Another Dead Revolutionary

"Either we change or we all fall." - Tupac Shakur

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of Tupac Shakur's death, he would have been thirty eight, if not for his early fate. I remember his most anticipated anniversary six years ago, the last time when a small but vocal number of people still believed that the beloved hero was really alive. Tupac had that effect on his listeners, in much the same way as other poets who died young in past centuries. The spiritual fallout in rap after Tupac's death is unexplainable, there are very few rappers that have a mainstream voice and speak in the same tune with similar political insights as Tupac, and nobody has even approached his poetical stature. What's so remarkable about Tupac is the depth of his wisdom which was attained at such a young age, and the fact that he used it to uplift his community. His awareness about the criminal affairs of the United States government, and the remedy that he offered, a revolution, is not something that only poets can perceive, but he was unique by stating that truth without any reservations. Like all true poets, he fought and spoke for the poor, in an interview he gave in Sweden, he said "the ground will swallow up the evil," meaning the poor people of the world are destined to take back what was unjustly stolen from them by the elite. That statement is a simple observation, sure, but Tupac's judgments are rare because very few people keep their ear to the ground, as he did, and then act on what they heard, and that defiance of unjust authority signifies, to me at least, the life of Tupac. True to his spirit and to his upbringing, he was the exception of his time, and because he spoke from his impassioned soul his words will live forever.

"There's war in the streets and war in the Middle East
Instead of a war on poverty, they got a war on drugs
So the police can bother me"

- Tupac Shakur