1997_05 The Daily Collegian May 1997

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Uhuru Na Umoja • Friday, May 2, 1997
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Two intelligent African American men murdered
By David Bethca
Special to Uhuru Na Umoja
The tragic death ofTupac Shakur and
the Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls)
should be a lesson to us .ill. There is no
. need to talk about what happened. Two
African American men arc dead. It's a
shame that it takes death to spark con¬
versation. We need to learn from what
happened. Not just the hip-hop com¬
munity, but also the African American
community as a whole.
When I refer to "we" I mean "we" as
individuals. We must individually make
a change to make the whole better. For
those who love hip-hop music and cul¬
ture, it was a major loss. We must remem¬
ber however, that we created our own
monster. There was never any EAST/
WEST war in the industry, but fans fed
into that garbage. Biggie and Tupac were
out to make money. They did that very
well. They were very close friends at one
point. They recorded two songs together
("Runnin" and "Let's get it on") during
their so called feud.
But who killed Tupac and Biggie? If
you listened to their music, they "died"
long before the hail of bullets they re¬
ceived. Tlie problem is not the music. Rap
music kills no one. Rap music will last
forever jnd sell millions of more records.
The problem is the lack of responsible
leaders to help prevent the violence in our
communities. KRS ONE stated on the
day after Biggie's death on BET. "Black
Leadership [or the lack of it] killed Biggie
Smalls." I must agree with that.
Biggie and Tupac died as a result of the
image they portrayed, not because of the
people they were. Tupac first appeared on
Digital Underground's "Same Song" wear¬
ing African attire. He was the son of a
Black Panther. Tupac's rise to stardom was
his ability to raise social consciousness with
songs likc."Brcnda's Got A Baby." "If My
Homic Calls," and "Souljah's Story."
"Keep Ya Head Up" was an anthem for
African American women. Tupac was. in
fact, an intelligent brother who wanted a
"thug life" image. He went to the presti¬
gious School of Performing Arts and
learned how to act. He's also from New
Jersey, which is on the East coast. There
was no war over coasts, but those igno¬
rant did not know better. The day after
his death, the print media did not state
how an intelligent, ambitious, African
American man was murdered. Instead, it
read, "Gangsta Rapper Slain".
Christopher Wallace (Notorious
B.I.G.), who went to jail for selling crack,
was a teenager who wanted to change his
life and be somebody. He achieved that
and much more. Biggie's claim to fame was
"Big Poppa." "One More Chance." and
other commercial party records that had
more people dancing than ducking from
bullets. He stated at the end of his first hit
"Juicy." "I went from negative to positive/
and its all good!'" The print media didn't
print a success story. Instead it read "An¬
other Gangsta Rapper Slain." My people,
my people. Gangsters don't rap. They are
either dead or in jail. Gangsters do not sell
millions of records.
There were over 150 articles written
about Biggie after his death across the
country. Most stated it was a case of
"chickens coming home to roost." A FOX
TV news broadcaster stated, "He got what
he deserved. He was a low life drug deal¬
ing criminal." I guess he was like the drug
dealing, criminal Kennedy bootlegging
family. Were any Kennedy's gunned down?
Hmmm. But the Kennedy's arc praised.
It's funny how White media arc quick to
use the quote Malcolm X was labeled as a
demon for using. I wonder if John and
Robert Kennedy arc thinking they got
what they deserved. Hypocrite.
The law of Karma is in effect to a great
extent in these deaths however. You reap
what you sow. The image of gangsta high
life is what Biggie and Tupac sowed. The
reality of their studio image is what they
reaped. No one deserves to die. America's
fascination with the "gangsta" image is far
from gangster reality. These two brothers
were entertainers, not gangsters. They
knew the difference. They were business¬
men. They sold records. Made music.
Those who do not know the difference
between fantasy and reality arc the ones
who pulled the trigger.
We must remember that Christopher
Wallace and Tupac Shakur were someone's
baby. They left sons, daughters and loved
ones behind. They were loved by many
people. Their music moved people.
Brother Cheo Hodani Coker of the
L.A. Times printed Biggie's last words in
an interview days before his murder. Biggie
is quoted as saying, "My friends, we all
have kids now. These aren't the same
brothers on the corner caring about liv-
THE BELIEVER'S ADVANTAGE" PART
By Pastor Marvin Davis
Special to Uhuru Na Umoja
/.   The believer is never alone
Matthew 28:19-20; Prov. 18:24
If. The believer always have a help in
the time of need John 14:16
I. One of the truly remarkable
truths taught in scripture is that our
God allows believers in Jesus Christ
to have a personal relationship with'
Him. Mankind was separated from
God because of Sin. Sin actually broke
the fellowship with God. Jesus Christ
was sacrificed at Calvary to restore the
relationship between God and man.
