Shakur Quotes

Every person that steps up and commits to social change helps solidify the black movement cause. It is not easy for those who fill in the leader role. ~ Assata Shakur

My inspiration for writing music is like Don McLean did when he did "American Pie" or "Vincent". Lorraine Hansberry with "A Raisin in the Sun". Like Shakespeare when he does his thing, like deep stories, raw human needs.

I'm trying to think of a good analogy. It's like, you've got the Vietnam War, and because you had reporters showing us pictures of the war at home, that's what made the war end, or that shit would have lasted longer. If no one knew what was going on we would have thought they were just dying valiantly in some beautiful way. But because we saw the horror, that's what made us stop the war.

So I thought, that's what I'm going to do as an artist, as a rapper. I'm gonna show the most graphic details of what I see in my community and hopefully they'll stop it quick.

I've seen all of that-- the crack babies, what we had to go through, losing everything, being poor, and getting beat down. All of that. Being the person I am, I said no no no no. I'm changing this. ~ Tupac Shakur

Picture perfect, I paint a perfect picture bomb the hoochies wit' precision, my intentions to get richer. ~ Tupac Shakur

The death penalty is used in such a blatantly racist way in the United States. There is no way that can be defended under any kind of definition of justice by anybody. ~ Assata Shakur

So many of my sisters are so completely unaware of who the real criminals and dogs are. They blame themselves for being hungry; they hate themselves for surviving the best way they know how, to see so much fear, doubt, hurt, and self hatred is the most painful part of being in this concentration camp. "Anyway, in spite of all, i feel a breeze behind my neck, turning to a hurricane and when i take a deep breath I can smell freedom ~ Assata Shakur

Too many people in the U.S. support death and destruction without being aware of it. They indirectly support the killing our people without ever having to look at the corpses ~ Assata Shakur

If I could patent 'being real', I think I could own that. ~ Tupac Shakur

Give me a paper and pen, so I can write about my life of sin. A couple of bottles of gin, in case I don't get in. ~ Tupac Shakur

I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS SOCIETY! First they try to murder me then they lie to me! ~ Tupac Shakur

Today is built on tragedies, which no one wants to face, nightmares to humanities and morally disgraced. Tonight is filled with rage, violence in the air, children bred with ruthlessness because no one at home cares. ~ Tupac Shakur

Imperialism is the underlying motor of racism. The underlying reason that racism keeps on being promoted in all of its various forms. ~ Assata Shakur

I don't understand how people can
stand next to you one year,and next year, they cannot. They're going crazy, screaming. They can't take it that you're there. But last year I was in the same club,walking around,lonely like a motherfucker. Couldn't get a date or a dance. I was too skinny, too something,
and now, He's just adorable. He's just, oh! ~ Tupac Shakur

You get time to appreciate things. Perspective, you start looking at things differently ... ~ Tupac Shakur

When someone asked me what communism was, i opened my mouth to answer, then realized i didn't have the faintest idea. My image of a communist came from a cartoon. It was a spy with a black trench coat and a black hat pulled down over his face, slinking around corners. In school, we were taught that communists worked in salt mines, that they weren't free, that everybody wore the same clothes, and that no one owned anything. ~ Assata Shakur

I've always been a student of different ways of looking at the world, different religions. That's been part of my survival mechanism, and also part of my curiosity as a person. ~ Assata Shakur

How can I be a man if there is no role model? ~ Tupac Shakur

Gotta start teaching the children that they can be just what they want to be, there's much more to life than poverty. ~ Tupac Shakur

I worked, studied, mothered and continued to be an activist. I found that Cuba was much different from the US; its government was genuinely trying to erase racism. ~ Assata Shakur

It takes skill to be real. Time to heal each other ~ Tupac Shakur

And still, the best of us build, and reach monetary gains. Some of us kill, but still, most of us can change. ~ Tupac Shakur

Now ain nobody tell us it would be fair no love for my father cause the coward wasn't their" {Tu Pac Shukur} ~ Tupac Shakur

I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere, I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with ... Every time I had to go to a new apartment, I had to reinvent myself, myself. People think just because you born in the ghetto you gonna fit in. A little twist in your life and you don't fit in no matter what. If they push you out of the hood and the White people's world, that's criminal ... Hell, I felt like my could be destroyed at any moment. ~ Tupac Shakur

