Looking back on hip hop history the two were almost interchangeable martyrs for the culture. Not because they had the same style but because they were young, black men riding for their cause, unfortunately meeting an untimely demise. Something about Tupac that stands out is his socially charged and empowering songs; but with his mother and father being former Black Panthers it is no surprise that he was aware of the social injustices plaguing society. One of my personal favorites is “Keep Your Head up.” I recently watched that video released and 93” and noticed something that I had never paid attention to as a child, it was simple, in the very beginning of the video it states “this video is dedicated to Latasha Harlins.” I looked her up and my heart instantly broke when I read the story about a 15 year old black girl being wrongfully accused by a Korean woman for having the intention of stealing a bottle of orange juice.
The Korean woman attacked her, they scuffled, my personal assumption is Latasha got the best of her and was leaving, that’s when Soon Ja Du the owner who scuffled and accused the young girl shot her in the back of the head. Sounds familiar right, this incident is eerily similar to our modern day Trayvon Martin, a young black youth wrongfully being deemed a criminal simply because he was black and paying for that in blood. I was two years old when Latasha was murdered. Her outrageous death was before my time of understanding the ugliness of this world. Tupac’s dedication to her was a small way of him utilizing his platform to bring social awareness to the injustices going on in the African American community. Tupac loved his community so much so that he urged the public to hold him and other artist accountable for the things that they say in their music. Tupac knew and understood the importance of his words, he recognized that there was responsibility not only to make you get up and dance but to also have you sit down and take a listen and think about what he said. His lyrics were meaningful and thought provoking. Tupac in some ways was a beacon of light to the oppressed people who needed to come to the knowledge of self-worth and greatness. For many years I didn’t perceive how or understand the magnitude of his influence; don’t misunderstand I knew he was elite, just not to what extent. So while the world honors, we ought to get on board and honor him as well. We will honor him for his realness, the love he placed toward his community, for the social activism he encouraged and for most importantly doing the same thing for us that Marvin Gaye did for him, “Make me feel like black is the thing to be.” Sleep in Peace Mr. Shakur.
by jacinta Marie