📍Baltimore, MD, USA
1984 – 1988“In 1984, when I was about thirteen, my mother, Afeni, brought me and my little sister, Sekyiwa, from New York to Baltimore, looking for a fresh start. We lived on the first floor of a rowhouse on Greenmount Avenue, in the Pen Lucy neighbourhood. Money was always short, and life was hard, but my mother, a former Black Panther, raised me to read, think and stand up for my people. I went to Roland Park Middle School and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, and then, in tenth grade, I got into the Baltimore School for the Arts, and my world opened up. I studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet; I played the Mouse King in The Nutcracker and acted in Shakespeare, and I loved it. There were kids of every background, rich and poor, Black and white, and I made friends who changed my life, including Jada Pinkett, who became one of my closest friends. With my friend Dana Smith, Mouse, beatboxing for me, I won rap competitions and was known as the best rapper in the school. I said later that I would have been a totally different person if I hadn't been exposed to those things. It was the freest time of my life. In the summer of 1988 my family moved to Marin City, California, and I went on to join Digital Underground, then made my own albums, from 2Pacalypse Now to All Eyez on Me, and acted in films like Juice and Poetic Justice. I wrote about poverty, injustice and hope, and my words still speak to young people around the world. Baltimore named my old block of Greenmount Avenue Tupac Shakur Way, where I learned I could be an artist.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today