Dont blame me, I was given this world, I didn't make it. ~ Tupac Shakur

For me personally Cuba has been a healing state. When I first got here I had no sense that I had to heal or anything. When you're struggling for your life and you're in the midst of things, you don't feel all the blows. ~ Assata Shakur

They lock you in the hole and they don't let you out until you consent to be searched internally. ~ Assata Shakur

My neighbors ask me what the u.s. is like, and they accuse me of lying when i tell them about the hunger and cold and people sleeping in the streets. They refuse to believe me. How can that be in such a rich country? ~ Assata Shakur

A woman bought you into this world, so you have no right to disrespect one. ~ Tupac Shakur

No one i knew had ever heard of Ronald Myers, and no one understood why he had been targeted for this particular frame-up. In fact, i wondered if he was some kind of plant. It all seemed so strange. ~ Assata Shakur

We probaly in hell already, our dumb asses not knowin, everybody kissin ass to go to heaven aint goin. ~ Tupac Shakur

I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me,
He had me feelin' like black was the thing to be. ~ Tupac Shakur

I don't bang for the color or the land. I bang for the principles and for the honor. I'm bangin' for the Westside- this is in my heart, this is how I feel. ~ Tupac Shakur

I'm not quite sure what freedom is, but I know damn well what it ain't. ~ Assata Shakur

I'm the rebel totally going against the grain. I always want to do the extreme. I want to get as many people looking as possible. ~ Tupac Shakur

Constructive criticism and self-criticism are extremely important for any revolutionary organization. Without them, people tend to drown in their mistakes, not learn from them. ~ Assata Shakur

This planet is a wonderful place, but a vulnerable place. ~ Assata Shakur

Time to heal our women, be real to our women. And if we don't, then we'll have a race of babies, that hate the ladies that make the babies. ~ Tupac Shakur

My music is not for everyone. It's only for the stong-willed, the [street] soldiers music. It's not like party music- I mean, you could gig to it, but it's spiritual. My musi is spiritual. It's like Negro spiituals, except for the fact that I'm not saying 'We shall Overcome.' I'm saying that we are overcome. ~ Tupac Shakur

Many of the sisters were Black and poor and from D.C., where every crime is a violation of a federal statute. They were beautiful sisters, serving outrageous sentences for minor offenses. ~ Assata Shakur

If I had an ear 2 confide in
I would cry among my treasured friends
But who do u know that stops that long
to help another carry on
The world moves fast and it would rather pass u by
than 2 stop and c what makes u cry ~ Tupac Shakur

Of course I'm going to say "I'm a thug" that's because I came from the GUTTER and I'm still HERE! ~ Tupac Shakur

I had to adjust to living in a Third World country, which means that things people in the U.S. take for granted-like hot running water whenever you turn on the tap-are not always available. ~ Assata Shakur

It seemed that there was no time to catch up with all the things that were happening. I would be at the construction workers' demonstration one day and then marching with the welfare mothers the next. We got down with everything - the rent strikes, the sit-ins, the takeover of the Harlem state office building, whatever it was. If we agreed with it, we would try to give active support in some way. The more active i became, the more i liked it. It was like medicine, making me well, making me whole ...
My energy just couldn't stop dancing. I was caught up in the music of the struggle and i wanted to dance. I was never bored and never lonely, and the brothers and sisters who became my friends were so beautiful to me. ~ Assata Shakur

I wanted a name that had something to do with struggle, something to do with the liberation of our people. I decided on Assata Olugbala Shakur. Assata means 'She who struggles,' Olugbala means 'Love for the people,' and i took the name Shakur out of respect for Zayd and Zayd's family. Skakur means 'the thankful. ~ Assata Shakur

The
Harm
U
Gave

Little
Infants
Fucks
Everyone ~ Tupac Shakur

They ordered the extermination
of all minds they couldn't control ~ Tupac Shakur

Father Forgive Us For Livin'
Why All My Homies Stuck In Prison?
Barely Breathin' Believin That The World Is A Prison,
It's Like A Ghetto We Could Neva Leave…

A Broken Rose, Trying to Bloom Through The Cracks Of The Concrete,
So Many Otha Things For Us To See, Things To Be,
Our History so Full Of Tragedy And Misery,

To All My Homies Neva Made It Home,
The Dead Peers I Shed Tatooed 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 landstorms,

