When he died in a flurry of bullets 15 years ago, I did not know who Tupac Shakur was. I did not know his music, or why his death was just as seminal a moment to some as Kurt Cobain’s suicide two years earlier.
As unbelievable as Shakur’s death may have been to my classmates and millions of others, it may be equally unfathomable that he would have turned 40 today.
Though I knew neither man, nor his work during their lifetimes, I always wanted to accomplish something revolutionary in my lifetime. As I grew older, and became a fan of both, the thought further fermented in my mind.
Everyone wants to be rich and famous in their lifetime, but the thought of winning a Pulitzer Prize before my 30th birthday motivates me more than the money that I could clearly make from winning such an award.
Though neither artist lived to be 30, I always had a sense from watching documentaries on both and listening to their work that their art was more important than money. If Shakur and Cobain happened to make money and earn commercial success while sharing their talents we were richer for it.
In his 25 years Shakur did more than most of us will do in our lifetimes. How many other rappers would be such a cultural phenomenon more than a decade after their assassination to the point the President of the United States found a way to evoke is name during a black tie dinner this spring?
Shakur’s 40th birthday will not be the catalyst for me to go out and spend my remaining days in Tallahassee volunteering or trying to save the city. It’s better to be honest, than lie to simply flatter the memory of a dead man.
The biggest changes within any organization or society do not come from on high, but from the people. Even non-secular countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Syria are beginning to realize the exuberance of youth are more powerful than water when channeled properly.
(South Africa realized this with devastating consequences 35 years ago and takes pause each June 16 to celebrate the impact its youngest citizens have on society.)
So while we cannot live without water, it is also a very destructive force. The question, Tupac’s death has led me to ask myself and others is whether your actions, your art, your words are enrich or destroy lives?
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
