News of June 24, 2000
Second Tupac Conference in Oakland Shows Video of 17-Year-Old
In late June 2000, fans, former Black Panthers and companions met at an Oakland school for the second Tupac Amaru Shakur One Nation Conference.
On Saturday, June 24, 2000, the auditorium of Fremont High School in Oakland became a space for discussion about Tupac for one day. The Tupac Amaru Shakur One Nation Conference used his legacy as a starting point for political discussions, with lectures, films, and workshops. MTV News reported on it on June 27. It was the second conference of its kind; the first had taken place in December.
A Student with Big Plans
The strongest moment was provided by a 20-minute video. Teachers at his former school had interviewed the 17-year-old Tupac in it. MTV named Terra Linda High School as the school; according to other reports, however, Tupac attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, which is also considered the setting of his first video interview in 1988 (Sausalito Historical Society, Atlanta Black Star). He spoke about his family, his political views, and his goals, recounted how he gave up his job at a pizzeria for the interview, and demanded classes on police brutality and hunger instead of French and German. The video was presented by Leila Steinberg, his former manager. She also played excerpts from the planned album The Rose That Grew from Concrete, on which artists set Tupac’s poems to music.
Small Circle, Long Conversations
In the morning, only a few people arrived, but by noon the group grew to about 70 people. Bobby McCall, a former Black Panther and father of Money B from Digital Underground, recalled a kind, smart boy. Upon request, Money B rapped lines from a new song about Tupac. M1 from Dead Prez and Geronimo Pratt were unable to attend. Steinberg summarized her motivation by saying she was not obsessed with Tupac, but with “revolution” and “change”.