The city of Oakland will have a street named after the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
According to People, the renaming will occur on MacArthur Boulevard between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue. This is also the street Tupac stayed on while he lived in Oakland.
In a unanimous decision, the city council voted in favor of the new street name, Tupac Shakur Way.
The controversial artist made his way to Oakland in the early 1990s. In a 1993 video interview, he said he got his “game” from Oakland. “When I got to Oakland, that’s when I learned the game,” he said. “I give all my love to Oakland. If I’m a claim somewhere, I’m a claim Oakland.”
Shakur is joining an esteemed list of Black people with a street named after them, including Black Panther Party Co-founder Huey P. Newton and Oakland’s recording artist, Too Short.
NBC News reported that the street being renamed is located by Lake Merritt, and the Tupac Shakur Foundation will pay for the commemorative plaques and signs that will replace the current name.
The legislation says that the street naming will remind the people of Oakland of Shakur’s “contributions to Oakland and our communities through the celebration of art and culture as an awakening tool towards changes in society.”
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Seven years ago in 2016, the mayor of Oakland proclaimed June 16, Tupac’s birthday, as Tupac Shakur Day.
The rapper, who at the time was making strides in his acting career, was only 25 when he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996 following a Mike Tyson fight. There has been no word yet on the timeline for the renaming ceremony. Tupac’s indelible footprint continues to impact legions of people beyond the music industry. His pioneering work has left a lasting legacy nearly 30 years after his death.
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