[emcee] As author of a new book, we today are honored that
Ms. Shakur chose Clark Atlanta University
to share her spirit.
If you will, please join me in welcoming
one affectionately known as "Dear Mama," Afeni Shakur.
[cheering and applause]
[Afeni] A book, any book, is a sacred item.
So me, I worship the written word.
- You know? But... - [loud applause]
First, let me tell you that I am not
the author of this book.
Very important to note,
Jasmine Guy wrote this book.
[Jasmine] She was a brilliant woman.
I love this woman.
I love her son.
There was an intellectual curiosity that they shared.
And a sense of how to tell a story.
[Afeni] In 1995,
Jasmine Guy intended to write a book about my life.
[Jasmine] And this is all the stuff, you know,
the ugly kind of truth.
All the ups, downs, abandonment,
abuse, drugs, the trauma.
[Afeni] I didn't want to talk about nothing.
It's just the way I was.
[Jasmine] Just because you adapt
and push through something,
doesn't mean your body did.
Doesn't mean your spirit did.
[Afeni] It didn't come willingly.
If I don't like the way things are going,
I will run away and leave.
And Tupac confronted me on that.
He taught me to not run away anymore.
And-- and that's him.
He never, ever, ever was going to bend his knee
for five seconds.
[Allen] So at the time that Pac was 25,
and he's scared of Suge,
he's trying to get off the label,
But he's not saying anything, he's not vocal--
No, no, no, no. Scared...
- to get off what label? Death Row? - [Allen] Yeah.
No, no, no, no, no, no. Let me say this.
Two weeks before we went to Vegas,
Pac was on the phone,
foaming out of his mouth,
veins were busting out his neck, his head--
Threatened to blow up Death Row studio.
And he was fussing about his music.
He wanted his masters.
[Jamal] Tupac was done with Death Row.
You know, he had fired Kenner, the lawyer.
He was really on his way out.
[Jamala] He had fulfilled his obligation.
And that wasn't his plan to be there that long.
[Tupac] No doubt.
[Jamala] He had a plan.
[Tupac] ♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
[Jamala] Tupac had a whole life mapped out.
And he was very happy.
♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
♪ Where everyday we Try to fatten our pockets ♪
♪ Us niggas Hustle for the cash ♪
♪ So it's hard to knock it ♪
♪ Everybody got they own thing Currency chasin' ♪
♪ Worldwide through the Hard times, worrying faces ♪
♪ Shed tears as we bury Niggas close to heart ♪
♪ Who was a friend Now a ghost in the dark ♪
♪ Cold-hearted 'bout it Nigga got smoked by a fiend ♪
♪ Tryin' to floss on him, blind To a broken man's dream ♪
♪ A hard lesson, court cases Keep me guessin' ♪
♪ Plea bargain ain't an Option now, so I'm stressin' ♪
♪ Cost me more to be free Than a life in the pen ♪
♪ Makin' money off of Cuss words, writin' again ♪
♪ Learn how to think ahead So I fight with my pen ♪
♪ Late night down sunset Likin' the scene ♪
♪ What's the worst they Can do to a nigga? ♪
♪ Got me lost in Hell, to live And die in L. A. on bail ♪
[Glo] Tupac asked me to move
from Decatur, Georgia, to California.
He wouldn't eat nobody else's fried chicken.
He say, I'll get you a house.
Hell, yeah.
[Tupac] ♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
[Glo] He was our hope for a better life,
a different life.
[Tupac] ♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
He told us to bring his guns.
We packed up every pistol, every rifle,
and we now set off to L. A.
[Tupac] ♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
[Jamal] During that same period,
Suge was doing what he could do to lure Tupac back in.
[chorus] ♪ To live and die in L. A. ♪
Even up to that last day of the ride up to Las Vegas,
where Pac didn't really want to go.
And he's just guilt-tripping him.
- [Suge] "Mike's playing your song." - [announcer] Mike Tyson!
[Jamala] It was the fight night.
So Pac is-- "Aight, fuck him."
On our way to Vegas,
Sunflower seeds, magazines,
cigarettes, blunts, Sunkist. You know?
Checked in at the Luxor hotel.
That's when Pac decided that he didn't want me
and Kidada to hang out.
We kept saying, "This is like Robberween."
You don't want to be out here.
At this point, Pac was always like,
everywhere he goes, he need to put his bulletproof vest on.
Pac had just bought all his jewelry,
his dope Makavelli ring, and the necklace.
But Suge was like, "No, you don't need all that.
You don't need all that.
Come on, we're just gonna go to the fight."
Suge would keep saying,
"Pac, are you behind me?"
and Pac would be like,
"Motherfucker, yeah, I'm behind you."
[chuckles] Yeah.
[Glo] The next morning, my husband and I,
we're driving through Texas.
The ra dio come on, and it say,
"Rapper Tupac Shakur shot in Vegas."
[reporter] While riding along the Strip in Las Vegas.
Shakur is reported in critical condition this morning,
in a Las Vegas hospital.
Oh, God.
[Allen] You guys good? e] I want you to make me look what I am.
Don't make me look right.
Make me look what I am.
[Allen] Um, but I'm first gonna ask you, like,
like, whatever the fuck I ask,
I'm a little goofy, Mike, so bear with me.
