Baptized in Dirty Water: Reimagining the Gospel according to Tupac Amaru Shakur

172 Pages·2019·2.139 MB·English

by  Daniel White Hodge

Baptized
in Dirty Water
P o p o l o g y
short theological engagements with popular music
Series Editor: Christian Scharen
Editorial Committee: Margarita Simon Guillory, Jeff
Keuss, Mary McDonough, Myles Werntz, Daniel White
Hodge
Popology features theologians who have a passion for
particular popular artists and who offer robust theological
engagements with the work of that artist—engaging a song,
an album, or a whole body of work over a career. Books in
the series are accessible, yet deep both in their theological
and musical engagement. Each book foregrounds ideas of
interest in the musician’s work, first, and puts these into
conversation with the context and culture, second, and the
Christian tradition, third. Each book, therefore, includes
analysis of the cultural artifact, cultural context, and the re-
lation to Christian tradition. Each book endeavors, as well,
to speak with vitality to the challenges of living with God’s
mercy and justice in today’s world.
Baptized
in Dirty Water
Reimagining the Gospel according to
TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR
Daniel White Hodge
!!
CASCADE Books • Eugene, Oregon
BAPTIZED IN DIRTY WATER
Reimagining the Gospel according to Tupac Amaru Shakur
Popology: Short Theological Engagements with Popular Music
Copyright © 2019 Daniel White Hodge. All rights reserved.
Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no
part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior
written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf
and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-1366-1
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-1368-5
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-1367-8
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Names:White Hodge, Daniel.
Title: Baptized in dirty water : reimagining the gospel
according to Tupac Amaru Shakur / by Daniel White Hodge..
Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019 | Series:
Popology: Short Theological Engagements with Popular Music
| Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-1366-1 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-
5326-1368-5 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-5326-1367-8 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Shakur, Tupac, 1971–1996. | Religion and
cuture. | Popular music—Religious aspects. | Rap (music)
Classification: ML3930.S48 W55 2019 (paperback) | ML3930.S48
(ebook)
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 04/18/19
Contents
Tables and Figures vii
Introduction: The Hip Hop Theologian
and Thinker, Tupac ix
1. Hip Hop Culture and Context
in the Post-Civil Rights Era 1
2. Tupac’s Life Eras and Sociotheological Spaces 28
3. A Tupacian Theological Gospel 82
4. A Few Concluding Thoughts 112
Attachment A:
Pictorial View of Tupac 117
Attachment B:
THUG LIFE Code 122
Attachment C:
Black Panther Ten-Point Program and Platform 125
Attachment D:
Tupac’s Tattoos 129
Attachment E:
Tupac’s Musical Connection to Slave Music 133
Attachment F:
Song: “So Many Tears” 136
Attachment G:
Material Used in Tupac’s Ethnolifehistory 139
Attachment H:
Tupac’s Involvement with the Law 140
Attachment I:
Tupac’s Variety of Interviews 142
Bibliography 145
Tables and Figures
Table 1: The Differences Between the Soul Era
and the Post-Soul Era 29
Table 2: Tupac’s Musical Positions 49
Figure 1: Core Principals of Hip Hop Culture 9
Figure 2: Tupac’s Musical Foundation 51
Figure 3: Tupac’s THUG LIFE Code’s Message 76
vii

Introduction
The Hip Hop Theologian and Thinker, Tupac
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I wasn’t biased and could ob-
jectively explore the topic of Tupac Shakur and his theo-
logical pursuits. The academic quest in the West tends to
manufacture a sense of disembodiment from research, yet
who of us can truly do that with an honest shake? The cur-
rent sociopolitical era we find ourselves here in the US, in
the early part of the twenty-first century, is a nefarious one
and one that pits itself against people of color (PoC)—par-
ticularly Black and Latinx bodies. The legacy of Tupac’s
ideology, worldview, theology, and even “sins,” have never
been needed more. Thus, it is difficult to objectively look
at Tupac as an Afro-Latinx male living in the Midwest at a
time when I could be killed for simply looking suspicious.
Tupac creates a space to lament. Tupac can transcend time
and connect with current events. Tupac was prophetic in his
approach to life—and not just in his music. Tupac’s vigor
and energy for life, especially Black life, is needed and is
something that a new ethnic-minority generation, growing
up in a post-civil rights context, needs to connect with.
Let me situate this in another way. As I sit writing
this book, the current time, context, climate, and culture
in the United States is fraught with racial, gender, and
cultural strain the likes of which have not been seen since
the Jim Crow era. It is a time unlike any other. While the
ix
Introduction
period prior to the 1970s was direct and intense racism,
the present context utilizes social media, passive- and
micro-aggression to create its hegemony and culture of
hate. I struggle as a racially Black male living in the US and
trying to live out a faith rooted in Christianity—particu-
larly when the history of Christianity has been shown to
be objectionable to not only the color of my skin, but my
narrative, body, and life.1 The events that have taken the
main stage in media’s public sphere started to erupt, at least
personally, during the Troy Davis campaign. Here, a young
Black male, who was convicted of shooting and killing a
White police officer, sat on death row. When I began to re-
search the issue and Davis’ case, I found that little physical
evidence for him was actually found and the “eyewitness”
later recanted the story of seeing Davis murder the police
officer.2 Amid a strong social media campaign and even
phone calls to elected officials, Troy Davis was executed on
September 21, 2011. Then came Trayvon Martin and later
Michael Brown,3 then both the Ferguson and Baltimore
1. One must consider the use of Christianity as both a racist and
violent tool of oppression toward many Africans and African Ameri-
cans—not to mention other ethnic-minority groups such as Mexi-
cans, Chinese, Japanese, and Native Americans. This will be engaged
more later in this text as it relates to missions and colonialization.
2. I do realize this is a controversial case; in fact, most Black and
White cases typically are. From my research and investigation, Troy
Davis should have had another trial and the new evidence should
have been admitted into that trial. I am fully aware that many White
evangelicals took issue with the Davis trial and sided with the courts.
This is part of the ongoing tensions in the US and especially in Chris-
tian evangelical circles.
3. This is in no way minimizing the women and other Black youth
who have been murdered and/or killed at the hands of either police
officers or “vigilante” White citizens. What I suggest here are the cap-
stone events that have shaped both our nation and where I personally
stand as a Black Christian male.
x