Review Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003

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"What's so bad about death? ... All my life all I wanted to be was an angel for God." -- Tupac Shakur CASS' CLIP (WARNING: **spoilers below**) As if having an out of body experience and soaring above the clouds, Tupac says, "I got shot." But, before we can deal with this opening statement, we should follow Tupac's advice to "Measure a man by his full life -- from beginning to end," and examine the circumstances that led to Tupac's death. In his own words, Tupac tells us that his mother, Afeni Shakur, was a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party. Like most Black Panthers, Afeni's involvement in the movement led to her arrest. At the time of her incarceration, Afeni was pregnant, and one month after she was released from jail, Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in Brooklyn, New York. ["I was cultivated in prison."] Tupac was named after the Inca Indian chief, Tupac Amaru, which Tupac said meant "intelligent," but in actuality, his name meant, "shining serpent." [The American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition, defines shining as " ... to distinguish oneself in an activity or a field," and serpent as " ... a subtle, sly, or treacherous person." Along with his astrological sign, Gemini -- one twin shining and the other twin the serpent --Tupac's future seemed predetermined the day he was born]. In his own words, Tupac shed his media persona and revealed that he loved his childhood, but he hated "growing up poor." No matter where Tupac lived -- Brooklyn, NY, Baltimore, Maryland, or Marin City, California -- "poverty" was always a part of his environment. Despite these hardships, Tupac read William Shakespeare, wrote poetry as an outlet for his pain, listened to Don McLean, and attended Baltimore School of the Performing Arts with Jada Pinkett Smith. The acting bug bit Tupac when he got his first acting job playing Travis in Lorraine Hansberry's stage play, A Raisin in the Sun. Notoriety and fame came when Tupac hooked up with the rap group, Digital Underground. Then came two more acting gigs, Juice (1992) and Poetic Justice (1993) with Janet Jackson. Somewhere along the way, this well spoken, educated, witty, and charismatic young man got lost. Tupac's raps became less poetic reflections about his own life. His new gangsta raps took on a more hardcore and allegoric mantra -- 2Pacalypse Now -- about the violent streets his fellow brothas lived in, yet he only witnessed. Tupac's comparison of poverty, injustice, homelessness, hopelessness and police brutality to the Vietnam War is pretty powerful stuff to hear. ["I show the horror and hopefully they will stop it."] But what was supposed to be a lesson in social consciousness and political awareness beget the "Thug Life". ["I didn't create the thug life. I diagnosed it," Tupac defiantly states.] What Tupac forgot was that he was preaching a "Thug Life" philosophy to a bunch of real life thugs who didn't give a fuck about raping women, or killing and dying for shit they stole from hardworking people. Therefore, his so-called "Code of Thug Life" was just empty words on a piece of paper. Once Tupac let the genie out of the bottle -- "I didn't have a record until I made a record." -- his own prophecy about his inevitable demise slowly became a reality. Tupac was arrested numerous times for everything from his jaywalking/police brutality incident with the LAPD, to serving 15 days in county jail for assaulting the Hughes Brothers. In his own words, Tupac said, "I love women," and "When I was younger, I was surrounded by strong women." How he evolved from loving women to calling women bitches and whores is still a mystery to me. On the other hand, in a twist of poetic justice, Tupac was convicted of sexual abuse. His explanation about the incident and his conviction seemed plausible, but ironic nonetheless. Putting him closer to his prophesized path, Marion "Suge" Knight of Death Row Records, bailed Tupac out of jail, and Tupac basically signed over his life to the devil when he joined Death Row Records. [Subliminal or not, any company named Death Row is definitely a sign that death is inevitable]. "When I was with Death Row, I was successful, but not always happy," Tupac admitted. In his own words, Tupac claimed that the message behind his music was that if given a chance, "young black males can do anything." Tupac was given a chance but he squandered his opportunity away by getting high and preaching non-violence, while his words incited just the opposite. ["I had a prophecy about my death. That's why I like to go in the studio and do three songs a day to get things ready."] Then, in 1994, while Tupac was leaving the recording studio, he was shot five times in a botched up robbery attempt. Tupac alluded to the East and West Coast rivalry and the possibility of Biggie Smalls and Puffy Combs being involved in this incident. In September 1996, after Suge and Tupac left the Tyson and Sheldon fight, at a Las Vegas casino, Tupac was gunned down. On Friday, September 13, 1996, 25-year old Tupac Shakur finally made it to the ultimate death row. In a flash, Tupac went from Baltimore School of the Arts to Clinton Correctional Facility, from poverty to fame, from birth to death, and from the grave to resurrection. "I know how it's gonna be when I die, just fade to out, no noise." -- Tupac Shakur DA 411 Let me say this first. As a single mother raising a young African American male during the Tupac era, I was afraid that my impressionable son would become a solider in a war he was not trained to battle in. For a brief time, I lost my son to Tupac's "Thug Life" philosophy, which is why I initially refused to see this documentary. At the last minute, I took my 17-year old nephew with me so he could translate the lingo. When the movie was over, I must admit that I was glad I had a change of heart because I left the theater with a newfound appreciation for Tupac Shukar. Tupac: Resurrection is basically broken down into three acts. Act 1 is about Tupac's childhood. Act 2 explores his teenage years and his ambitions. Act 3 unearths Tupac's socially conscious but violent short-lived life as a man. "This is my story -- ambition, redemption, violence and love," Tupac said. The fact that director, Lauren Lazin chose Tupac's "I got shot" quote to open this film may mislead some viewers because Tupac's ghostlike presence could lend credence to hype that he's still alive. Either way, Tupac: Resurrection is a seamless chronology of old family photos, newspaper clippings, concert footage, home movies, journal entries, and previous interviews, of the real Tupac Shakur. Filmgoers, Galintha Harden, Shewan D. Herbert and Karen S. Wilson, poets and authors of the poetry anthology, Love, Revolution and the Dirty South, said, "We thoroughly enjoyed Tupac: Resurrection because it was in Tupac's own words. As poets, we were interested in seeing and hearing his poetic voice. Now whether or not you believe what Tupac said is up to the viewer. The fact that his mother was the executive producer, made it evident that a lot of love went into the production of this documentary. And, there were so many profound quotes, especially the different meanings of a "Nigger" having a rope around his neck, to a "Nigga" having gold around his neck." We plan to see this again because there was a lot of information to take in." Whether or not you liked Tupac Shakur, this documentary will certainly give those Tupac-haters a different point of view about the life he once lived. No better script could have been written than those spoken in his own words. Now, may Tupac REST IN PEACE. CASS' CONCLUSION Despite the fact that Tupac Shakur has been dead for seven years, this documentary resurrects his soul for 90 minutes, and I swear you will really feel as if he is still alive. TUPAC: RESURRECTION:   back to top Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003 EMAIL: cass@3blackchicks.com