Go for it. Join the club.
[Allen] I'm into the parallels between you and Tupac.
He's referred to you as his older brother,
and I feel like you're the only one that can speak.
to someone being from where he's from, coming from
the bottom, fame, fortune--
going through all that stuff you had to go through.
Am I sweatin' like a pimp with one hoe over here?
- [Allen] I'm gonna say to Boot to pat down. - [laughter]
Can I get a pat-down?
You know, when it gets closer to the fight,
if the energy is still humming, I'mma start perspiring,
I start losing weight, I start-- I don't know.
- It just happened. - [Allen] Just off the mindset.
Yeah, it happens naturally.
Like I could be-- I could be like having a bad day...
having bad days. And it just start-- boom!
Everything's coming to set. Boom!
You know what you have to do.
My mind is working, the elements are working.
Everything is right.
You know, I'm a gutter kid.
I was ju st a chubby fat kid, that was-- got disrespected.
I had pigeons. I was raising pigeons.
One day, um, these bullies came to take my pigeons.
I said, "Please, can I have my birds back?"
And this one guy, was like, "No, you fat bitch."
And he popped the neck off,
hit me with the head, poured the blood on me,
hit me with the bird,
then someone said, "Fight him back."
So, I beat the shit out of him.
And when I hit the guy and I dropped him,
I started skipping. Everybody started clapping.
And I got-- Oh!
I got addicted to fighting.
[laughs]
Everybody started clapping. I got addicted to fighting.
I fought every day.
Fighting, biting ears, and fighting in the...
the legs on-- That was-- that was--
Ah, I loved it. It got me high.
It got my...
I was, um...
It got me erected.
My dick got hard.
Violence got my dick hard. Yeah.
[Allen] You got off on it.
I didn't get off. I didn't come.
But it got my dick hard.
[ L'estasi dell'oro by Ennio Morricone plays]
[Allen] Wow.
[Mike] That's how much violence
was a part of my life.
You know, um...
I'm a different kind of guy maybe, than Tupac,
you know, because I-- [stammers]
I don't feel good saying this.
You know, um, that place, the prison--
I--I-- for some reason,
I thrive in places like that.
I was dark.
Tupac was really a good kid.
He had cause and reasons to fight.
He was just a beautiful person.
I'm just-- I'm just selfish.
We just wanna get a lot of money.
The only thing we want, we only want jewelry,
we want nice clothes, and want to get high.
If browns is in the house, we sticking up everything.
We're taking everything.
We might even kill you.
Isn't that true, George?
[ann ouncer] It's showtime!
[Jamal] The atmosphere is charged up.
[Mike] It's chaos like you can never believe.
And... How do I say this?
[bell dings]
I'm the baddest motherfucker
in that element.
[commentator] That's it! It's over in the first round.
[triumphant music playing]
[Jamal] Mike Tyson destroyed his opponent in less than a round.
[Mike] I stopped the gu y in one minute.
Right after I get out the ri ng, I hug Tupac.
I tell him, "I'm gonna see you tonight, nigga."
I'm gonna be at 662, I tell him. Boom!
[screams]
Give me some!
I told you all we back!
[Mike] After the fight, Tupac is still in that mode.
Hey, hey, hey!
♪ When Tyson get in the ring ♪
♪ He knock motherfuckers out! ♪
♪ Well, that's what 2pac gon' do ♪
[Jamal] He was still charged up.
Because the fight didn't satisfy that
gladiator-spectator spirit.
I told you, everybody that go to jail come out,
they got good luck!
[Mike] That's very addictive.
[Tupac] ♪ When niggas come Against me ♪
♪ I'ma knock They punk ass out! ♪
[Mike] If he didn't have anybody to fight,
he'll find somebody to fight.
[Jamal] And then, Pac sees this guy
and someone says,
"Isn't that Orlando Anderson?
The Crip that stole our boy's
Death Row medallion the other day?"
Pac says, "He did what?
I'm gonna go jump on this dude."
[Jamala] Every time I saw it, I cringed.
Every time I saw that video, I cringed.
I was looking at something that was not real.
You are not a gang member.
How did you get here?
What was you trying to prove to who?
How did you go from believing this thing
to believing that?
How did you get the fuck there?
Got caught up.
[gunshots]
[glass clattering]
[sirens blare]
[Jamala] Aw, man.
I remember when we got the call that Pac got shot.
And-- and I froze. I stuck. Like, what?
Like, because we had just went through this in New York.
[reporter] For the second time in two years,
a prominent rap artist has been shot and badly wounded.
Tupac Shakur is in critical condition
in a Las Vegas hospital tonight,
Shakur was s hot four times in the chest.
[Jamala] I don't know the details
of how the incident went,
but I remember after the fight,
Pac come in the room.
He like, "I just knocked this nigga out,"
and he took off the buttoned-up orange shirt
and threw on a jersey
and then went back downstairs,
telling me and Kidada, "Y'all stay in the room."
So we really pissed off about it
because we didn't understand that
these West Coast people
take this gang shit real serious.
I don't even think Pac understood it.
[Jamal] You know, one of the worst things that you could do
on the street is slap somebody
or stomp somebody.
