Tribute Piece for Tupac (Excerpt)
by Allah's Apprentice
We put two fingers in the sky for Pac, for peace
Now let me see you put two feet in these streets
Cause a sign and a shirt ain’t gon’ cut, that’s fashion
Pac put his life on the line, that’s passion
See ya’ll can have the cameras and the lights, give me the action
That “Let My People Go” flow, tellin’, I ain’t askin’
My parents tried to be polite, but you didn’t (even) treat ‘em right
Said “Yeah we got yo civil rights, but only for the civil type
Assimilate and receive, but watch how hard you breathe
Hold your tongue or get hung and watch how hard you grieve”
See they don’t really want truth, just sound byte that sounds nice
“I have a dream”, “By any means”, everybody screamin’ “Thug Life”
Not comprehending that it’s more than that gun and drug life
Tupac was talkin’ healin’, give the hood a hug life
Told the story (of the forgotten) so they knew they weren’t alone
Then showed the lost souls how to get back home
In a world of confusion where righteous men are slain
Criminals exalted so we remember their names
Public killings meant to send a message of fear to young Blacks
Maybe some Blacks, but we’ve come to send a message back
See you can kill a man, but you cannot kill a mindset
And every time you try, you make it harder to die
So studied in survival that we could teach a class
Ph.D’s in perserverance so we know how to last
So many gun blasts that we’ve become immune to your bullets
‘Cause they can only kill us physically so go ahead and pull it
Told Kendrick Lamar don’t let him die, he told me the same thang
So die he never will if we remember his name
Not in vain, but in sincerity, to live his philosophy
In place of pain and poverty, put justice and equality
For the roses under concrete that challenge cement ceilings
Unconvinced their only choices in LIFE are dying or killing
We must become the doctors of sick communities committed to finding cures
Although tired, we endure, of our victory we are sure
In the the everlasting spirit of Tupac Shakur
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