Afeni Shakur was a revolutionary, an intellect and a voice for the people. She became a feminist darling of the ’70s, a female leader in the movement amidst the macho milieu of the Black Panther Party. Tupac was a rapper and poet, a political visionary and philosopher who became known as one of the greatest rap artists of all time. In addition to becoming a global sex symbol and media favorite for his outspoken and sometimes outrageous antics, he would eventually become the poster child for modern Black activism. Their story chronicles the possibilities and contradictions of the United States from a time of revolutionary fervor to Hip Hop culture’s most ostentatious decade.
FX’s Dear Mama is both an audio and visual experience. Tupac’s timeless message is undeniable as beats evaporate into soundscapes and his lyrics revealed to be mantras of passion and politics. It eschews strict chronology for a style that slides back and forth in time, finding linkages between mother and son, 1970s and 1990s, black activism and hip hop, that highlight how much has and has not changed in the struggle for human rights. Through this technique, the eras speak to each other and melt time away, shifting the dual narratives into one definitive portrait of a global superstar and the woman who shaped him, forever linked by love and fate.
https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/dear-mama
© 2023, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
