We’re very excited to say that we’ll be joined by @deanvannguyen on June 19th to celebrate the release of his new book Words for My Comrades: A Political History of Tupac Shakur, with a Q&A hosted by @godknowsmc.
Join us from 6pm. We’ll have copies of the book available to buy on the night. No tickets needed, just come through ✌️
About Words for My Comrades:
From Pitchfork and Guardian contributor Dean Van Nguyen comes a revelatory history of Tupac beyond his musical legend, as a radical son of the Black Panther Party whose political legacy still resonates today.
Before his murder at age twenty-five, Tupac Shakur rose to staggering artistic heights as the preeminent storyteller of the 1990s, building, in the process, one of the most iconic public personas of the last half century. He recorded no fewer than ten platinum albums, starred in major films, and became an activist and political hero known the world over. In this cultural history, journalist Van Nguyen reckons with Tupac’s coming of age, fame, and cultural capital, and how the political machinations that shaped him as a boy have since buoyed his legacy as a revolutionary following the George Floyd uprisings. Words for My Comrades engages—crucially—with the influence of Tupac’s mother, Afeni, whose role in the Black Panther Party and dedication to dismantling American imperialism and combating police brutality informed Tupac’s art. Tupac’s childhood as a son of the Panthers, coupled with the influence of his stepfather’s Marxist beliefs, informed his own riveting code of ethics that helped audiences grapple with America’s inherent injustices.