Sweet baby Jesus. For the past year I have been saying that I need to start a blog. There are just so many things that I need to get off my chest, and maybe it is in my nature as a millennial child to feel this way, but I have this incredible urge to air my bearings.
And not in the privacy of my own home.
But in public.
I have this need for my voice to be heard, or at least for it to have a chance at being heard.
My own "cry into the universe".
And this is my only means of solace.
Other forms of media simply did not suffice. Twitter only affords me 140 characters, Instagram is an electronic picture book, Facebook..... And every time I finally get frustrated enough to type a response on the ignorance known as YouTube comment section I figure, its not worth it.
Side note: People, I'm starting to believe, probably go to YouTube's comment section ready for war, fully equipped with "How to Troll for Dummies", defense strategies, and fully automated insult artillery.
So here I am, finally fulfilling a years worth of, "man I gotta get a blog", completely pretentious in assuming that what I have to say is worth more than a pot to piss in, and a window to throw it out of. But hey, why not?
One overly explained, grammatically offensive, extremely self-conscious intro that is
only clever to the author?
Check.
Now on to the YouTube comment that pushed me to finally write:
sometimes i feel black people weren't worthy of TUPAC, they had one of the most beautiful,talented revolutionary in the history of the planet...and, what did they do with it?...they waged war, they attacked and destroyed him! the only man who loved them and who was fighting for them...He was the ONLY person capable to move the black race forward!
Excuse me? And 33 likes to accompany it? Dear lord I hope he's a troll. But regardless, I am still failing to understand the people who liked it, and the comment war which ensued SUPPORTING this comment. To begin, here's my unpublished response which I so diligently saved to include in my soon to be blog:
Right. "Black people" weren't worthy of Tupac because of course we are all one unit. That mentality is what perpetuates stereotyping and discrimination, this idea that a set of physical characteristics or background binds people together as a unit, a unit which is coherently identical in actions and mentality. "Black" is a label, make of it what you will, but it is not an individuals identity.
I some what understand what he was saying, but not really. Why do "black people" not deserve him? As though "black people" do not deserve to have someone among us who is intelligent and revolutionary? Would he have been better off had he been of another race? As I recall, he was treated poorly across the board by people of all creeds and colors. But specifically by his own people. And no, I don't mean "black people", I mean American people. So what is this idea that black people specifically did not deserve him? Why is there this preconceived notion that just because Tupac was black, "black people" had this duty to champion him. Why instead, as our fellow man, did we not ALL have a duty to champion him? I personally say shame on any one, African American, Caucasian, Black, White, Asian, Haitian, Hispanic, what ever you prefer to be called (other) who conspires to put down any man who endeavors to better this world. And sure, looking through colored lenses, Tupac sought the betterment of Black people. But I argue that he overall sought to better America and *bigger picture* to better the world. In an un-aired interview he said (this is not a direct quote) that he finds it absurd that rich people are out here in houses with fifty four rooms when there are people on the streets without even a shack for shelter, there are people with billions of dollars coexisting with people who are dirt poor, and people with food to throw out when there are people who are starving, in a country that thrives on and sells this idea of "equality" and "freedom". I've never seen any rule that states any single "race" holds a monopoly on starvation and poverty, and I don't believe that Tupac's vision would have stood to serve black people alone.
My opinion? The greatest message Tupac has left us with is to think. I interpret that as to think beyond the social constructs of society. To think beyond the BARRIERS of black and white, and to think greater thoughts than those we've inherited from a blind nation. Blinded by too much emphasis on what we see, and allowing that to too heavily influence what we believe.
