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I Love My Gay Friends
I've grown up around gays and lesbians, and some of my best friends are gay, so I support them. One day I was on my way downtown after school and saw a crowd. I figured it was another peace march since it was only a week after September 11th, but it wasn't.
My friend and I were sitting on the wall in front of Jimmy Johns and talking when our friend, Mary, ran up to us.
"You guys should come and help us out. They're protesting against gay people and saying God doesn't love us," she said.
As we joined our friends across the road from the Christian protesters, I thought back to church and remembered my preacher saying that God loves everyone. A guy came over and told us the protesters were from out of state and were here because ours was one of the largest gay communities in the country. I thought, I wish we were the gayest community, all happy and stuff.
My friend grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, saying, "We have to stand up to this. We should make our own signs." I agreed, and we headed to a shop we often visit. I made a sign that said, I'm not gay, but I love my gay friends.
On our way through the crowd, we saw the pastor from the church. She said she wanted three people to go with her to talk with the protesters, and be kind to them. Great, I was chosen. I walked with my head held high, listening to their screams of hate. This wouldn't be easy, but maybe someone would listen.
I approached a young guy holding two anti-gay signs. One said, AIDS cures fags, the other proclaimed, Fag sin is filthy.
"Hey, would you mind explaining to me the purpose of all this hate?" I asked, thinking he would be really cute if he weren't holding those nasty signs.
"This town needs help," he replied.
"Do you really believe that God hates?" I asked.
"Yes, He does," he said, and showed me a Bible verse that read, "God hates the work of iniquity."
"Yes, but not the workers. He loves everyone," I countered.
"No, you are mistaken. Go ask a preacher," he said, sounding angry.
The Lack of Male Intimacy As I sit in the auditorium of the school I attend, I listen to the speaker of the day make his fatal mistake. He has done well up until now, relating to us only facts and ideas. Now, he has suffered from a lapse in judgment, and seems to have forgotten his surroundings - an all male audience. He has the audacity to display genuine, vulnerable emotion. I wait for the response I know he will get.
“Do you know what the Gays did to me now? They took away my right to vote!”
In the same fashion that Elvis defined Rock ‘n’ Roll; Tupac Shakur defined the hip-hop music scene, as we know it today. What made Tupac (also known as 2Pac, or Makaveli) so special were his enormous talent, his on screen friendly looks, and the sense that he was “real” and talked the talk, while walking the walk. Tupac was born on June 16, 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Tupac Amaru, the Inca Indian that was sentenced to death by the Spaniards. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York. Tupac spent a lot of time moving around as he was growing up. He was the son of a Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland. Tupac moved from Harlem, to Baltimore, to Oakland. The constant moving caused Tupac to fit into his new communities by joining gangs, and his lengthy rap sheet was created even before his profalic entry into music and film. He was arrested eight times before even turning twenty (MTV.com).
Tupac was one of the most notorious and influential celebrities of the 90s and today still. He sold over 75 million albums worldwide, reaching Spain, Brazil, South Africa, and all corners of America. His career was filled with controversy and luxury just the same. As a rapper, a poet, an activist, and an actor, Tupac gained many fans, and also enemies. Tupac’s down-to-earth personality, talent and relatable music allowed him to become one of the top icons of the rap industry.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an African-American rapper, poet, and record producer during the 1990’s. In his adolescent years, he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts where he took acting and dance classes, like ballet. He was taught radical politics by his mother, which helped him develop ideas about topics he would later use in his many works. At an early age, Tupac had seen the injustices of the real world. His mother was a former Black Panther activist who turned to substance abuse during Tupac’s childhood. Aside from that, he and his mother also moved many times while they lived together in New York City. While Tupac was in Baltimore, he discovered rap; not long after, he and his mother moved to the West Coast where he joined the rap group
“ Poverty, murder, violence and never a day 2 rest.” Those were the words of Tupac Shakur, a legendary rapper. Tupac Amaru Shakur (born June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply Pac, was an American artist renowned for his rapping and hip hop music, as well as his movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-selling rap artist, with over 75 million albums sold worldwide, including over 50 millions in the United States alone. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up around violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society, and sometimes qualms with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating political, economic, social, and racial equality as well as his raw descriptions of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and conflicts with the law. Many fans, critics, and industry insiders rank him as the greatest rapper ever.
