As part of its Centennial Celebration, Alpha Kappa Alpha hosted Afeni Shakur, mother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, in the Tresidder Oak Room last night. Shakur — activist, author and CEO of Amaru Entertainment/Amaru Records — stressed the importance of mentors in developing character and personal strength.
One of Shakur’s own mentors was her great-grandmother, who was “one of the most important things that happened to [her].”
“If my great-grandmother had not told me basic things when I was a little girl, then in 1969 when I was arrested I would have fell apart. But my great-grandmother had already prepared me for what life was.”
Despite the fact that Shakur never finished high school, she made it very clear that “getting out of high school never meant that [she] had an excuse to not read, study or know.”
During her tenure as a member of the Black Panther Party, Shakur said she dealt with a lot of anger.
“I became so angry about so many things that my anger took me to a place that I could not recover,” she said. “This is a roundabout way of saying I was a crackhead.”
According to Shakur, the biggest step that leaders of our generation can take toward obtaining civil rights is to become a mentor to someone in trouble.
“You gotta let that person [in trouble] know that they can change,” she said. “It’s important that they know that life is not over, that you don’t look at them a certain way.”
Shakur also stressed the importance of working together and utilizing the strengths of each individual.
“There is somebody that can do everything when we learn not to pick on each other,” she said. “If I have faith in other people, there are so many things we can accomplish.”
Shakur further discussed the willingness to accept failure as a part of personal growth, having a consistent life, judging people based on their character instead of their outward appearance, not allowing anger to motivate action and developing methods of conflict resolution.
Shakur’s passion reached her diverse audience last night, which packed Tresidder Oak West Room to the point of overflowing into the Oak East Room.
“Her frank discussion of her past was fascinating, if surprising,” said Ben Sumers ‘11. “Many speakers will shield their thoughts from a crowd, but she opened, or made it seem that she opened, her past to the audience.”
Source: The Standford Daily
One of Shakur’s own mentors was her great-grandmother, who was “one of the most important things that happened to [her].”
“If my great-grandmother had not told me basic things when I was a little girl, then in 1969 when I was arrested I would have fell apart. But my great-grandmother had already prepared me for what life was.”
Despite the fact that Shakur never finished high school, she made it very clear that “getting out of high school never meant that [she] had an excuse to not read, study or know.”
During her tenure as a member of the Black Panther Party, Shakur said she dealt with a lot of anger.
“I became so angry about so many things that my anger took me to a place that I could not recover,” she said. “This is a roundabout way of saying I was a crackhead.”
According to Shakur, the biggest step that leaders of our generation can take toward obtaining civil rights is to become a mentor to someone in trouble.
“You gotta let that person [in trouble] know that they can change,” she said. “It’s important that they know that life is not over, that you don’t look at them a certain way.”
Shakur also stressed the importance of working together and utilizing the strengths of each individual.
“There is somebody that can do everything when we learn not to pick on each other,” she said. “If I have faith in other people, there are so many things we can accomplish.”
Shakur further discussed the willingness to accept failure as a part of personal growth, having a consistent life, judging people based on their character instead of their outward appearance, not allowing anger to motivate action and developing methods of conflict resolution.
Shakur’s passion reached her diverse audience last night, which packed Tresidder Oak West Room to the point of overflowing into the Oak East Room.
“Her frank discussion of her past was fascinating, if surprising,” said Ben Sumers ‘11. “Many speakers will shield their thoughts from a crowd, but she opened, or made it seem that she opened, her past to the audience.”
Source: The Standford Daily
