of clean water accessible in underdeveloped countries.

Rappers like Lil’ Wayne and Eminem have created foundations to give money to causes that are important to them But even if rappers don’t have decades of hits under their belts, they use their voices and resources to affect change.

accounts for kids."

21 Savage is passionate about teaching kids money skills and improving his hometown of Atlanta. In March 2018, he announced the creation of the 21 Savage Bank Account Campaign (named after his hit song "Bank Account") "I started the 21 Savage Bank Account Campaign to help kids learn how to save money and make money, and open bank

In early August 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, 21 Savage also hosted the "Issa Back to School Drive" (named after his album Issa Album) in his home neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. The drive gave out free haircuts, hairstyles, supplies, and school uniforms.

Chance the Rapper (pictured above) is a prominent voice in his Chicago community. Whether he is addressing the city’s gun violence through song, or meeting with Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss funding for Chicago Public Schools, Chance is actively using his platform to make a difference.

professionals within the schools.

Also from Chicago, Vic Mensa (pictured left) created a non-profit organization called SaveMoneySaveLife, with a mission to “mission is to foster civic action through arts and entertainment, facilitating sustainable change “ the organization focuses on mentorship programs, training first responders in the Chicago area, and placing mental health

Currently, as protests are taking place around the country, Run the Jewel’s Killa Mike has become a voice of activism.

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The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur

By Ericka Foster *click photos for photo credit

On June 16th, Tupac would have been 49 years old. You can’t help but to wonder what he would say as people around the world protest police brutality and racism.

Tupac had his own run-ins with the law – including serving a few months in jail for sexual assault. However, he was complex and multi-faceted. To characterize him as just one thing – thug, rapper, and actor – would be unreasonable and unrealistic.

The truth is, no one is all one thing. Tupac was one of those rare individuals who was able to be many different things to many different people while being authentic.

In an interview with MTV last year, singer Jhene Aiko explained, "He was so contradictory to people, but to me, he was just human and not afraid to express himself. I could relate to that a lot... How dancing turned into music, turned into acting, turned into all of the things that he did. And he still had this passion and this purpose about him. That spoke to me so much."

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Tupac the Rapper Rappers like Game, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole (pictured left) openly discuss the influence that Tupac has had on their careers. “You can’t just

listen to ‘Pac, you feel ‘Pac. If you listen to him, you gonna feel him.” Eminem said when describing Tupac’s influence during a Shade45 radio special.

Tupac began his rap career in the group Digital Underground. He released his first solo album in November 1991, 2Pacalypse Now. He released his second in February 1993 Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., and his third solo album, March 1995's Me Against the World. The fourth 2Pac solo album, and last in his lifetime, February 1996's All Eyez on Me. Although California Love is STILL on everybody’s party playlist, songs like Keep Ya Head Up, Dear Mama and Brenda’s Got a Baby, demonstrated his gift to portray a thoughtful humanity to the “thug” persona that had previously(and presently) painted Black men as one-dimensional.

“Everything in life is not all beautiful,” he told journalist Chuck Phillips. “There is lots of killing and drugs. To me a perfect album talks about the hard stuff and the fun and caring stuff. ... The thing that bothers me is that it seems like a lot of the sensitive stuff I write just goes unnoticed.”

He’s had an impact on artists across all genres: "He’s the first rapper to talk about the fact that his mom was a crack addict. For me, that’s courageous as fuck. He took that risk and spoke about everything in detail openly and without any shame.

For me to listen to that album as I grew up, it really helped me to understand that it’s OK to be honest with your art, because people appreciate that." says singer Zayn Malik in an interview with Complex magazine. To many, he was more than a rapper, he was a poet.

Tupac the Poet While we use the word poet to describe a lyricist who can paint a picture, Tupac’s estate actually released a book of poetry, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, in 1999. Between 1984 and 1988, Tupac lived in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended Baltimore School for the Arts, studying acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. As his world was opened to a variety of arts and artists, Tupac integrated all of those influences into his life’s work.

Famous poet Nikki Giovanni wrote the foreword for his book, and also has Thug Life tattooed on her forearm as a tribute to the rapper she never met.

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Tupac the Actor In high school, both in Baltimore, and in Marin County, Tupac starred in multiple high school plays, including Shakespearen productions. In 1992, he had his breakout role in 1992’s Juice, playing Bishop. He also starred as Lucky, opposite Janet Jackson, in Poetic Justice, directed by John Singleton. Additionally, Tupac had acting parts in TV and movies such as Above the Rim, Gridlock’d, and Gang Related.

Tupac was much more than a hip-hop artist. He was a black man guided by his passions." ~John Singleton.

Tupac’s legacy Tupac’s legacy began where all of our legacies do, with our forefathers. Afeni Shakur was a member of the Black Panther Party. Several of Tupac’s family members had ties with the Black Panther Party. He was no stranger to political advocacy, to speaking out against injustice, and going toe-to-toe with law enforcement. He was born in Harlem, and grew up in low-income neighborhoods.

In addition to his tremendous talent and work ethic, he had a charisma that transcended music. People who weren’t into hip-hop, or his style, were still affected by the way he carried himself, he was “woke” before that was a word.

Though he was murdered more than 20 years ago, Tupac’s influence lives on not only in music, movies, and pop culture – but also in the hearts of those who never even met him.

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Final Thoughts…

I can’t definitively say I love rap. Quite frankly, I prefer a smooth melody every time. BUT, as we put this issue together, I can definitively say that I appreciate hiphop as well as the influence it had on my life and the lives of others. I have the pleasure of being old enough to have had an LL Cool J tape in my boom box. When I was in the fifth grade, I wrote down and memorized all of the lyrics to Doug E. Fresh’s “Rising to the Top” so I could learn the words and fit in with my friends. Me Against the World was a rite of passage for me. I could listen to his music in my car without my mom around to ask a whole bunch of questions – a true sense of independence.

College at the University of Maryland was one of the few places I truly felt that I belonged. Those first two years were about going into D.C.’s nightclubs and hearing Biggie over the speakers. I’ve seen the Roots in concert so many times that I need both hands to count. The music of rap has marked some of my fondest memories.

But, the culture of hip-hop, the culture of self-expression, the culture of using your voice, is something that I can always get behind, because that is an essential part of who I (think) I am.

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