That's a act
of pure humiliation.
You don't do it. And I think that
Orlando Anderson is mobbed up
and they went on the hunt.
And there was enough Crips there and enough eyes
where they were able to get lucky
and see Tupac at that light.
That last photo...
of him in that car...
That just breaks my heart.
Because I wonder if he knew.
[reporter] The rap star came to Las Vegas
to see a Tyson-Seldon fight on Saturday.
Afterwards, he was going out to the 662 club with some friends,
when a gunman pulled up alongside in a Cadillac
and opened fire.
Shakur took four bullets...
And that was that.
And then let's say, an hour later,
me and Kidada, we in the cab
going to the hospital.
I'm hoping that when I see Pac,
that this is like a New York shooting.
that he's coherent,
that he's walking around the room, right?
He's-- he's Pac, you know?
But when we got to the room,
this is when I knew that this was serious.
[machines be eping, hissing]
It was totally different.
He was connected to all these tubes up his nose
and his mouth, arms, everything.
The machine is going off.
[machines beeping]
He is severely injured internally.
He has multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.
He is not sitt ing up and he is not talking.
[Jamala] At that point, I wanted to make sure
that Kidada was all right
'cause it was just me and her there.
She's fucked up.
Me, I'm fucked up.
But I'm like the next of kin.
At the hospital.
So we called my Aunt Feni.
[voice breaks] And I'm like, "Pac's gonna have a hard time.
If he's gonna make it,
he's gonna have to fight real, real hard.
[phone line rings]
[Afeni] I found out about it
when I was in Atlanta.
I took the first plane
that I could get.
But that p eriod, from the time you get the news,
when you're trying to get to your loved one,
is an incredibly long, horrible period of time.
And I think my mind wanted to just go into shutdown.
And not accept it.
I was in a fog...
that I didn't understand.
I understood nothing.
[Jamala] The next day, once everyone came to the hospital,
it became a whole new hysteria.
My mom came and I was relieved.
[Glo] I didn't thi nk it would be so many people,
so that was disconcerting for me.
He was in a medically-induced coma.
He lost a lung and his ring finger was shot off.
The first th ing that goes through me when I see him,
I can remember this,
is that I thought of my mother
when she was on life support.
I had to give the consent, take her off life support.
But then I'm listening to what people are saying,
that he'll be-- You know, people have done this before,
he'll be fine.
We 're in a constant prayer vigil.
- We are... - [man speaks indistinctly]
praying that God will spare his life.
[Snoop] Yup, Jesse Jackson
and his mama was in the hallway.
His mama let me in there.
We didn't talk the last day and a half
before he got shot.
So imagine how I felt when I go to the hospital
and we ain't right.
Afeni pull ed me to the side
and said some encouraging words for us.
"Get your spirit right, nigga. He used to seeing you up."
Don't go in there like a puppy dog go in there like Snoop Dogg.
And I went there like, "What's up, nigga?"
And I know he couldn't hear me, but my spirit was talking to him...
"Wassup, my nigga? What's happening?"
I was talking to his spirit.
"I want to apologize, nigga,
for making you mad
the other day."
That's a different kind of feeling, man,
when it's one of your friends...
[reporter] We are here at the University Medical Center
in Las Vegas, where Tupac Shakur
has remained in critical condition
for over a week.
Doctors felt this is a crucial weekend,
determining whether he would survive.
[Dale] He remai ns in critical condition.
I've been told this evening that he is scheduled
for some additional surgery, which is not unusual
when you have injuries that are this severe.
[Afeni] The doctor put him on dialysis
just in case his kidney failed.
[machines beeping]
But every time they put him on the machine,
his heart would stop.
[Glo] And they said, "We resuscitated him three times,"
and she heard that finally. "What did you say?"
[Afeni] Tupac had stopped breathing.
And every time they revived him,
he just went back.
And I really felt it was important
for Tupac, who fought so hard
to have a free spirit,
to be allowed to be free.
Yo u know? And so I rejoiced.
With him.
And with the release of his spirit,
I rejoiced then and I rejoice now.
When I'm not crying.
[Tupac] Mama, I really do love you.
I appreciate everything you've done for me.
I've done a lot of the things that I wanted to do.
I've led a good life.
I'm not happy here.
If I die tonight, I'm happy.
[Afeni] I asked him to let him go.
[Tupac] World's best mom.
[Afeni] Well, now, here we are.
The light of our life.
The star in our galaxy...
is now dead.
I said, "Um, could I go see him?"
And Feni said, "Go ahead."
I go in and they got a big boom box in the room
playing his music.
[ Vincent by Don McLean plays]
I saw my nephew laying on the table
with the sheet up to his neck.
And the machines are all off.
I know he's dead.
And I was looking at him and I'm touching him
and I'm kissing him.
I kissed him at his head.
I kissed his hands.
I kissed his feet.
And I'm saying to him, "You just fly."
♪ Starry starry night ♪
♪ Paint your palette Blue and gray ♪
♪ Look out on a summer's day ♪
[Glo] Just fly.
