In honor of the beginning of Black History Month, I’ve decided to use my blog as a moment to show some great works of an African American Poet. The poet’s name: Tupac Shakur.
Though before I start, there’s a story behind this blog.
I was in seventh grade and my teacher was making the class draw names from a hat so we can all do research on some less known figures in Black History. Everyone was getting upset because they didn’t like that the people, they were researching were all the way back in the day. Personally, I was like, I wouldn’t mind if I got someone I never heard of before, it would make it more fun researching them. So, when it finally gets to me, literally the last person, everyone jumps at me because I got someone no one would expect: Tupac Shakur. It was so loud in the classroom as everyone yelled things like, “That’s not fair Mrs. Spencer!” “Tiara doesn’t even listen to Rap!” or “Tupac isn’t even part of Black History!” Once my teacher heard those statements she stopped and turned to me, and she said, “What do you think Tiara, is Tupac part of Black History?” I was stunned and didn’t know what to say. Back then, I didn’t really know much about Tupac, I just knew that he was a rapper, he was shot, he created the song “All Eyez on Me”, and that he had beef with Biggie Smalls. I never considered that with a Rep like that he would be part of History. So, I finally responded to my teacher: “I guess we’ll find out today.” Now, for a little bit of context, this was an English class, and she was making us do Black Writers in history like Phillis Wheatley, Alice Walker, and Paul Laurence Dunbar for examples. So, I went to ask my teacher, “Are you sure you want me to talk about Tupac’s raps? Because I don’t think some of them are student friendly.” And she turned to me with a smile and was like, “Tiara, some Rap can be Poetry and once you start doing your research, you’re going to learn that Tupac was a Poet.”
Then she sent me on my way and my research began:
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by: Tupac Shakur
Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature’s law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.
This was the first poem that popped up when I searched for it. It didn’t really make such a big impact on me at first because I wasn’t really a poetry person back then and it just was words to me at first glance if you know what I mean, but the assignment was to analyze the meaning of the poem and explain what you took from it. I would explain what I got from it, but I’m just going to let y’all tell me in the comments maybe. On that note, I don’t remember what I put for the meaning, but this website called Haener Block, explains: “The poem represents the ways that someone can become something great coming from a place that’s not recognized as great. In this poem he uses a rose, something that’s recognized as beautiful, even with its imperfections.” This sounds about like what I had, but a little bit more spiced up.
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by: Tupac Shakur
In the event of my Demise
when my heart can beat no more
I Hope I Die For A Principle
or A Belief that I had Lived 4
I will die Before My Time
Because I feel the shadow’s Depth
so much I wanted 2 accomplish
before I reached my Death
I have come 2 grips with the possibility
and wiped the last tear from My eyes
I Loved All who were Positive
In the event of my Demise
Tupac was really getting deep with his poetry and this title is so sad but cool because it fits the way he used to speak. Also, this poem seemed like a conspiracy theory for many people because he was literally like he will die before his time and during my research I learned that in some songs he said he was going to die young, so I was like, “Did he know? Was he predicting his death?” Anyway, we’re not going to get into that right now. I picked this poem for the “Attention Grabbing and Meaningful” part of the project because it stood out to me a lot. Like previously, I don’t really remember how I analyzed these, but the Allpoety.com quotes that Tupac said, “I composed ‘In the Event of My Demise’ on the very day that I was diagnosed with H.I.V. I contracted H.I.V. from a medical accident while working as a Navy Corpsman at Lemoore Naval Hospital. On that day I felt like I needed to evaluate my life and write my will and testament.”
I didn’t have that at all, but his actual words make a better analysis.
ʟɪʙᴇʀᴛʏ ɴᴇᴇᴅꜱ ɢʟᴀꜱꜱᴇꜱ
By Tupac Shakur
excuse me but lady liberty needs glasses
and so does mrs justice by her side
both the broads r blind as bats
stumbling thru the system
justice bumbed into mutulu and
trippin on geronimo pratt
but stepped right over oliver
and his crooked partner ronnie
justice stubbed her big toe on mandela
and liberty was misquoted by the indians
slavery was a learning phase
forgotten with out a verdict
while justice is on a rampage
4 endangered surviving black males
i mean really if anyone really valued life
and cared about the masses
theyd take em both 2 pen optical
and get 2 pair of glasses
The first time I read this poem I remember one of my classmates telling me that this poem could make some great bars. I also remember that at the time that I didn’t know what bars were, so I just agreed. Looking at this now and reading it, I do agree that this would have made an interesting rap, especially with Tupac’s style. I didn’t have to analyze this one, it just needed to be included into the project but if I could take a guess now of what it’s about, I would say: Tupac did explain how his parents were part of the Black Panthers and fought against injustice and he did gain a lot of his values from them. This poem probably could have been inspired by their example and his own experiences of how the world treated races and other ethnicities that weren’t white poorly and unfairly during most of history. I see that when he gives prominent figures and examples from history in the poem.
Also, I see that the main point he’s making is that America is supposed to represent freedom and liberty, but it seems that they aren’t acting on what they represent, they turn a blind eye to how the world is really treating their citizens. When looking it up on AllPoetry.com it states that Tupac’s meaning for it was: “Lady Liberty would rather put a black man in prison for selling drugs to feed his family because the same system won’t give him a job, but she could overlook the white man who is beating the mess out of his wife. The glasses are metaphors for the system’s ability to see and omit what they want.”
Last but not least we have:
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when your hero falls from grace
all fairy tales r uncovered
myths exposed and pain magnified
the greatest pain discovered
u taught me 2 be strong
but im confused 2 c u so weak
u said never 2 give up
and it hurts 2 c u welcome defeat
when ure hero falls so do the stars
and so does the perception of tomorrow
without my hero there is only
me alone 2 deal with my sorrow
your heart ceases 2 work
and your soul is not happy at all
what r u expected 2 do
when ure only hero falls
I didn’t have to decipher this poem, but I did have to pick a poem that had deep and relatable meaning to me.
The day I presented this project, this was the last thing I had to explain and recite; the class got sad and quiet when I told them this made me think about my grandmother and mother. I hated the days when I had to see them struggle with either money or their health but still made sure that everyone was good while even smothered in sadness. We couldn’t tell that the days when they made sure my siblings and I ate before them were the days they also couldn’t feed themselves. They were our heroes, and your heroes usually don’t want to reveal their weaknesses. So yeah, this was a lot of my journey while digging into Tupac’s contribution to Black Artist History. He used his music and poetry to advocate for the Black community and become a voice for them. His image was also a symbol of resistance and struggle against oppression. Again, his poems are beautiful, and they reveal new things to me about his beliefs and his style every time I read them and there’s many more that I didn’t cover, and you all should check them out.
