The Tragic Forgotten Tale That Inspired Tupac’s “Brenda’s Got A Baby”
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 opportunities for self-growth.
During his time dominating the radiowaves, he used his influence to spread empathy and understanding for his fellow man. When Shakur got wind of a story about a teen abandoning their child after getting pregnant, he jumped on it and 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 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 to never see it again. The mother of the 12-year-old (the child’s grandmother) informed the police that she was busy somewhere outside the house when the childbirth took place.
The child still had its umbilical cord intact, and barely made a sound while it was stuck inside the compactor. The story sent chills down the spines of people in the community who had no idea the little girl next door was pregnant and tried to abandon her baby in such a gruesome way.
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