♪ With eyes that know ♪
♪ The darkness in my soul ♪
♪ Shadows on the hills ♪
♪ Sketch the trees And the daffodils ♪
♪ Catch the breeze And the winter chills ♪
♪ In colors on The snowy, linen land ♪
[reporter] It's happeni ng. The coroner's truck drove up.
♪ Now I understand ♪
♪ What you tried To say to me ♪
♪ And how you suffered For your sanity ♪
♪ And how you tried To set them free ♪
♪ They would not listen They did not know how ♪
♪ Perhaps they'll listen now ♪
[Glo] My nephew. My sister's only son.
With all of the controversy,
Tupac was our family's shining star.
It was difficult for us to leave that place that day
with Feni pulling us and saying,
"We're not crying here with all these people,
and we're not making no announcements."
♪ But I could have to ld you Vincent ♪
♪ This world was never meant ♪
♪ For one as beautiful as you ♪
[Glo] We were uprooted completely.
And Feni is now out of the public eye.
She's now the mother grieving over her son--
imagine-- who has been murdered.
Every day of her life,
she has to live with that.
And now that he's murdered, he's just not--
because it's a lot--
My sister spoke a lot about this.
A lot of Black women.
A lot of women lost their children
to gun violence.
She's not the only one.
You know? But her son was famous.
And it was all public.
[intro stinger playing]
Hi, I'm Tabitha Soren with an MTV news brief.
Thursday morning's Tupac Shakur Memorial Service in Los Angeles
has been canceled by the murdered rapper's label, Death Row Records,
which says it could not find a venue big enough
to hold all the fans and well-wishers
who wanted to attend.
[reporter] His devoted fans,
who believed his rap litany
mirrored their lives, are mourning.
[Allen] Where were you i n your career when Tupac died?
- Nowhere, absolutely nowhere. - [Allen laughs]
When I heard that Tupac died, I was cooking in a restaurant,
and tickets were piling up
and shit, "I'm like, I don't care. Fire me."
Like, you know, I'm saying, like, that,
man, that was devastating.
It's just like, oh, my God.
Tupac was the first rapper to me
that could make you cry.
Like, like, I felt him that much.
And you know me not knowing my dad
and shit was going on with my mom and the whole shit,
like, it was just like, "Oh, my God, that's me."
You know?
He was like, one year older than me.
You know, he was only 25 years old.
And we was like, "What the fuck?"
Manhood.
They say a man ain't a man till he 27.
You still a baby at 25.
Knowing him through growth and time and healing,
and becoming a grown and a wiser man,
all these re lationships that he had
with people that wasn't right was going to get right
because his spirit was always right.
And now here's a war that nobody can stop.
[Jamala] People started calling my aunt's house,
- all through the day, through the night. - [phone rings]
Calls from all the East Coast callers.
"Is Tupac really dead?"
Calls from the West Coast.
"We're going to get the motherfuckers
that killed your son, yo."
And what happened with Biggie is just like, "Oh, my God."
[reporter 1] In Los Angeles,
police tonight are investigating
the gangland-style murder
of gangster rap music star
Biggie Smalls.
[reporter 2] B. I. G.'s West Coast
rival Tupac Shakur was killed
in a similar hail of bullets
six months ago in Las Vegas.
[reporter 3] Police are investigating rumors
that a feud between rappers on the East Coast
and West Coast led to these shootings.
[Snoop] So that was all the misunderstanding that never had understanding.
The company's going down the hill. Everybody's in disarray.
We gotta be strong enough for each other to know that that's what they really want.
They don't want us together. When we were structuring together,
they tore down the Panther Party,
then they brainwashed us to not love each other.
Then we create the Crips and the Bloods
and then they got us fighting each other
and break us down.
When we're fighting each other,
they let it live.
[reporter] Rap artists and producers
called for an end to the rivalry
and the violence.
[Snoop] A lot of people like to say that rap,
you know, is a-- is a negative.
It's this and that.
But from me to you,
rap saves lives.
So we had to understand that
we only better when we move as one,
and we learn to un derstand each other.
And there ain't nothin g you could really do
but just try to keep doing what we doing.
Everyone else was also calling my aunt
to appear on a talk show.
What I would like to share with your viewers
is that I am very, very upset that we are dying
at the rate that we're dying at
because we can't handle our anger towards each other.
[Jamala] They want to do an interview.
Whatever it is that makes us buy things,
you know, has created a false illusion
of-- of a rift between artists
and between human beings.
I don't want people to think that there isn't reality.
People are running around,
"We don't like people from the East Coast,
and we don't like people from West Coast."
I don't think that's true.
[Jamala] And it's a ll up in the magazines,
so we didn't have time to grieve.
We didn't have time to mourn.
It really became work.
I am hustling every day
with someone or with some entity.
And then there's money.
We thought we were gonna stay in Tupac's home...
in L. A.
until Afeni Shakur
found out that he didn't own that house.
And he didn't own any of the things
that he thought he owned.
And she immediately said,
"We're getting out of here."
And that's when the packing began
and she got a houseboat in Sausalito.
She needed that for herself,
you know, 'cause everything takes time.
[Afeni] So here's a really good thing about this place
is right over there in one of those houseboats,
That's where Otis Redding wrote
[singing] ♪ Sitting on the Dock of the Bay ♪
[laughs]
I like to think it was actually this pier
that he was sitting on and-- and, um, writing it.
