I was watching a special on Sundance Channel about Dave Chappelle and his Grandmother Maya Angelou, this story picked up..
Maya Angelou tells a story about the first time she met Tupac Shakur. It was on the set of the movie Poetic Justice by acclaimed director John Singleton. She left her trailer one day and encountered two young black men having a heated conversation. One of them was particularly worked up. He was cursing rampantly and had a grip on the other guy's shirt.
Dr. Angelou stepped in between the young men. She looked at the one who was the most worked up and asked him, "Do you know how important you are?" He began to turn his anger on her. Many other women would have been too scared to approach these young men or too intimidated to speak to them. However, Dr. Angelou brushed off his gruff demeanor and angry persona and asked again and again, "Do you know how important you are?"
When he got quiet enough to listen she asked him, "Do you realize how many of your ancestors lay in the holds of slave ships in their and others blood, excrement, urine and vomit for you? Do you know how many mothers stood on an auction block and endured the indignity of being examined and sold like livestock so that you could exist? Do you know how important it was to your ancestors that they survive so that you could live?"
The young man began to cry. Janet Jackson came upon them and told Dr. Angelou she was also talking to Tupac Shakur.
Shortly after the encounter, Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, called Dr. Angelou and thanked her for what she had said. Afeni Shakur told her that what she said had such a profound impact on him it probably saved his life.
I think about that story when I think about young people today. So many of them are willing to throw their lives away for such minor things. They are willing to fight and die for the most minute offenses but won't think of how their life and how they live it impact our present and the future.
Most of us will not have a far reaching impact on the world like a Tupac Shakur but that does not diminish our importance. It doesn't change the fact that each of us can make much needed contributions.
When Dr. Angelou stepped in between those young brothers, not knowing who either of them was, she didn't ask those questions of Tupac with the intention of inspiring him to change the world. She was asking him to look at himself and his actions in the context of what it took for him to even exist in this world. She was asking him to examine whether his present actions were worth the sacrifice others have made so that he could live.
Our youth need to know that they matter. Our youth need to know their being alive is no accident and that it can have a significant impact not just on their future but on all our futures. This is true, though, not just for young people but for all of us.
The choices we make, the way we interact with others, the contributions we give may seem insignificant in comparison to what our ancestors went through. They may seem to have little connection to what will happen generations down the road. The acts of one person can seem inconsequential in the scope of world issues.
We have to remember, though, that for every great iconic figure in this world and throughout history, there were dozens of nameless people who made choices and decisions that created ripples of change. Each of us must know our importance. We must remember that our lives count for something.
We must honor what has been endured for us and determine what we are willing to endure for the sake of the future.
Change happens through the acts of individuals. Each of us can do something to bring about positive change for the problems facing our world. One voice can stop genocide if it speaks loudly and often enough. One act can stop hunger if it is done with commitment. One moment can heal a person if it is given with compassion.
Each of us has a legacy to leave and ultimately only we can decide what that legacy will be and who will benefit or suffer from it.
Mariel Blake, a Daily News
contributing columnist, can be reached at:
marielblake@netscape.net
