Before Barack, there was Tupac [Excerpt]

How hypocritical is Liberty?
That blind bitch ain’t never did shit for me.
My history full of caskets and scars
My own black nation at war…whole family behind bars.
(Shakur, Letter to President, 1997)

Unlike empathetic understanding, which directs communicative energy on an audience outside of the inner-city, many of Tupac’s messages were directed at his community. These messages, directed at the community, are manifestations of the value of communalism. These types of messages were given in the form of lessons, encouragement, and beneficial advice through strenuous situations. Foster (1971) defines communalism, as it applies to African American referent, as the “relationship of the individual to the group in the larger quest for survival and the ultimate goal of social order” (p. 12). In many instances, this quest for survival and social order requires critiquing and criticizing the established order. By critiquing the established order, one highlights discrepancies in resources or treatment as it pertains to their group, therefore displaying communalism. This form of communalism is the basis for the small excerpt that introduces this section; the suggestion here is that the American value of liberty is hypocritical when related to the African American experience.
Tupac achieves communalism through the use of three general methods which include (1) assuming a pedagogical stance in relation to his audience, (2) making appeals for his young constituents to establish independence, and (3) direct confrontation with the agents of oppression, which in most cases, are the police. In his methodological approach to exercising communalism, Tupac assumes the role of a teacher and demonstrates qualities similar to that of a communal leader.

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