Do the good really die young?

...maybe they blaze the trail before the rest of us are ready to walk it. This issue revisits an old adage through the legacies of Tupac & Afeni, uncovering an deeper responsibility in all of us.

I was actually a kid when I heard that quote for the first time, riding around with my dad to a song with the same title by the Outlawz & Tupac Shakur, ironically enough. I remember at the time trying to grapple with what that meant, didn’t know whether to get apprehensive or dismissive. The older I get and the more I grapple with the idea of my own mortality, I feel a responsibility to assess (and even revise) old adages like these that are often taken to dangerous levels of allegiance.

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with being prepared to die for what one believes in, or committing to a higher cause than what’s currently being offered. Seeing people like Tupac, Nipsey, Malcolm, Martin or Chairman Fred Hampton look the world in its eyes, even at the risk of their own demise, inspires me to live in such a way as to enlighten those occupying this space & time with me as well as who come long after I have. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this type of principle, but it can be a volatile [and short] way of living if not handled responsibly.

Let me make it clear: The good don’t die young, they light the path early. Ignorance is bliss, just as youth is, and any time you get a sobering glimpse of reality, it’s like the light coming on at the end of an amazing party. The carelessness, the fun, even the miniscule arguments that fractured decade-long bonds, you’ll eventually wake up and have to smell those roses. The regret, the rebuilding of yourself, the reliving of memories and relinquishing of what you feel should’ve or could’ve been. It all has to be met, realized, and ultimately released.

One of my favorite Nipsey quotes is, “your footprint gone speak volumes.” I believe and learned to understand that Tupac simply followed the same blueprint his mother laid, the incomparable Afeni Shakur. Many may not know this, but Ms. Shakur was instrumental in developing the FIRST versions of the Patient’s Bill of Rights in the early 1970’s, which is now posted in hospitals all over the country. She sparked irreversible change in healthcare, while her son was being born, who then sparked an even broader cultural and spiritual shift.

If [the] good died young, so would the reasons to do good. So would the benefits of doing so, so would the peace of being virtuous in a morally corrupt world, it all would wash away. That in fact proves my point and answers the question, again. The good don’t die young, they just light the path early. It’s on us, those who live, to either rise to the occasion or elect not to so. Choose what conquers.

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I dedicate this newsletter issue to the great Tupac and Afeni Shakur, and hope to one day inspire the world as they have inspired me. Their sacrifice, surrender, and transformation is everything Harmony is Home aims to embody.

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