As much of the United States burns in response to the death of George Floyd, Drake decided to share a bit of political poetry with his 67 million Instagram followers.
“Rest in heaven George Floyd,” he wrote on IG with a rose emoji as he shared freedom fighter and convicted murderer Assata Shakur’s “Affirmation” poem from her 2001 autobiography.
More than 10 states reported civil disturbances and various emergencies as protestors and rioters alike continue to express outrage over the latest unarmed black man to die in police custody. Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder on Friday (May 29) and was slapped with a $500,000 bail and divorce papers from his soon-to-be-ex-wife.
Born JoAnne Deborah Byron in 1940s New York City, Shakur would go on to join the Black Liberation Army and Black Panther Party. In 1973, she was involved in a tail light stop, that left a New Jersey State Trooper and member of her entourage dead. As a result, she was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1977.
In 1979, Shakur escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women and fled to Cuba by where she’s granted political asylum to this day. She has been referenced by countless rap stars, including Lauryn Hill, Common, Black Star and yes, even Tupac Shakur.
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On Saturday (May 30) CNN’s Don Lemmon called for celebrities to do more with their platforms, even urging Drizzy to be more involved.
“I want to see you Drake, I want to see you, my friend Anthony Anderson. I want to see you Diddy, out there, doing this. I want to see you out there fighting for this.”
Check out Assata Shakur’s “Affirmation” in full below.
I believe in living.
I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine.
In windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.I believe in life.
And i have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path.
I have seen the destruction of the daylight,
and seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted.I have seen the kind become the blind
and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
I have walked on cut glass.
I have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference.I have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if i know any thing at all,
it’s that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.I believe in living.
I believe in birth.
I believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.And i believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home
to port.
Fake puppet ghostwritten CANADIAN child actor who was rich since a teenager has something to say about civil rights in America. How profound.
Look at you being part of the problem…
Goes to show you that no matter what your level of agreement is you get hate for it. If you’re silent people have a problem. If you say something supporting it and you aren’t the right shade then you don’t understand and you shouldn’t be speaking about it because it’s a “black” problem. Rittz addressed this on Until We Meet Again. Wanting it both ways; but never satisfied regardless. Change my mind.
I agree Deep. People always criticized Drake for never speaking on civil matters pertaining to African Americans. He wants so bad to be part of the culture here but doesn’t want to deal with the struggle where it counts. Dude is a clown.
Goes to show you that no matter what your level of agreement is you get hate for it. If you’re silent people have a problem. If you say something supporting it and you aren’t the right shade then you don’t understand and you shouldn’t be speaking about it because it’s a “black” problem. Rittz addressed this on Until We Meet Again. Wanting it both ways; but never satisfied regardless. Change my mind.
Lemme get this right, so that woman murdered somebody, robbed fxkcin banks and sht, and that means she a freedom fighter? The fkc? Yall americans is nuts.
Murder and robbery are truly the American way. This shouldn’t bother you.
So. The Canadian Cosplay kid actor who has everyone write his rhymes etc, that has been rich since a kid, and deals with none of this in HIS country, quotes Shakur, huh? The convicted murderer and bank robber/terrorist Shakur? Good talk Drake. Thanks for your insight.
Never robbed a bank or killed anyone. Was set up by cia organization called cointelpro started by J. Edgar Hoover to frame and defame black leaders by categorizing them as terrorists. This is all publicly accessible knowledge now if you want to look it up.
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you believe in shiiiiiiiiiit.
What a sissy
i know people who have been abused by people such as these, a black racist. it doesn’t get publicised enough but, you are a racist. there are such people who are black who hate whites etc…. you made a choice earlier on In your life to hate white people. rather than sitting down and asking yourself, why do I feel this way about other people, what can I do to not hate anybody? you think what you say is so inspiring and uplifting but actually, you drag everybody down. just thought I would explain myself maturely for anybody reading. M.A.G.A..
So she never killed anyone, never robbed a bank either. She was framed by a cia organization called cointelpro started by J. Edgar Hoover that had as its sole mission the defamation of black leaders. Yeah she had many many reasons to hate white people, and it’s not her problem it’s ours. Our problem to fix. We have dragged minorities down to uplift ourselves and it is time that we are uncomfortable about that. America could be great again but it sure a shit needs to look a lot different than what it used to
I swear Americans are the dumbest people on this planet. Prime example is this sites comment page. You guys pick and tear down one another whether your black, white, or brown. All this man did was show his respect and show an uplifting poem. But hey it’s Drake and the person he picked was a terrorist considered by the American government. America ain’t no better than the shit going on with Communist China and Hong Kong.