Our Unborn,
Neva Gotta Grow
Neva Gotta 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 A Sign
Make Us All Believe,
Coz I Ain't Mad At Cha ~ Tupac Shakur

During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams ~ Tupac Shakur

It turned out that he was a specialist in paleontology and had spent a lot of time studying rocks. He tried to claim that his expertise at examining rocks made him able to identify people. Under cross-examination, all his carefully constructed "expertise" turned into a pile of rocks, and this new technical breakthrough in crime fighting proved to be nothing but a fraud. ~ Assata Shakur

this is the 21st century and we need to redefine r/evolution. this planet needs a people's r/evolution. a humanist r/evolution. r/evolution is not about bloodshed or about going to the mountains and fighting. we will fight if we are forced to but the fundamental goal of r/evolution must be peace.

we need a r/evolution of the mind. we need a r/evolution of the heart. we need a r/evolution of the spirit. the power of the people is stronger than any weapon. a people's r/evolution can't be stopped. we need to be weapons of mass construction. weapons of mass love. it's not enough just to change the system. we need to change ourselves. we have got to make this world user friendly. user friendly.

are you ready to sacrifice to end world hunger. to sacrifice to end colonialism. to end neo-colonialism. to end racism. to end sexism.

r/evolution means the end of exploitation. r/evolution means respecting people from other cultures. r/evolution is creative.

r/evolution means treating your mate as a friend and an equal. r/evolution is sexy.

r/evolution means respecting and learning from your children. r/evolution is beautiful.

r/evolution means protecting the people. the plants. the animals. the air. the water. r/evolution means saving this planet.

r/evolution is love. ~ Assata Shakur

War comes and goes but a soldier stays eternal ~ Tupac Shakur

Manhattan Community College had not one course on Peurto Rican history. The Peurto Rican sisters and brothers who knew what was happening became our teachers ... once you understand something about the history of a people, their heroes, their hardships, and their sacrifices, it's easier to struggle with them. To support their struggle. For a lot of peole in this country, people who live in other places have no faces. And this is the way the U.S. government wants it to be. They figure as long as the people have no faces and the country has no form, amerikans will not protest when they send in the marines to wipe them out. ~ Assata Shakur

I'm tired of being a nice guy, I've been poor all my life, but don't know quite why. ~ Tupac Shakur

I wondered how all those people in the states who tried to sound tough, saying that the u.s. should go in here, bomb there, take over this, attack that, would feel if they knew that they were indirectly responsible for babies being burned to death. ~ Assata Shakur

I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heartless, robots who protect them and their property. ~ Assata Shakur

When I die and they come for me bury me a g. ~ Tupac Shakur

I'm not saying girls are perfect, because we all know that's not true. But why be unfaithful to her if she was true to you. ~ Tupac Shakur

Cubans understand that theirs is a country that provides sanctuary for people fleeing oppression. As a nation, they are very proud of this stance. They don't care how much the U.S. government badgers or attacks them. ~ Assata Shakur

I feel like our future is our confidence and self-esteem. ~ Tupac Shakur

The government recognized immediately that Rap music has enormous revolutionary potential and politicians immediately came together to end it. ~ Assata Shakur

My homie lost his family and snapped, shot up half the block to bring them back. ~ Tupac Shakur

When I say ' thug' I mean not a criminal, someone who beats you over the head, I mean the underdog. You could have two people- one person has everything he needs to succeed and one person has nothing. If the person who has nothing succeeds, he's a thug. Cuz he overcame all the obstacles. ~ Tupac Shakur

Northern whites were more than happy at the prospect of Black people fighting in the war. A popular verse published in the newspapers of the day reflected the sentiment of many Northerners: Some say it is a burnin' shame To make the naygurs fight An' that the trade o' bein' kilt Belongs but to the white; But as for me upon me sowl, So liberal are we here, I'll let Sambo be murthered in place o' meself On every day in the year. ~ Assata Shakur

Life in the pen ain't for me 'cos I'd rather die. ~ Tupac Shakur

I miss friends and family. If it weren't for visits from old friends and other African Americans I meet who come to Cuba, I'd probably be in some kind of time warp. ~ Assata Shakur

I'm not saying I'm going to rule the world, I'm going to change the world. But I guarantee I will spark the brain that will change the world. And that's our job. It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the one, but let's not be selfish. And because we['re] not going to change the world, not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it. But I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's going to clean it up! ~ Tupac Shakur

