Tupac Shakur, the Modern Day Makeveli Prince

What We Can Learn from Dear Mama Docuseries on Tupac and Afeni Shakur’s Legacies, The Black Panthers, and Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince”

“I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.” – Tupac Shakur

How are the Black Panthers, Tupac Amaru Shakur, and Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” connected with current-day politics? Their stories connect political strategies, philosophies, theories, and repeated patterns of social issues which have spanned over 500 hundred years. 

Tupac wanted his legacy to break that cycle by using his entertainment art with sometimes symbolic, expressive messaging many still find challenging to comprehend. Much speculation has engulfed Tupac’s life story since he died almost three decades ago, making the man more of a mythological legend that grows as time passes, an icon phenomenon that only a few celebrities benefit from after death.

Numerous university college courses have been taught to analyze his poetry and life. He was a misunderstood outlier—a zeitgeist of Generation X—born as a product of the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, living through an era in time that attempted to erase their recent legacy. A truly American story anyone can learn from to avoid adversity and calamity if they want to pursue their dreams of greatness. 

Analyzing his life, his mother’s life, and a key message he left behind with the last album he made when he was alive could be vital in understanding the challenges they faced, which at times stopped their political activism with continued social-economic environmental issues that persist today.

The highly acclaimed new FX/Hulu Docuseries “Dear Mama” by director Allen Hughes best tells the life story of Tupac Shakur and his mother, Afeni Shakur, who made Tupac the revolutionary mind he was. The docuseries dances between two timelines weaving the stories of their two lives together with interviews by Hip-Hop legends like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Shock G, celebrity friends like Mike Tyson, former Black Panthers like Jamal Joseph, and family members like Afeni’s sister Glo.

The two spirits of Afeni and Tupac Shakur became a mirror image embracing two timelines, exposing the human cost of oppressing and over-policing a community to death, resulting in those communities finding different ways of fighting survival. Some ways were productive and revolutionary, while others were exploitive and destructive. It is when oppressed groups are productive and revolutionary adversity persists.

Afeni was inspired to dedicate her life as a political activist to the Black Panther Party of Self Defense at the Harlem, NY chapter. Tupac fought to continue his mother’s legacy post-COINTELPRO civil rights era during the heightened American war on drugs resulting in tough-on-crime policies, which have produced for-profit prison exploitation and stirred a rise of organized mass movements like Black Lives Matter (BLM) fighting against police violence.

Afeni and Tupac experienced betrayal and imprisonment after people they thought were comrades sold them out to authorities. Both dealt with an unfair discriminative narrative with the press in the media. The docuseries revealed meaningful connections in history that had never been connected before.

Imagine giving your body, heart, soul, and spirit towards liberating your people, yet your people become your downfall. This is an unexpected outcome that anyone who has joined a liberation movement full of hope and left exhausted, traumatized, and run-down has experienced. Opposing forces of power will strip people of their humanity if they can, creating fear, anger, and desperation in the shadows so that only blame can be pinned on those around them. Powerful people looking down on populations of people and manipulating them without their knowledge is a story as old as humanity. Understanding human nature is one of the many links between the Black Panthers’ principles and a basic concept of philosophy that has been debated for thousands of years.

Machiavelli wrote of the importance of understanding human nature if one wanted to rule like a Prince.

…it is necessary to be a prince to be able to know thoroughly the nature of people, and to know the nature of princes one must be one of the populace.

Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince

We just gotta be smarter and sharper, or they gonna start taking away each and every person that steps forward to do anything positive for the community. So, that’s why we be wondering why everyone wants to live a negative lifestyle. It’s safer. And the community don’t support us when we do step out and take bullets for y’all.

Tupac Shakur

Being raised on the principles of the Black Panthers would have included a ten-point platform, a required reading list, an evolved understanding of globalized economics, politics, dialectal materialism, and the use of observing contradiction in the community to address problems; a research theory Black Panther elders today call becoming a Revolutionary Social Scientist (RSS). “All Power to the People” is a Black Panther Party mantra that means all people; regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, class, and background. The party understood they could not be Black nationalists because nationalism is part of a white supremacy colonialist mindset. Thus, you could not liberate people with the oppressors’ attitude. 

