I wanted to briefly discuss the news around hip hop artist and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle. His life was taken from him at age 33 and it shocked the music world and fans alike. What made his loss more tragic was that he was actively working to give back to his community.
Nipsey (real name Ermias Asghedom) owned several businesses, rights to his music, and invested in land and other properties. He set an example for the young Black community to follow in terms of using your profits to profit the community around you. Details on his death are still being uncovered, but I wanted to share something that came to mind about his death.
Regardless of the speculation or theories out there, one positive glimmer of hope that we can have after such a loss is that his legacy of building the community economically and otherwise will be more widespread than ever because of the news.
It all reminded me of a dandelion–you know the ones that you would blow on as a little kid to see the fluffy seeds fly into the air? His life was like that of a dandelion in which though he was growing and thriving in his element, his life was cut short.
Often times when a dandelion is plucked from the ground and the seeds are blown, that’s all there was to the person who plucked it. However, the dandelion is a resilient plant. Its leaves are low to the ground and oftentimes will grow another dandelion because the foundation was still intact. The seeds blown into the wind can travel far, in fact up to five miles before landing in soil to grow a new dandelion plant.
Though his life was cut short, Nipsey Hussle’s legacy, businesses and ideas are spreading more and more now. His life not only impacted his neighborhood of Crenshaw, CA, his legacy will impact communities all over the country if not the world. To many a dandelion is considered a weed, like a rapper is often considered not the best role model in terms of career or lifestyle. However, dandelions have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries and even have nutritional value as food. One could say that Nipsey was misunderstood by some but of value to many who he did his community work for, bringing healing and feeding those in need.
“Dandelions – being ruderals, have the ability to grow in very poor soil with immense ease”(Source). One could use this as an allegory for the traumatic conditions in which Nipsey grew up in South Los Angeles and thrived anyway. Perhaps that’s your story too; that despite what you grew up experiencing or even what you have gone through the last few years, you are still here, purposed and thriving. As many mourn the loss of this man and the countless amounts of Black men losing their lives, let’s commit to being kinder to one another and not being afraid to pursue our God given purpose on this earth; for life is surely a vapor.
“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.” Job 14:1-2 NLT
Let’s also ask ourselves: where do we go from here?
Mourning is appropriate, but how can we continue what he has done and what many others in our respective communities are doing? When we move in unity we have a better chance of seeing the change we’ve been demanding for so long. It doesn’t take too much to volunteer, offer up resources, make a donation, or share a positive promotion on your social media. We can do better together for each other; it’ll have to continue with us. Another known hip hop artist, Lecrae, recently shared his thoughts on this:
What are your thoughts on this news? Share your thoughts below.