When I was a child, if someone had talked to me about buying water, I would have thought it was a joke. ~ Assata Shakur

If you fall stand tall and come back for more. ~ Tupac Shakur

Yo get a real job. Rappin doesn't pay the rent, I hate the studio cause that's where all my money went. ~ Tupac Shakur

Expose foes wit my hocus pocus flows, they froze now suckas idolize my chosen blows ~ Tupac Shakur

It makes me unhappy when brothers make babies and leave a young mother to be a pappy. ~ Tupac Shakur

I'm a sucker for love ~ Tupac Shakur

Can't close my eyes cause all I see is terror
I hate the man in the mirror
Cause his reflection makes the pain turn realer ~ Tupac Shakur

When i heard on the radio that the New York Panthers had been busted, i was furious. The so-called conspiracy charges were so stupid that even a fool could see through them. The police actually had the audacity to charge them with plotting to blow up the flowers in the Botanical Garden. ~ Assata Shakur

While I'm dreaming, Wake up screaming, Cuz I can hear them suckas scheming. ~ Tupac Shakur

When my Heart Can Beat No More I hope die for a principal or a belief that I have lived for ~ Tupac Shakur

Dear mama, yo baby boys doing fine tell the homies I'm in heaven and they aint got hoods. ~ Tupac Shakur

What of fame? Everybody knows your name: never again are you alone. ~ Tupac Shakur

Hooked up with the nazis were the manson family women, sandra good and linda "squeaky" froame. Sandra had been sentenced to fifteen years for threatening the lives of business executives and government officials, and froame was serving a life sentence for attempting to kill president gerald ford. They were like the Bobbsey twins and clear out of their minds. ~ Assata Shakur

We've got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don't fight racism with racism. We're gonna fight racism with solidarity. ~ Fred Hampton

I try to find my way in the world you know, I try to be somebody instead of just, make money off of everybody ~ Tupac Shakur

Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up. And when he tells you you ain't nothing, don't believe him. And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him. ~ Tupac Shakur

Well, the first two days in prison, I had to go through what life is like when you've been smoking weed for as long as I have and then you stop. Emotionally, it was like I didn't know myself. ~ Tupac Shakur

In a position to make a difference, politicians and hypocrites they don't wanna listen. ~ Tupac Shakur

The hard times make a true friend afraid to ask. ~ Tupac Shakur

Instead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. ~ Tupac Shakur

We don't really know who killed Martin Luther King. We don't really know who killed Bobby Kennedy. We don't really know who killed John Kennedy. We don't really know who killed Tupac Shakur. ~ Cynthia McKinney

I'm a thug. And my thug comes from ... my definition of thug comes from half of the street element. Straight street hustling. ~ Tupac Shakur

They don't have a case," Bob said. "I don't even know how they got an indictment." "We know," Kamau and i said. "Their case is utterly absurd," Evelyn said. "We know," Kamau and i droned again. "Their witnesses are as phony as three-dollar bills," Evelyn said. "We know." "They don't have one piece of physical evidence," Evelyn ranted. "No photographs, no fingerprints, no witnesses, no nothing." "We know," Kamau and i chanted in unison. ~ Assata Shakur

Misplaced hate makes disgrace the races. ~ Tupac Shakur

Long live the rose that grew from the concrete when no one else ever cared. ~ Tupac Shakur

I know death follows me, but I murder him first. ~ Tupac Shakur

Even thugs cry, but do the Lord care? ~ Tupac Shakur

Be an individual, work hard, study, get your mind straight, and trust nobody. ~ Tupac Shakur

The whole thing boiled down to a simple equation: anything that has any kind of value is made, mined, grown, produced, and processed by working people. So why shouldn't working people collectively own that wealth? Why shouldn't working people own and control their own resources? Capitalism meant that rich businessmen owned the wealth, while socialism meant that the people who made the wealth owned it. ~ Assata Shakur

I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other.. ~ Tupac Shakur

Only God can judge me. ~ Tupac Shakur

It's the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they're gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it's my turn to leave. ~ Tupac Shakur

I thought about it all the way home. Of all the things I had wanted to be when i was a little girl, a revolutionary certainly wasn't one of them. ~ Assata Shakur

For every dark night there is a brighter day ~ Tupac Shakur

Even the genius ask questions. ~ Tupac Shakur