With this realization of unifying all people by class regardless of race, the Black Panther Party became the greatest threat to the security of the United States J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was a staunch opponent of communism. Communism is a Marxist philosophical theory that believes capitalism must thrive by exploiting the means of production by paying workers little to nothing while maintaining resources and profit in the hands of a few powerful who hold private property ownership.

Many in the media created a narrative of confusion around Tupac, saying he was a walking contradiction, failing to understand society itself is systematically contradictive, especially towards Black people and people of color in America. Tupac was observing and reflecting on the contradictions around him to expose them. One could only speak his truth by understanding where he came from and what he experienced. So he told us how he cried and wondered if there’s a heaven for a G.

Afeni was in jail because of her beliefs while pregnant with Tupac. She helped with the Black Panther Breakfast program, selling Black Panther Newspapers, providing education, and fighting for healthcare. These are just a few examples of the 65 Black Panther programs provided in the country and worldwide at the time.

Several Black Panther elders continued to guide Tupac in his life and through his entertainment career. Tupac’s stepfather and political prisoner, Mutulu Shakur, was one of them. Mutulu advised Tupac while Mutulu was in jail, helping him create a “Thug Code” which would set rules on the streets for outlaws who resonated with Tupac. Some of the rules included no kidnapping or hurting innocent people. Mutulu has only recently been released from prison after 35 years.

Jamal Joseph is another. Joseph learned on his first day arming oneself with education was more important than arming oneself with guns to the Black Panther Party.

Two of the most important lessons I learned in the Black Panther Party came from Afeni Shakur. She says, ‘Freedom is an abstract idea to folk. To someone who is hungry, it’s the meal. To someone who doesn’t have a place to stay, it’s a warm, safe place to sleep. For someone who is sick, it’s medical care from someone who cares.

Former Black Panther Party Member Jamal Joseph, Harlem New York Chapter

The continued support from Black Panther elders and his mother’s guidance maintained these principles in Tupac, which he expressed in his music, poetry, acting, and interviews. He understood, as a child of a Black Panther who was followed by police authorities at a young age, how dangerous it was to continue the Black Panther legacy as a brand. He also understood the cultural environment of hip-hop and Black America as it was in the 1990s. He went even further into understanding how the rest of the world worked around Black America, knowing there was no way to salvation by segregating his art form. He wanted everyone to know what being Black and/or poor with little to no opportunity available in America was like.

According to his former manager Leila Steinberg, critical mass was necessary for Tupac. She called him the Marvin Gaye of rap. One way or another, he was going to access a path to gain critical mass to educate the masses using his storytelling.

Tupac wanted to seduce the children of White America. He felt strongly in order to make shifts. We had to do it together,

Leila Goldstein

I can’t stand racism in any form or color. Society is like the maze with the mice experiment. The moment you question how things are done, boom, a block comes down on you.

Tupac Shakur

When Tupac faced time in prison after he was almost killed during a robbery in New York, he was suicidal and deeply depressed. In “Dear Mama,” his aunt Glo said her sister Afeni knelt on her kneels to him and said, “I don’t care what anyone calls you or tells you you are. You must never believe that. You put one foot in front of the other. In our weakness, we can create strength. Just write.” While Tupac was in prison, he did just that. He wrote and read about important, influential historical figures, including “The Prince,” a political strategy instruction manual written by controversial 16th-century Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli. 

A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good.

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Tupac started propagating his philosophy the clearest in the last album he made before he died. Nicknaming himself Makaveli, the album was called The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and presented themes of “The Prince” throughout, from the cover’s imagery to the song titles and lyrics.

Parallel principles become clear in cross-examining Niccolò Machiavelli’s “The Prince” with Tupac’s actions, interviews, music, and movie production plans. “The Prince” was written as a guide in teaching one how to be a good ruler, one who—because they understand the nature of men—can balance between instilling fear among greedy, power-hungry tyrants while maintaining loyal reverence among a nation of people.

