Brenda’s Got A Baby: The Tragic Forgotten Tale That Inspired Tupac’s Legendary Song
Tupac Shakur was a prolific rap artist known for his deep, insightful takes on African-American life and their struggles with institutional racism. He’s made several songs on the plight of the people on the streets and used his music to pull people out of a bubble of constant bloodshed, violence, and missed self-growth opportunities.
While dominating the music scene, he used his influence to spread empathy and understanding. When Tupac got wind of a story about a teen abandoning their child after getting pregnant, he started writing a song with a music video narrating the struggles of young mothers in disparaged communities.
The Setup
On March 28, 1991, a 12-year-old girl introduced by Tupac as Brenda gave birth in her fourth-floor apartment. After a few hours, the mother of the child abandoned the baby by throwing it into a trash chute, hoping never to see it again. Gladys Perry, the mother of the 12-year-old (Gladys is the infant’s grandmother), informed the police that she was busy outside the house when the childbirth occurred.
The little one still had its umbilical cord intact and barely made a sound while stuck inside the compactor. The story sent chills down the spines of people in the community who had no idea the young girl next door was expecting and had tried to abandon her newborn gruesomely.
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