Tupac V.S Huey

Looking throughout history there have been many great black leaders some of them took to a public stage to let their voice be heard and some stayed behind the senses and let their actions bring hope to the black community.  Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad is an example of a person’s action speaking for her and giving hope to her people where as Martian Luther King Jr.’s I have a dream speech is an example of taking the stage and letting his words inspire millions.  Huey P. Newton did most of his work from behind the senses whereas Tupac had one of the greatest stages of all time for inspiring the people.  Despite their differences in how they went about leading the black community they lead extremely similar lives. There has always been a common thread the American jeremiad, according to about.com "The American jeremiad is a rhetoric of indignation, expressing deep dissatisfaction and urgently challenging the nation to reform. The term jeremiad, meaning a lamentation or doleful complaint, derives from the biblical prophet, Jeremiah . . .. Although Jeremiah denounced Israel's wickedness and foresaw tribulation in the near-term, he also looked forward to the nation's repentance and restoration in a future golden age.” Throughout the American history this has been the cry of the black community, great leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X , Huey Newton, and Tupac have used this to call for the end of black oppression. 

The similarities between Huey P. Newton and Tupac and their effect on black America, despite apparent hypocrisy.

Tupac and Huey lead similar lives in  the way they were both strongly tied to the black panther party.  Huey was the co-founder and minister of defence of pathers, while Tupac was born into the panthers.  Both men made it their lifes work to help the black community and usher in a new way of life.  Both men had several run-ins with the law, Huey was charged with the murder of a police officer, the murder of a prostitute, and embezzling founds from the black panthers education and nutrition programs.  Tupac was areested with two other men  on charges that they forcibly sodomized and sexually abused a young woman who they clamied was a groupie.  The arrest came less than three weeks after Shakur was arrested for allegedly shooting two off-duty police officers after a traffic argument in Atlanta.  Tupac also knew of his power to reach young black men with his lyrics and statments so by bringing his message against the east coast and against the crips he seemed to be authorizing for lack of a bettre word black on black crime after stating several times in his lyrics this needs to change.  After their deaths both Tupac and Huey have found their place among great black american leaders.  Given some of the expamples of questionable behavor should these two men be placed alongside the likes of Martain Luther King Jr and Malcom X?