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LEADING 28 YEARS AFTER DEATH
Written By: Jewels Alexandria
(4 Minute Read)
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Leader (noun) – A person who has commanding authority or influence
-Webster Dictionary
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“They say they never really miss you until you dead or you gone.”
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If you have ever listened to a Tupac Shakur interview, he does not use um or uh too often when speaking. He speaks with a clarity and certainty, similar to our greatest leaders. Malcom X, Dr. King, Nelson Mandela and countless others. Even when unsure, he is quick to make that known by saying things like, “I think,” or “maybe.” Displaying his wisdom by saying, I do not know. What knowledge and leadership is; Tupac wears it well. The Juke Joint would like to celebrate the life of Tupac Shakur by laying out his guidance for a generation and generations yet to come.
There were multiple sides of Tupac according to friends and loved ones. The angry, loud and outrageous side who could get himself into trouble even when trying not to. Then there was the gentle, poetry writing man who shot two police officers to protect a stranger. All facets of Tupac are leadership qualities. Facets that have inspired many cultures and ways of living. Tupac himself says, “it is my sensitive side that likes to blow up the hard side. It is not my job humble myself to show you that I’m not a threat.” One difference that sets Tupac aside from all our other great leaders is his use of language. He spoke at a level just about anyone can understand. He did not waste time looking for big vocabulary words in an attempt to impress anyone. Although he could. He spoke from his heart and meant every word. Whether that be through cursing, yelling or bringing it down to a soft spoken explanation, he inspired.
What Tupac represented and still represents is confidence and the bravery that takes most of us a lifetime to achieve. At the age of 20, he was able to capture the attention of government officials, the black community as well as the white. He kept the Black Panther Party alive, but also understood to be careful when taking on such a big leadership role. “My mother told me don’t you ever just volunteer yourself to our people, because they’ll use you. That’s what they do.” But most importantly, Tupac knew himself. He believed God placed in him here for his short life to feel and think on a level of his own. And then to take those emotions and knowledge and place them into the brains of those who were willing or not, to listen. “If God wanted me to be happy here he wouldn’t let me feel so oppressed…He wouldn’t let me think the things I think.” There are many people who have implemented his lessons into their own lives and his teachings have become a philosophy or simply put, a way of living. Today, his legacy lives on in our music, through books, lessons taught in universities across the US and a public figure who shaped a generation.
This is only the surface of all the great things Tupac has brought this world. I pray he is never forgotten and appreciated for his good grace for 28 more years and 28 more.
September 13, 2024
