TRAYVON MARTIN by Shepard Fairey
Shepard created this artwork a few months ago for a commission by Ebony Magazine. He was not able to show the artwork until the issue hit newsstands.
“I have followed Trayvon’s case closely and I think any compassionate human being can relate to Trayvon as a brother or son and would want to see a thorough investigation into the killing of an unarmed person. In my portrait I wanted to emphasize Trayvon’s humanity as well as the public outcry for a just investigation into his death.” —Shepard
Related: The Shooting of Trayvon Martin
“Lord, take these broken wings… I need your hands to come and heal me once again, so I can fly!” —
2Pac - Until the End of Time
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Southern Ingenuity:
When life gives you days in the desert, where both the temperature and heat index exceed 100 degrees, MAKE TEA. You can take me outta the South, but you can’t take the South outta me. While others sit in their circles complaining, I’m out here making the best of a bad situation every chance I get!
—Sun
RELATED: Health Benefits of Lipton Tea
[video]
It was great seeing [my friend in my head] 2pac again, even if it was merely a CG version… But then again, it was so much more. Although songstress Mariah Carey can claim stake as the OG of celebrity holographic performances, Pac’s recent resurrection shook up the world! 
I can compare my recent enthusiasm about the 2pac hologram to the excitement I felt when I saw the trailer for the Fight Night video game series that featured Malik Abdul Aziz (Mike Tyson) facing off with The Greatest Of All Time, Muhammad Ali! Technology has provided us with a rare opportunity to create the ultimate fight of the century, between two of boxing’s greatest retired legends… and now we’re even capable of bringing the dead back to life, convincingly!
The thing that gets me so fired up about these “holograms” is that they were observed and authenticated by live audiences. While Mariah’s hologram performed in five different European cities simultaneously last year, 2Pac’s performance set the World Wide Web ablaze with millions of folks flooding social media with comments expressing sentiments of being amazed, and creeped out at the same time. Of course there were notable flaws like the stage lights showing through the hologram’s translucent feet, and 2Pac’s new exaggerated physique, but the fact that this milestone was achieved using hip hop’s arguably most celebrated antagonist and cultural icon, versus an Elvis or Frank Sinatra, is demonstrative of the magnitude that hip hop, and 2Pac’s uncanny legacy have on the world. There are rumors now that claim that the 2Pac hologram will be performing on tours in coming months. I’ve even heard of a Notorious B.I.G. hologram in the works… But is that really what we need?
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve watched Snoop and Pac’s Coachella footage dozens of times, and even yelled out like I was right there in the front row a time or two. I’ve tweeted about my jealousy of the new Pac’s abs, and how I feel that his message and stage presence might have changed by 2012, had he been blessed to live an additional 15 years. While a Biggie hologram may allow me to briefly relive a few rambunctious teenage moments… I’d prefer holograms of folks like Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Marcus Garvey, Huey P. Newton, Stanley Tookie Williams, Paul Robeson, Bob Marley, and other historical Black figures that could speak to our people regarding our focus in modern times, and letting them know that we’ve come a long way as a people, but we can’t stop here… We can’t become satisfied with this… We’ve got more fight in us… and more mediums with which to become organized!
How many times have you heard something along the lines of, “so-and-so would turn over in their grave if they saw the way that things were here today?” Returning to the topic of Black Star Power, I say bring back Donny Hathaway, and Marvin Gaye… Have James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, and Isaac Hayes return to give us one more fight song! Allow Nina Simone and Billie Holiday’s vocals to bring tears to the eyes of the heartless, and let Michael Jackson come back to continue his mission of Healing the World! Have the 2Pac hologram appear at a poetry open mic session performing some of his lesser known masterpieces. I’m a huge Biggie fan, but I don’t need another dose of the 10 Crack Commandments in order to celebrate his legacy.
The Everyday Struggle is still very real in the form of ridiculously high gas prices, the unemployment crisis, healthcare and medical bills, student and home loans, and keeping our families fed. Give our heroes One More Chance… Send us some holographic icons that will awaken the hearts and minds of people who are selling their souls to the entertainment industry and social media, and those who are allowing the enemy to kill off the kids in our communities. Use technology to resurrect our ancestors so that they may provide us, once again, with the courage and strength to take a stand, protest, march, and fight without fear of what the folks at the job, the church, or the home next door will say!
—Sun
“I feel so blessed and at one with the all. I am bruised but far from broken. Flawed, but perfectly so… Every bit of every day is precious and I thank the Lord that I still get to experience it.” — LawyaGurl (the strongest person I know)