Wednesday, March 9, 2011
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?
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Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to read the draft on Tuesday. I'm glad that you have chosen to look into this issue. Certainly each Black leader has attributes to award. Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful, nonviolent movement that aimed to end the racism among whites and blacks. Malcolm X, instead, was more proactive. He informed the white community that if they were going to treat the black community as dogs, then action will ensue.
Tupac is really dynamic. His mother, Afeni, was a Black Panther, and Huey P. Newton was a co-founder of the Black Panther Party. While both men led dynamic lives, they did have run-ins with the law. My only concern with this claim is that we must remember the power structure. Even today, those who make decisions for us and who are in power are older, white men. And in Shakur's time and Newton's, racism was among these power structures. They do not like strong African American men. The prison system is mainly African American men. They receive longer prison systems than their white male counterparts who do the same kind of crime.
I know that you and I have talked about this though, so it will be interesting how you go about it.
Ms. C