Tupac Shakur's Chocolate Cities

No matter where melanin-enriched individuals have traveled within America, they have always managed to inherit some piece of existence onto the land. Whether individuals migrated to another city and or stayed stagnant in the location of their ancestors, black individuals have created Chocolate Cities in order to resist the oppressive forces that prompted them to leave them economically, socially, educationally, and politically deprived. The unconquerable souls of black people while enduring generations of marginalization, has compelled these individuals to produce some of the most impactful, moving, and elegant aspects within American society. As a collective, black individuals have developed Chocolate Cities, allowing them to gain freedom

These individuals used a dance that was cultivated from their culture and heritage to deliberately assert their existence and essence, while also bringing light to the systematic forms of oppression that continue to harm black bodies. Located in the Chocolate Cities of the West South and Up South, Tupac Shakur would turn an often chastised depiction of African-Americans, into a term of empowerment for Black individuals. In 1993, after Tupac became a victim of police brutality and being labeled as “troubled” and a thug among mainstream society, Tupac would create the T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E Movement as a mechanism to liberate, encourage, and inspire black youth. Defined as The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody, this phrase would be plastered all throughout Chocolate Cities around the country, featured in videos, clothing, and music crafted by Shakur. The movement became so profound within many Chocolate Cities around the country, as Shakur flipped the meaning of thug, a common America perception tied with African-Americans, into a movement that inspired and motivated impoverished black children who were affected by horrors of systematic racism. Big Freedia, along with Tupac Shakur would serve as prime examples for Black individuals within Chocolate Cities to use the power and influence of black culture to disrupt the comfortability of whiteness, while also making a potent statement on the issues of constant racism within