The Inspiration And Demise Of Revolutionary Leaders

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The Inspiration and Demise of Revolutionary Leaders

Huey P. Newton and Tupac Shakur were two revolutionary soldiers from two different time periods and two different social environments. Huey was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party and Tupac, a rapper who strived to make young blacks aware of the war that they inflicted upon themselves as a result of oppression. Though from different time periods, they both exerted the same dedication to a similar movement that represented their people.
“By having no family, I inherited the family of humanity” (Newton 162). Both men lived by the “I am we” (Newton, 180) concept. They believed that every man is a representative of his own people and to start a revolution in the individual is to start a revolution of a people. For this reason Huey believed that each individual person should look within himself or herself to make a change and not to a leader. Tupac’s music delivered a similar message. In an interview Tupac mentioned that black people have asked for equality for too long, “Now what do you think were going to do? Ask?” (Shakur 16). With his powerful words he encouraged his listeners not to take oppression quietly and to challenge the hegemonic power of our society.
Both Tupac and Huey strived to leave revolutionary legacies. What Huey describes as revolutionary suicide, “ By surrendering my life to the revolution, I found eternal life ” (Newton 162). Today both men are recognized for the impression they made on American society, but fell short of the revolutionary death that Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King died.
Ironically Tupac and Huey both fell victim to the type of life they led. Huey died as a result of a drug deal gone bad and Tupac died as a result to what many believe to be a beef between him and another rap artist. Huey P. Newton describes this as reactionary suicide. “The reaction of a man who takes his own life in response to social condit...