Keeping Hope Alive

On MSNBC this morning, there was a photographer reporting from the trenches of Ike.  She was doing a phone report as they played a reel of her pictures.  Of COURSE they were all terribly sad shots of desperate scenarios.  Heart breaking to behold, especially in the peace of my downtown L.A. apartment.  

Among the pictures was a family carrying their most important belongings, being ushered to a safer place to stay while relief efforts were being deployed (well... what relief is being offered.  It hurts to even imagine the agony of what relief they're NOT getting at this point).  Incredibly, among the belongings being carried (so, so few) was a huge, framed picture of Tupac.  The boy carrying it was holding it in front of him, using two hands, resting it against his hips.  This awkward and seemingly ridiculous item was one of the few things he grabbed for his immediate survival.  

I felt very moved by that.  The fact that a simple picture of an artist... someone who makes music this person is surely empowered by, was this boy's necissity.  THAT'S HOW MUCH Tupac- a rapper- means to this person.  THAT'S HOW MUCH art is capable of changing a person on the rawest level.  Enough to influence their will to survive.

Now- on a side note, I am a Tupac WORSHIPER.  I think he's one of the most brilliant rappers who ever lived.  Some of the choices he makes in his lyrics and melodies are almost mystifying.  It's not Tupac I'm focusing on, here.  It's how much art can change you.  Change you to the point at which just a PICTURE of the artist you love, inspires you to survive.  Literally survive.