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Fresh Air

Best Of: The Shakur Family Legacy / Birder Christian Cooper

Fresh Air

NPR

Arts, Books, Tv & Film, Society & Culture

4.434.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tupac Shakur — who was killed at 25 in 1996 — would have turned 52 this year. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an activist and a central figure in the Black Panthers. Author and historian Santi Elijah Holley's new book, An Amerikan Family, follows the Shakur family tree and their work in the Black Liberation Movement.

Ken Tucker reviews Janelle Monáe's new album, The Age of Pleasure.

Christian Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. The video went viral. His memoir, Better Living Through Birding, chronicles life as a Black birder, gay activist and Marvel comic book writer and editor.

Transcript

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0:00.0

From W.H.Y.Y. in Philadelphia, I'm Tonya Mosley with Fresh Air Weekend.

0:06.0

Today, writer and historian, Santi Eliza Holly.

0:09.0

He's written a new book about the family of the late rapper Tupac Shakur,

0:13.0

titled, An American Family, The Shakurs and the Nation They Created.

0:17.0

Tupac's family, including his mother, a feiny, were central members of the Black Panthers

0:22.0

and the more radical group the Black Liberation Army.

0:25.0

From the late 60s through their demise in the 80s.

0:28.0

Also, we'll hear from Christian Cooper.

0:30.0

He became known in 2020 for a scene he captured on video in Central Park while birdwatching.

0:36.0

A white woman who refused his request to leash her dog, called police,

0:40.0

falsely claiming a black man was threatening her and her dog.

0:43.0

And Kintucker will review Janelle Monay's new album.

0:47.0

I'm raising a body giving me stars, they think I'm supreme.

0:51.0

They say I look better than David Bowie and a Monay tree.

0:56.0

That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.

0:59.0

This month, the late rapper Tupac Shakur would have turned 52 years old.

1:04.0

He was killed in 1996 at the age of 25.

1:07.0

And over the decades, a flurry of books and documentaries have been created and written about his short life.

1:12.0

And the way he used rap lyrics to convey messages about the world around him.

1:26.0

That's the song changes by Tupac Shakur.

1:30.0

writer Santi Elijah Holly wanted to delve even deeper into the family behind Tupac.

1:35.0

And what made him an electrifying presence in the voice of a generation.

...

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