I stayed here for, like, three months,
and then I came back and I stayed for
another three months.
And then one of the times I was here,
that houseboat was for sale.
I was like, "I need this." [laughs]
I am in a healing process. And guess what?
That's what this place is for me.
That's what the people are around me
is like, part of my healing, and I'm also now--
I've begun therapy.
You know, which is really a huge step for me, you know?
But, um... I wish that my son was here
and that he could go and lie down in my bed,
and come out of my room,
and say, "Ma, what'd you cook?"
I miss his being. He was my son.
And I miss him as my baby.
My boy, who I loved, respected, appreciated.
He was my friend. He called me up
in the middle of the night
after he done had a hot date
and tell me who he had a hot date with,
what he did, and how excited.
And I said Tupac, "Why do you think--"
I miss that. I miss my son.
[Shock G] Wow.
Tupac Shakur.
We all miss Pac.
Jesus Christ, I miss him.
I'm so... spoiled by Pac
that I stopped making music.
Who could-- Who do you put beats under now?
After Pac died, there was pain and sorrow,
but there was also-- [exhales]
There was a relief.
There was an exhale that happened.
And there was a calm that came.
All of his pain,
all the voices in his head, finally silenced.
There was a small funeral
that Afeni had on Malibu Beach.
30 t o 50 friends and family.
We brought drums and we had fires burning.
But we threw all the gifts in the ocean.
Chicken wings and the Hennessy and his favorite pictures.
Jewelry, books.
The water was freezing.
But Afeni walked in, deep out there,
to dump the urn.
Afeni said it best.
"Don't cry for my baby.
He was a strong fighter.
And he burned a white flag.
It burned all night."
And Pac lived an intense, potent,
deadly 25 years.
When something burns really hot...
[imitates sizzling]
It's gone.
Tupac died to get his message across.
I believe that.
He was a pre-thinker.
He had a Plan E, much less a Plan B.
He was always plotting, "If I died this way,
put this out."
♪ Father Forgive us for livin' ♪
♪ While all my homies Stuck in prison ♪
♪ Barely breathin', believin' ♪
♪ That the world is a prison ♪
♪ It's like a ghetto ♪
♪ We can never leave ♪
♪ A broken rose givin' bloom ♪
♪ Through the cracks ♪
♪ Of the concrete ♪
♪ So many other things ♪
♪ For us to see ♪
♪ Things to be Our history ♪
♪ So full of tragedy And misery ♪
♪ To all my homies Never made it home ♪
♪ The dead peers I shed tattooed tears for ♪
♪ When I'm alone ♪
♪ Picture us inside A ghetto heaven ♪
♪ A place to rest Findin' peace ♪
♪ Through this land of stress ♪
♪ In my chest I feel Pain come in sudden storms ♪
♪ Life full of rain in this Game, watch for lead thorns ♪
♪ Our unborn never got to grow Never got to see what's next ♪
♪ In this world full of Countless threats ♪
♪ I beg God, to make a way for Our ghetto kids to breathe ♪
♪ Show us sign Make us all believe ♪
♪ 'Cause I ain't mad at cha ♪
For the homeboys that passed away, I ain't mad.
All the homeboys locked in jail,
all the people that lost a loved one this year.
Man, you know, Pac was so on another level,
like he was always somebody that had a plan, had a idea.
Had a mission, had a goal. And so he kind of,
in his own weird way, prepared us for.
[Tupac] We look at death from the selfish side,
like, you know, that guy died. Oh, it's so sad.
Why is it sad? He's away from all of this bad stuff
that's here on Earth.
He's, I mean, at the worst,
he's just somewhere quiet and no, nothing.
At best, he's an angel or he's at the next existence,
or he's a spirit somewhere, you know.
What is so bad about that?
It's only bad for the people who he left
because you guys are mad.
That's like some crab- in-the-bucket type stuff.
- [interviewer chuckles] - I mean,
[chuckles] it's this harsh-- harsh analogy,
- but that's what it's like, though. - [interviewer] Mm-hmm.
[Afeni] Tupac did talk about himself not being here.
You know, he really did look at life and death.
And that is a very odd thing for a young person.
But for some reason, people believe
that we are not born to die. We actually are.
Every one of us gets here with two dates,
the entry date and the exit date.
And every human being
has to make peace with that truth.
Tupac made peace with it earlier than I would have liked.
But he, as it turns out, did the right thing.
You know? Because he did make peace with it.
And an artist is, generally speaking,
a long time ahead of the audience,
you know. So...
♪ I kiss my mama goodbye ♪
♪ Wipe the tears From her lonely eyes ♪
♪ Said I'll return but I gotta Fight the fate's arrived ♪
♪ Don't shed a tear 'cause mama I ain't happy here ♪
♪ I'm through trial, No more smiles ♪
♪ For a couple years ♪
♪ They got me goin' mad ♪
♪ I'm knockin' busters On they backs ♪
♪ In my cell, thinkin', "Hell ♪
♪ I know one day I'll be back" ♪
♪ I ain't mad at cha ♪
[Snoop] Well, he just was like a special motherfucker.
I remember before he passed away,
'96.
