Escobar served honorably for four years in the Air Force. Following his time as a skilled F-15 Fighter Jet mechanic, he contributed to military justice, assisting attorneys in upholding military discipline. He recently founded a company called True College with a mission to help low-income students navigate the college application process.
The recent incarceration of Duane Davis, or "Keffe D," tethered to the ominous murder of the prolific Tupac Shakur in 1996, has inadvertently resurrected discussions around Tupac's audacious political lyrics. Even after a quarter of a century, the hard-hitting messages embedded within Tupac's rhythms pulsate with relevance, striking chords in the heart of America’s contemporary socio-political landscape.
With verses echoing the cries against systemic injustices, police brutality, and the racial disenfranchisement of the black community, Tupac’s musical legacy continues to breathe life into the ongoing struggles and resonates in today’s tumultuous American political climate.
Navigating through his lyrical labyrinth, one discerns Tupac as a fierce critic of social maladies. Songs like "Keep Ya Head Up" underscore the corrosive effects of police brutality, portraying
law enforcement not as protectors but as formidable adversaries. Such reflections encapsulate the persistent ordeal that has fueled movements like Black Lives Matter that demand accountability and reform in policing and criminal justice.
In unraveling the tales of the distressed, Tupac’s "Brenda's Got a Baby" unveils the grim realities confronting young Black women. Within its poignant lyrics lies an exploration of issues like abortion, a contentious topic at the forefront of American political discourse. Amid evolving legal battles and policy shifts, the narratives within his music provide a cultural mirror reflecting the personal traumas and societal judgments faced by women, emphasizing the necessity of empathetic and supportive frameworks.
Tupac's "Changes" captivates through its vivid imagery of a tumultuous world, a canvas painted with the lack of readiness to embrace a Black president and the urgent cries for revolutionary
shifts. These words resonate with the divisive politics and racial rifts observed in recent election cycles, reinforcing the notion that his messages are not relics of the past but rather living dialogues engaging with contemporary socio-political realities.
Despite the controversies that clouded Tupac’s lyrical expressions, marked by profanity and raw depictions of violence, supporters argue that his music was merely a mirror reflecting the harsh terrains of inner-city life. It served as a vessel carrying the voices of marginalized communities, transcending temporal boundaries and reverberating in the global realms of musical influence and societal introspection.
Tupac’s legacy, amidst current unfolding dramas such as Duane Davis’s arrest, stands as a testament to the enduring relevance of his political messages. In the echoing silence left in his absence, the vibrancy of his lyrics continues to fuel the fight for social justice, equality, and systemic transformation in an America still grappling with the shadows of its past and the turbulence of its present.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.