Tupac Shakur was born on June 16 1971 and died on September 13, 1996 even though he died at a young age he did a lot with his life. Growing up Tupac mother and some of his family were part of a group called Black Panther Party later their ideas became part of his songs and poems. Growing up and moving around New York as much as he did make him have a hard childhood. Tupac mother taught him about radical politics, other than that Tupac saw his mother struggle with substance abuse problem. Growing up was never easy for him he was shot 5 time during a mugging and the next year got sentenced to 4 and a half year for sexual assault. In the 80s Tupac and his family moved to California where he joined a hip-hop group and had a hit song. After their hit song Tupac decide to go solo where he did great. In 2010 he had sold over 75 million albums making him one of the best-selling rappers to ever have live. His songs and poems were about major topics not just nonsense, they were about violence and hardship in inner cities racism and other social problems. On September 7, 1996 he was shot many times by a drive by and ended up dying 6 days later, but he lived on thought his poems and music and people still can relate to the stuff he wrote.
The Stonewall Riots marked the start of the gay rights movement, and inspired members of the gay community to fight for their rights instead of being condemned for their sexuality. Even today, gay people in the US use the incident at Stonewall to educate younger members of the gay community. "The younger generation should know about Stonewall so that they will realize it is possible to make change. It is possible to overcome entrenched, institutionalized prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry. And that they can live full equal lives." (Frank Kameny, aarp.org) This is the message that many members of the gay community continue to spread after the incident at the Stonewall Inn.
Tupac Amaru Shakur one of the most influential, controversial rappers to have ever existed. He grew up fatherless and at times motherless because of drugs, violence, and twisted ideas. Through struggle and hardships he found his flow. He showed the world that something can come from nothing. From joining up with the Digital Underground to his single debut he worked up he grew his fan base. As he grew in fame so did the East and West rivalry.
My friends that had once claimed to be my ‘best friends’ ignored me. P.E. and track became horrible whenever I had to enter a locker room. All of the girls would stare and whisper, refusing to change in front of me like I was some disgusting sexual predator. Finally, during my eighth grade year, a popular boy named Brennan came up to me one day after school. We sat down and talked for a while before he just grabbed my hand and said, "I'm gay." He immediately started crying as I sat there in shock until, after a few moments, I just pulled him over and hugged him. I understood exactly what he was feeling, and knew that just letting him cry would be enough to help. I couldn't believe someone had come to me. Me! Of all people! Hugging him and telling him that it was ok, just accepting him for who he was, made me feel so happy. There is no feeling in the world like helping someone through something that you can relate to. It made me feel like maybe I was able to do something, even if it was little, and it gave me the courage to begin to make a difference in my schools.
Feeling the warmth when they hold a loved one is something for which people should not be judged. It should not matter what sex their partner is because, put simply, they are in love. The gay rights movement is a continuing procession that fights for their rights. The gay rights movement actually begins on November 11, 1950 when gay rights activist Harry Hay founds America’s first national gay rights organization by the name of Mattachine Society, according to the “Timeline: Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement”. Their leaders or people who advanced their purpose are Harvey Milk, Harry Hay, LGBT, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual groups. This purpose is to stop intolerance and, ultimately, gain the right of and benefits of marriage. The gay rights movement is embodied in “What We Want, What We Believe,” which shows that even though the group was not seen, or given rights, that in time with their unity they would gain equality. It is a manifesto that states what the entirety of the LGBT groups want. Moreover, no one should feel the shunning of discrimination or hatred for whom they love because of what sex they are.
Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential artist of our last decade. He not only made several albums, but was also a large role in many films and a poet. Millions of people bought and still buy his albums. He was a pioneer to gangster rap, and he sang about things that mattered. Although, he was a role model and was admired by many, he also had a lot of enemies, and in the end, his enemies over powered his fans by taking his life. Some say that he may still be alive, but no one really knows.
Growing up, I was always an activist for LGBTQ people.
"Hell no!" He recoiled. "i mean, no, thank you. In fact, Brother, i don't think we ought to have such things around!"
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.