Tupac: The Leader That Almost Wasn't.

Recently there's been a stir about some things Alicia Keys said in a recent interview with Blender Magazine. The discussion is everywhere online, especially on message boards. The responses are wide ranging, a lot of the ones I've seen though are pretty vulgar. One described her as a 'dumb ass dyke bitch'. It never ceases to amaze me the way people react to the opinions of others or the statements they make not only directly, but most importantly when taken out of context. Calling people names has nothing to do with anything. Anyway, this post is about Tupac because on one message board (Philaflava) that started off talking about Alicia's comments some of which mentioned Tupac, detoured into a conversation about whether or not Tupac was capable of being an affective strong 'black leader'. After reading a few comments namely this one posted by Philaflava:

'I just want to know who was the great black leader the goverment stopped. 2Pac was a 26 year old loose cannon who flipped his script from a ballet dancing aspiring actor. A leader is Colin Powell. 2Pac was a talented guy who acted in some great b-movies and could rhyme words together'.

I decided to add a response as follows:

Tupac did have potential that would have ultimately been realized over time if he chose to go the route all the way. He didn't (or did not get a chance to) so it did not happen. The proof is in his influence beyond people saying they loved his music. People's lives have been literally changed because of his existence, his music and what some would call his moments of profound outspokenness. How many Hiphop artists have actually been responsible for definite progressive movements globally where people actively pursue change in their way of living in an effort to change the state of chaos that surrounds them. He was a spark. Everyone isn't a spark. Perhaps most are not actually aware of the magnitude his life has contributed to the possibilities... Or some just refuse to see him as anything but some nigger that rapped. Some men have an inherent ability to affect the minds of people naturally, to rally their inner spirits and help to reverse the bullshit that man creates to destroy himself. Any person male or female that has the power to affect change in a major way also in most cases faces an extreme where the demons pull at him or her to keep them from making those move at their fullest potential.

On another note the greatest type of leader is a man that can influence those followers to be leaders in their own right. Great changes happen to come when individuals realize their own strengths and do not rely on orders from some 'leader' be he black white or green.

People are detached from their internal natural sense and socialized to not believe they can make a difference., never to take initiative to just stand up for themselves let alone anyone else.

Question. Why aren't white men that lead, called white leaders?

Shout out to all spooks that sit beside doors!

In conclusion, though there are quite a few issues apparent on this message board beyond the actual post, I just wanted to focus on this thing about Tupac and express my feelings as to the statement made that denied the potential he had to be an affective leader had he lived long enough and chose to follow through with some of the plans he spoke about.

http://www.philaflava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92203