Life Goes on: Tupac Shakur’s Influence on Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give and African American Sneaker Culture

Abstract

When analyzing African American sneaker culture’s ascension into American popular and global culture, one must consider its place in literature. How did sneaker culture go from the basketball courts and the bustling streets of urban America to the pages of books? In brief, the material circumstances of a society that subscribes to African American sneaker culture reflects in the literature the same society produces. For example, writers documenting the African American experience within urban environments, wittingly and unwittingly documented sneaker culture’s existence and manifestation. This is evident in Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give (2017). Is Angie Thomas the next Tupac Shakur? Heavily influenced by his work, her work too has entered academic settings. Will sneaker culture overcome the taboos surrounding it? The topics addressed in The Hate U Give (2017) are as controversial in today’s political climate as topics addressed by Shakur in the past. Furthermore, wrapping a tale of police brutality inside a text that glorifies sneaker culture is not tailored to the majority. Like “All Eyez On Me” Thomas’s text speaks to the plight of the African American.

Keywords:

• Tupac
• The Hate U Give
• Sneaker Culture
• Fashion
• Police Brutality