I had gotten into an argument with my wife.
She was my girlfriend at the time.
We-- we was on a plane again.
And it was me and all the Death Row niggas and Tupac.
Everybody was like, "Man, fuck that bitch.
Nigga, you Snoop Doggy Dogg. Nigga, you can get any bitch you want, man."
Tupac was like, "Man, fuck what they talking about, nigga.
She love you, nigga. And you love her, nigga.
You need to make her your wife."
[Tupac rapping] ♪ Congratulations On the weddin' ♪
♪ I hope your wife know She got a playa for life ♪
♪ And that's no bullshittin' ♪
Now that I'm thinking about all the shit that I've done
since he's been gone,
he puts it in the air,
then it becomes a reality.
[E.D.I. Mean] Nice life, kids.
He might have saw that for us.
I don't think he saw himself growing old
and being a grandfather.
And all the shit that I am now. He wasn't gonna bend.
♪ And I can't even trip 'cause I'm just laughin' at cha ♪
♪ You tryin' hard to maintain Then go 'head ♪
♪ 'Cause I ain't mad at cha ♪
[Leila] He never saw himself living to enjoy his work,
and he always said, "My work will happen
when I'm not here anymore.
I am leaving a body of work."
I always wanted to make a book out of my life,
like a fairy tale.
Raised by the Black Panthers and struck out.
[Leila] Tupac saw hims elf delivering his script,
and he lived that script,
leaving it for us.
[Afeni] Tupac left about 400 songs.
We spent the first five years in court
fighting for the rights,
and what we've been able to do with that
is purchase a 56-acre farm.
[Dante] That's sweet Feni farm, baby.
We on Fe farm.
She always wanted land.
[Tupac] ♪ Niggas need a spot Where we can kick it ♪
♪ A spot where we belong That's just for us ♪
[Afeni] God made humans
so that we would never be perfect.
Tupac was an intelligent human being,
but one of Tupac's problems in the beginning
was that he didn't have a place to scream and holler.
[Tupac rapping] ♪ A place To spend my quiet nights Time to unwind ♪
♪ So much pressure In this life of mine I cry at times ♪
♪ I once contemplated suicide And would've tried ♪
♪ But when I held that .9 All I could see was My mama's eyes ♪
[Afeni] And I wish he could stand
in the middle of the farm
and throw things. And it would be okay.
But if you don't have acres to throw it at, it's not okay.
[Tupac rapping] ♪ Picture me inside The misery of poverty ♪
♪ No man alive has ever Witnessed struggles I survived ♪
♪ Praying hard for Better Dayz Promise to hold on ♪
♪ Me and my dogs ain't have A choice but to roll on ♪
♪ We finally found A spot to kick it ♪
♪ Where we can drink liquor And no one bickers ♪
♪ Over trick shit ♪
[Afeni] So we're now preparing to open
the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center
in Stone Mountain, Georgia,
because one of the things that he planned to do
all over the country was to build
what he called at the time "thug mansions."
[Tupac rapping] ♪ And in my mind's eye I see this place ♪
♪ The players go in fast ♪
♪ I got a spot for us all So we can ball ♪
♪ At Thugz Mansion ♪
[Afeni] Thug Mansion was all about space,
opportunity and resources
geared to young people who were trapped
in a violent environment that they did not invent.
[Tupac rapping] ♪ I need a house That's full of love ♪
♪ When I need to escape The deadly places ♪
♪ Slingin' drugs In Thugz Mansion ♪
[Afeni] We are hoping that our next Tupac
who's gonna take their family out of economic oblivion,
is in this audience.
And that we will be able to help you do that.
[applause]
[Jasmine] This was the Afeni of the movement.
She really rose to the occasion
of taking care of the business of her son.
[Mos Def singing] ♪ The seed that must grow Regardless ♪
[Glo] She worked from the moment he died
to elevate him in a way that wasn't able to be done
when he was alive.
She was war ready.
[Snoop] Everybody said, "She crazy.
She hard to work with."
No, she ain't, she a smart Black woman
that know that her son shit need
to be in her possession.
I'll just fight till there's no more breath.
And I feel like the spirit of Tupac has only grown
because people got a chance to study him
through his mother.
[man] Tupac left you a message.
And the message was to keep your head up.
[Mos Def singing] ♪ Can you see the pride Of the Panther? ♪
[Eminem] After he passed, man,
he had 10 more albums.
I wrote Afeni a note and drew a picture.
She understood I was such a huge Tupac fan.
And she's like, the sweetest lady ever, man.
She was just like, "Do what you feel."
And gave me all his acapellas.
That was one of the funnest times of my life.
[Afeni] As long as you keep Tupac's vision, his music,
and his memory alive, his spirit will not die.
[cheering]
[Dre] 2012, Coachella.
The wind stopped, the audience got quiet--
and we're talking about 90,000 motherfuckers.
And when Tupac came up out of the ground,
"What the fuck is up, Coachella?"
[cheering]
And the crowd went crazy.
90,000 motherfuckers.
Oh, man. The soldiers,
- the children soldiers. - [Allen] In Africa?
[Mike] When they're goin' to war, they listen to Tupac's music.