Written when European nations began colonizing the world while ramping up their slave trades, Machiavelli lived in a pinnacle period in which European tribes had long been conquered, and nations had already spent thousands of years conquering to rule over resources and land. Since then, monarchies have become more of a fantasy fixture than a political rule as democracy has gained tremendous strides for hundreds of years. Common everyday people can read, and technology has rapidly advanced. Since Tupac’s time, anyone can now have a platform to broadcast worldwide on media apps. Today, anyone can read “The Prince” and take its advice seriously, since much of it is still relevant in current politics, and while they still dominate, men are no longer the only ones allowed to take power. So there should be no reason we still live in the shadows of slavery with extreme wealth inequality.

Machiavelli explains with civic principality, a citizen can become a prince, not by criminality and violence but by gaining favor from the citizens through cunning aided by fortune. He reasoned that citizens sought a prince to protect them from inside and outside forces wishing to conquer or oppress them for personal gain. For Tupac, he did not seem to want to rule as a prince to make change. He wanted to influence as many people as possible to join him in doing the same. He was not striving for hierarchy, he was striving for overall unity.

The advice Machiavelli provides can seem sinister to some, motivating a sort of political thuggery as it describes how to conquer foreign states using cunning and military aid, but Machiavelli also advises against tyranny. For example, the popular TV show and book series Game of Thrones would be an excellent study example of everything Machiavelli warns against in a ruler.

Machiavelli explains that one must be feared, but not so much that people will despise you. One must give but keep people from taking advantage. You must fight, but only when it is absolutely necessary to do so. Machiavelli is a realist who understands the desires and demands for a perfect utopian society are impossible when you consider others’ desire to take everything by any means without concern for the greater good of society. Unifying the contradictive natures of people is a balancing act. Flexibility is critical, so, at times, the prince may be able to act valiant; in others, the prince may have to become the villain. It is vital that a prince observes danger but also must always appear pious, faithful, humane, religious, and sincere.

One attains it [prince status] by help of popular or by favor of the aristocracy. For in every city these two parties are to be found, arising from the desire of the populace to avoid the oppression of the great, and the desire of the great to command and oppress the people. And from these two opposing interests arises in the city one of three effects: either absolute government, liberty, or license.

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Considering those five necessary qualities Machiavelli mentions, the religious symbolism throughout The Don Killuminati album makes a lot of sense. After listing those qualities, Machiavelli says a prince should “not deviate from what is good, if possible, but be able to do evil if necessary.”

A prince must take great care that nothing goes out of his mouth which is not full of the above-named five qualities, and to see and hear him, should seem to be all faith, all integrity, all humanity, and all religion. And nothing is more necessary than to seem to have this last quality, for men in general judge more by the eyes than by the hands, for every one can see, but very few have to feel. Everybody sees what you appear to be, few feel what you are, and those few will not dare to oppose themselves to the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of men, especially princes, from which there is no appeal, the end is everything.

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Gaining fortune and fame was not a new concept to Tupac. Much of what Tupac mentioned in his music and interviews are already expressed in “The Prince,” from protecting oneself with violence if necessary to understanding the hearts of men. One critical piece of advice Tupac ignored in “The Prince” was never publicly taking another man’s woman and bragging about it. Men treat women like prized property, and their pride will force them to act aggressively to regain their dignity. Surely Tupac understood this but felt strongly enough about the betrayal he felt from Biggie, Sean “Puffy” Combs, and the artists of Bad Boy Records in New York he had to get it off his chest with a diss track called “Hit Em’ Up.”

Otherwise, for the most part, when you read past the historical references and soak in Machiavelli’s advice from a modern perspective, you can see much of Tupac’s life in “The Prince” even before he went to jail and read the book. 