So those who believe in Jesus do not
just believe in good man or good
prophet, but actually believe in God's
only Saviour for mankind. He is, if
you arc a believer, a personal Lord and
Saviour who promises never to leave
you alone. So no matter what you
may be going thtough, good or bad,
trials, tests, bad relationships, or so¬
cial problems, you can always know that
Jesus is there.
His love and grace is forever present
with you and sweet fellowship of his spirit
is always present to comfort you. His
strength is there to empower you, His light
is there to guide you. So the believers ad¬
vantage is that the God of the Universe is
ever present with him.
, The non-believers, unfortunately, arc
left without divine companionship and
therefore is at a disadvantage.
II. Another great advantage that the
believer has according to Psalms 46:1-3 is
that "God is our refuge and strength, *N
very present help in trouble. Therefore
will not we fear, though the earth be re¬
moved, and though the mountains be
carrcd into the midst of the sea; Though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof. Selah. (KJV)"
Everybody at one time or another ex¬
perience trouble. Some situations re¬
quires divine intervention. The advantage
of the believer is that he personally
knows the God who rules and super
rules everything and everybody In
times of storm he can speak to the wind
and the waves and they have to obey
Him. He's the God who specialize in
doing the extraordinary to deliver his
children when they find themselves in
trouble (Read Acts 16:16 and John
6:16-21)
The disadvantage of the unbeliever
has assurance. He just knows that ev¬
erything is going to be alright (Read
Rom. *:28) "IF GOD IS BEFORE
US. WHO CAN BE AGAINST US"
Ncxj column. Pastor Davis will
cover other topics dealing with the be¬
lievers advantage such as: Purpose of
life, the satisfaction of the soul, hope,
forgiveness and others
Rev, Marvin Davis, Pastor
Grace Community Baptist Church
2822 E. Floradora Fresno. CA 93703
(209)438-0369
ing or dying. I want to sec my kids get
married. I want to watch them grow old.
You're not going to sec that if you arc out
wilding." He wanted to change. His new
album was supposed) to show that and
more. He had love for the West Coast. The
album was released two weeks after his
death—two weeks too late. Maybe things
would have been different if it was out
before he was killed. The #1 song in L.A.
airwaves right now is a tribute to Biggie
called "Going Back to Call".
Individually wc must learn to become
leaders. The image wc give ourselves means
a lot to future generations. Our physical
image is key, but our images through our
actions,f<vords and deeds is totally oppo¬
site of the image we want to sec us as, then
nothing but negativity and possible death
may enter our life. Think not? Ask Tupac
and Biggie. That's real.
These two brothers were poetic ge¬
niuses. Masters of their craft. African
American men who overcame :hc odds to
attain huge accomplishments. Through
their God-given music they were hicsscn-
gcrs to millions of people. They shouldn't
be denounced as villains. For those intel¬
lectual African Americans who stated they
"hated" these two brothers and what the)
stood for—stop hating yourselves. You Icl
it happen. These an- our brothers, our (am
ily. They have taught us a lot. albeit
through death. Their deaths are only .i
microcosm of the violence that is in our
communities all over the country. Iiuii
vidually focused, we can come together
collectively to do something about it
Peace.
Study peace
building at
Fresno State
By Bob Fischer
Professor of Sociology
What can wc do about all the violence?
What can wc do about family squabbles,
neighborhood disputes, friction on the job
and children fighting on the school
grounds? How can I stand up for myself
without getting angry and without being
taken advantage of? Is there a better way
to make decisions and reach agreements^
How can wc make the changes that we
need to make in ourselves, our communi¬
ties and our society? Wc hear these ques¬
tions everyday. Up to now, conflict has
been pretty much like the weather: We've
always had lots of questions about it, but
there hasn't been much wc could do about
it. But now, there really arc some things
you can do to make the world around you
Please see PEACE page 4
Uhuru Na Umoja
Community Relations
Manager
Jessica Randolph
Advisors:
Lorna Lewis
James E *walton, Ph.D
Editor in Chief:
Sherry L Harris
Graphics & Layout Editor:
Monica Stanford
Contributing Writers:
Robert Fischer. Ph.D
Regina Ginyard
Pastor Marvin Davis
David Bethca
StafFWriters:
Yaisa Guillory
Chariton Jordan
Editor's Note.
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