Blows my mind. And I just think, he probably is
the most famous rapper in the world, I don't care how much money you got.
Fuck your billion dollars.
At the end of the day, it's immortality.
[E.D.I. Mean] Tupac left an indelible print
where people from all over the world
that are oppressed, beaten, terrorized,
see him as their patron saint.
[Snoop] And while many remember him
as some thugged-out superhero,
Tupac knew he was only human.
To be human is to be many things at once,
strong and vulnerable,
hardheaded and intellectual,
courageous and afraid,
loving, and vengeful, revolutionary.
And, oh, yeah, don't get it fucked up. Gangster.
Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- Thug life! - [cheering]
You know you gonna live forever.
'Cause legends always do.
They can't take this away from you, homie.
[Mos Def] ♪ Can you see the pride in the Panther ♪
♪ As he glows In splendor and grace? ♪
♪ Toppling the obstacles Placed ♪
♪ In the way of The progression of his race ♪
[Afeni] I believe still, in the depths of my heart,
you can kill a revolutionary,
- but you cannot kill a revolution. - [crowd cheering]
Keep loving, keep creating.
Keeping making music.
Keep dancing!
Keep living! Loud!
Peace! We outta here!
[Mos Def singing] ♪ Can you see the pride in the Panther ♪
♪ As she nurtures her young All alone? ♪
♪ The seed must grow Regardless ♪
♪ Of the fact that it's been Planted in stone ♪
[Glo] Awesome.
♪ Can't you see the pride n the panthers ♪
[Glo] Awesome.
♪ As they unify, as one? ♪
[Glo] Awesome.
♪ The flower blooms With brilliance ♪
♪ And outshines all The rays of the sun ♪
[Glo] Awesome.
♪ Shines bright Like rays of the sun ♪
[Glo] That's how I feel talking about my sister,
and my nephew.
Yes, I only had one. One sister and one nephew.
But, boy, did I hit the jackpot.
You know what I mean? 'Cause look at me.
They couldn't be here.
They had to go,
so we can tell the story.
Ain't that something? So we can tell the story.
'Cause Afeni wanted the story told.
Everybody knew that.
and she covered her people.
I remember a t ime that we went and did a benefit in Richmond,
and my whole job was to protect Afeni.
And she's-- takes off soon as she gets out the car.
She walks right past me, security, the police.
She's just freely walking, and I'm like,
"I'm trying to protect you."
And she laughed. She said, "You can't protect me.
I'm protecting you."
They said that Tupac in the car with Suge
when they was getting shot at,
Tupac dove over Suge and covered him.
There's a story about Mutulu when he was 13.
Somebody shot up a church and he dove
on top of old ladies and covered them.
This is who these people are.
They-- they don't know anything else.
They don't do anything else but that.
The last year of Afeni's life,
I got to spend a lot of time with her.
We were on the houseboat in Sausalito,
hanging out, having a good day.
Fe wasn't feeling well.
Then I went to go get medicine for her.
And when I got back to the house,
she, um, was unconscious.
And so I put her on the floor and began CPR...
while we waited for the ambulance to come.
Um...
[softly] Yeah, I think that's about all I can do right now.
[Glo] She passed away May 2nd.
She had a heart attack at 69 years old.
I had no sign. None of us did.
[Allen] Did she find a peace of mind in that 20 years?
My sister never had peace of mind.
My sister never felt that she had done it right.
My sister was in pain till the day she died.
Now, you're going to get a tear or two,
but you asked me, and here it go.
My sister never had peace of mind.
My sister never felt like she had done the best she could.
My sister had tremendous guilt
about some of the decisions that she had made in her life.
But that's just human, and the fact that she existed
and that she lived and she did what she did
and she had that boy.
And she did what she had to do for him.
She tried to do it for us, too, just like he did.
The smartest woman that I knew,
the most compassionate and all of that...
For that.
I want my sister recognized for the most powerful,
beautiful person that she was.
I want this to be her gift.
- From me sitting here... - [tapping chest]
that she left her sister to tell her story.
And that her sister-- I pray, did a hell of a job
talking about my baby sister.
My one and only. Okay, cut.
I can't take no more 'cause I'll start crying for real
- and I'm choking up. - [Allen] You got me crying.
Yeah, I don't like that.
I don't like-- I don't like crying in the public.
[laughter]
[Afeni] I thank y'all for being patient with me here.
I'm gonna read a little bit from the book.
My favorite chapter, which is the end.
"The five women of Sweet Honey in the Rock
were alive with fire.
An explosion of beauty and soul.
Each woman is so different,
but their power transcends the Atlantic."
Afeni knows every wo rd, every inflection.
Bernice Johnson-Reagon delivers.
[singing] ♪ We who believe in freedom Cannot rest ♪
[Glo] Afeni sings right along.
♪ We who believe in freedom ♪
♪ Cannot rest until it comes ♪
"In my ear to my left, I hear Afeni sing.
She raises her hands towards Sweet Honey and sings
through her pain and her trials."
♪ Cannot rest ♪
[Glo] She sings through the death of her son
♪ Until the killing of Black men ♪
♪ Black mothers' son ♪
♪ Is as important As the killing of white men ♪
♪ White mothers' son ♪
♪ We who believe in freedom Cannot rest ♪
[Glo] She sings through her Panther years.