In 1996 a final interview with The Source journalist Rob Marrot, Tupac made some somewhat surprising contradictive remarks. He understood a critical aspect of how politics and social order worked. To understand people and society, you must understand the contradictions that make society work. Tupac understood he had to use capitalism to feed the people, and having wealth would not stop him from embracing the principles of the Black Panther Party. He hated how America was created and what was done to create the nation, but he was patriotic, saying he loved America because of its great potential. He believed money gave power and access through his experiences, so he understood he lived in a time when having wealth made race irrelevant. He also believed in protecting yourself and your “tribe” until all the “tribes” of America could be unified under the same principles and live in peace and opportunity.

I don’t bang for the color or the land. I bang for the principles and the honor. I’m banging for the west side this is in my heart. This is how I feel. Not—west side California this is where I’m from—it’s basic like that, but it’s really deep, like, West Side, you know what I mean. When I be throwing up the W, it ain’t for California. I love California. But the W is for, this the east side, this the west side, and this is middle America, and we’re divided. That’s why I throw this up. We at war right now. W for war, you understand? And when we all get together—when the east coast, and the west coast, and the middle America get together—we got power. And that’s when I won’t throw it up no more when we are all together.

Tupac Shakur

The Italians I speak about were really truly great men. And I find any great man, Black or White, I’m going to study him learn it so he won’t be great to me no more, like Machiavelli. And that’s why I don’t say my name is Machiavelli, it’s Makaveli. I took it. It’s mine. He gave me that.

Tupac Shakur

Many people over the decades since Tupac’s death have focused on his beef with Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy, his public attitude, and the accusations of rape that sent him to prison for sexual abuse, or as Tupac said, for touching his accuser’s ass. But too many do not see past the sensationalism created in the media to drag him down.

When we listen to all the unearthed interviews and watch long-lost footage, Tupac teaches us this: it’s not about duality; good versus evil, right versus wrong. It’s about having principles and living by those principles. Until everyone can agree on certain principles, we will stay in our political identity tribes. We will reason in duality without examining the contradictions. We will remain stagnant in our ignorance. Tupac wanted to change all of that, he wanted to unify people on the same principles he lived by. That was his end goal. He left plenty of advice and philosophy in his artwork to do that. Gangster rap is no longer in style like in the 90s, but Tupac’s words and passion for the Black Panther principles he grew up on remain more relevant than ever.

Self-preservation sometimes requires violent aggression and self-defense, yet in explaining this, he was villanized in the media. Tupac was ahead of his time. He observed and understood human nature; much of what he warned about in his music and videos has become the same exasperating issues of our era. Hence, the current trajectory of the old system is unsustainable to maintain. He was the canary in the coal mind. The proof of that is looking at politics today with a rise in white supremacy extremism, political fascism, mass shootings, and a fentanyl crisis, all of which have hit White America hard. Yesterday’s problems are no longer confined to the ghettos of Black America. 

He didn’t want people to listen to his party hits and stop there. He wanted his art to show off his complexities and humanity, hoping people would look at their own complexities. Keeping a simplistic narrative in media, journalists, corporate America, and governing politics oversimplifies humanity, removing it from the equation of social problems. Hence, people give up easily and ignore politics, which maintains exploitative governing systems. 

He wanted to create a critical mass to participate in the ideas of revolutionary change. While his primary focus was always on uplifting Black America, he understood he could not do that without educating everyone as a nation because the nation makes up a social fabric that, once torn with holes, will fall apart entirely.

In the final episode of “Dear Mama,” the docuseries returns to his mother after his death. Afeni was able to buy a farm and continue Tupac’s business ventures as best she could, fighting for the legal rights to his music. Afeni later founded the Tupac Amaru Foundation. Despite her death in 2016, Tupac and Afeni’s legacy lives on in the foundation. Per the mission statement, the foundation addresses mental health and trauma, providing access to therapeutic resources, creative arts, and education.

As we reflect on all Tupac gave the world, as well as all the sacrifices the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense endured, the best gift we could give to him and the people he fought so hard to uplift and protect is to understand his legacy fully so we might learn from it. We might learn how to break the cycles of oppression in America to become a civil society that can rightfully claim equality for humans in the “land of the free.”

You can kill the revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution.

Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman, Chicago