Commemorative Manuscript on Tupac Shakur

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Commemorative Manuscript on Tupac Shakur

Central theme: Tupac was a very misunderstood individual, and a lot can be learned from his life.

1. When most people hear the name Tupac, they think of a tattooed thug, a gangsta rapper killed in a tragic shooting who only got what was coming to him, a man who lived by the gun, and who died by the gun. However, those people probably have never taken a chance to look beyond what their eyes tell them, past the ignorance and into the depths of the man who really was Tupac.

2. Tupac Shakur was born on September 17, 1971, in Brooklyn New York. Tupac got into acting early in his life, landing his first role in an acting ensemble when he was 12 years old. Tupac also began writing many poems and love songs, keeping them in a journal, which has since been published. Soon after however, he and his family moved to Baltimore.

3. In Baltimore, at the age of 15, Tupac enrolled in the illustrious Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting and ballet with white kids. He always said that this was where he felt he finally got in touch with himself, because up until this point he had been searching. While he was there, he discovered rap music, showing potential as a strong lyricist and impressing his teachers with his acting and rhyming skills.

4. Unfortunately, Tupac was not able to continue his training. He moved out west to Oakland, California in 1988 with the rest of his family, where he began to, as he called it, “hang with the wrong crowd.” He started selling drugs and got off track, joining a gang and spending time in and out of jail.

5. In 1990, he joined a rap group known as the Digital Underground, and over the next two years released two albums with them, before fi...

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...e air

Children bred with ruthlessness because no one at home cares

Tonight I lay my head down but this pressure never stops

Gnawing at my sanity, content when I am dropped

But tomorrow I see change, a chance to build anew

Built on spirit intent of heart, and ideals based on truth

And tomorrow I wake with second wind and strong because of pride

To know I fought with all my heart to keep my dream alive

Words of a man who, as some say, was of a violent nature? I say these are words of a man who wanted to give himself up to change the way things were for the good. And for this, he was killed. And for this, people hate him now after he is gone. As I go, I would like to read Tupac’s favorite verse, Exodus 18:11 which was tattooed on his back: Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.

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