[Afeni singing] ♪ That which touches me most Is that I had a chance ♪
♪ To work with people ♪
♪ Passing on to others ♪
♪ That which Was passed on to me ♪
[Glo] Through the healing of her daughter's spirit.
[Afeni singing] ♪ To me, young people Come first ♪
♪ They have the courage Where we fail ♪
[Glo] Through realizing the dream of Tupac Amaru Shakur
Performing Arts Center,
where little children like young Tupac
can go for artistic nourishment.
[Afeni singing] ♪ Is when the rei ns Are in the hands of the young ♪
♪ Who dare to run Against the storm ♪
♪ We who believe in freedom ♪
[Glo] The chorus swells and I close my eyes.
Afeni's voice is the only voice I hear.
[Afeni singing] ♪ We who believe in freedom ♪
♪ Cannot rest ♪
♪ Until it comes ♪
"She possesses the next verse
as if it were written just for her.
It is her testimony."
[singing] ♪ I am a woman Who speaks in a voice ♪
♪ And I must be heard ♪
♪ A t times I can be Quite difficult ♪
♪ I bow to no man's word ♪
"This is Afeni.
This song is written for her."
[singing] ♪ We who believe in freedom ♪
♪ Cannot rest ♪
[Glo] As Afeni's story is written for me.
♪ We who believe in freedom ♪
♪ Cannot rest Until it comes ♪
You're welcome.
- [cheering and applaud ing] - [ Until the End of Time by 2pac plays]
♪ Hey, hmm, better days ♪
♪ Hmm, hmm, hmm, yeah ♪
♪ Perhaps I was addicted To the dark side ♪
♪ Somewhere inside my childhood Witnessed my heart die ♪
♪ And even though we both came From the same places ♪
♪ The money and the fame made Us all change places ♪
♪ How could it be? Through the Misery that came to pass ♪
♪ The hard times Make a true friend ♪
♪ Afraid to ask for currency ♪
♪ But you could run to me when You need and I'll never leave ♪
♪ Honestly, someone to believe In, as you can see ♪
♪ It's a small thing to a true What could I do? ♪
♪ Real homies Help you get through ♪
♪ And come to knew he'd do The same thang if he could ♪
♪ 'Cause in the hood, true Homies make you feel good ♪
♪ And half the times We be actin' up call the cops ♪
♪ Bringin' a cease to the peace That was on my block ♪
♪ It never stops, when my mama Ask me will I change? ♪
♪ I tell her, "Yeah, but it's Clear I'll always be the same ♪
♪ 'Til the end of time ♪
♪ Take these broken wings ♪
♪ I need your hands to come And heal me once again ♪
- ♪ So I can fly ♪ - ♪ Unt il the end of time ♪
♪ 'Til the end of time ♪
♪ Take these broken wings ♪
The firs t one I'm gonna do
is called, Us Killing Us Equals Genocide.
It's about youth killing youth.
[singer] ♪ Yeah, hmm Better days ♪
♪ Listen, everybody 'Cause you're all involved ♪
♪ There's a problem In the nation That must be solved ♪
♪ What's my attitude With that ♪
♪ To this I swear As long as I didn't get shot ♪
♪ I just didn't care Let me tell you About Roger ♪
♪ 'Cause he was smart ♪
♪ Wanted to be a doctor An operator on hearts ♪
♪ Got, gots to go To a real good college ♪
♪ He didn't want to get high He wanted to get knowledge ♪
♪ Now Roger was at home One fateful night ♪
♪ Cause right next door To Roger was a gang On violence ♪
♪ Knew the girl That lived there So he was concerned ♪
♪ Stepped out to see What happened But never returned ♪
♪ Why he was shot six times He never revealed ♪
♪ That poor Black man His hopes and his dreams ♪
♪ Let me tell you about Romy He was mad as bad ♪
♪ He got strength with Rocky With Philly effect ♪
♪ Knew what, begin to rock that He does with the what ♪
♪ Like I said he was affected Now he wanted to fight ♪
♪ I done told him to calm down And play it cool ♪
♪ Romy paid no mind Wanted to act a fool ♪
♪ Reinventing of the word That's like of what I said ♪
♪ First Roger was killed Now Romy is dead ♪
♪ Stop the killing, start Telling better things to do ♪
♪ Listen close to the message I'm beating for you ♪
♪ Because the Black population Is becoming endangered ♪
♪ So before you Pull the trigger Stop and think ♪
♪ Because you could Kill from acting With the dark of the night ♪
♪ But you can never forget the Day you thought it was right ♪
♪ Now we mourn this stuff Together, we must unite ♪
♪ 'Cause that's the deadly Enemy that we must fight ♪
♪ We gotta deal With the problem Without a bust ♪
♪ Please stop the killing Now support, now stop now ♪
♪ Fellas stay in school And cop the gold ♪
♪ Get the ruckus of hands And the know after know ♪
♪ Young lady you a repping And that you know ♪
♪ But when your man wants to Make love, you birth control ♪
♪ But you people get The message in my rhyme ♪
♪ Remember us killing us Equals genocide ♪
[cheering, applauding]