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CAREERS Special Edition
April 17, 2019
Thousands Drawn
to Rapper’s Legacy
C ontinueD from f ront
“superhero” son.
Beyonce and Jay-Z were
among the big-name celebrities
who attended the three-hour event
in Los Angeles at the Staples Cen-
ter, where the last celebrity funeral
held at the concert arena was Mi-
chael Jackson’s in 2009.
The arena was packed with
more than 21,000 fans and drove
home the important impact Hussle
— just 33 when he died — had on
his city and the rest of the world.
Anthony Hamilton invoked the
spirit of a church service when
he performed in Hussle’s hon-
or. Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan hailed Hussle’s ability
to bring different factions togeth-
er. And blogger and media figure
Karen Civil read a letter sent by
former U.S. President Barack
Obama, who wrote that he never
met Nipsey but heard of his music
through his daughters.
“While most folks look at the
Crenshaw neighborhood where
he grew up and only see gangs,
bullets and despair, Nipsey saw
potential. He saw hope. He saw a
community that even through its
flaws taught him to always keep
going. He chose to invest in that
community rather than to ignore
it,” the Obama letter read. “He
set an example for young people
to follow and is a legacy worth of
celebration. I hope his memory
inspires more good work in Cren-
shaw and communities like it. Mi-
chelle and I send our sympathies
to Lauren, Emani, Kross and his
whole family and to all those who
love Nipsey.”
Father Thomas Uwal read a
scripture in Tigrinya — the native
language in Eritrea, the African
country where Hussle’s father was
from. Uwal spoke of Hussle being
“proud to be an Eritrean-Ameri-
can,” later saying to the late rap-
per’s family: “On behalf of all Er-
itreans ... we say our condolences
to you.”
Hussle was slain last month in
front of a store that he tried to use
to empower his South Los Ange-
les neighborhood
The hearse carrying Hussle’s
coffin went through a 25-mile
(40-kilometer) lap through the
city, including past the property
where Hussle had planned to turn
an aging strip mall into new busi-
nesses and affordable homes.
Thousands of people crowded
the streets, some on bicycles and
motorcycles, following and sur-
rounding the vehicle as it slowly
wound its way to the funeral home.
The silver Cadillac passed the rap-
per’s childhood home in Watts. It
came to a halt at times, unable to
move in the vast crowd of people.
Eric R. Holder Jr., who has
been charged with killing Hus-
sle, has pleaded not guilty. Police
have said Holder and Hussle had
several interactions the day of the
shooting and have described it as
being the result of a personal dis-
pute.
photo by D aviD m ayne /p ortlanD p ubliC s Chools
Franklin High School is undergoing a process to find a new mascot
and nickname.
Franklin Considers New Mascot
The committee charged with
finding a new identity for Frank-
lin High School has come up
with a list of six possible mascot
names for the school’s communi-
ty to consider and will send their
recommendations to Superinten-
dent Guadalupe Guerrero for his
review this month. A final Board
vote will be in June.
The 19-member Franklin Mas-
cot Identification Committee –
which includes students, staff,
alumni, family members and com-
munity members – recently identi-
fied these possible names:
Ambassadors, Chargers, Fal-
cons, Firs, Lightning and Thun-
derbolts.
Franklin is undergoing a mascot
name change because its current
identity, Quakers, has been found
to violate district policy that forbids
names with a religious affiliation.
Once the new name is deter-
mined, changes will be made to
update items at the school that dis-
play the Quakers name.