What Does Nipsey Hussle’s Death Mean For The Black Community?

When I talked with people about how they felt when they heard the news of Hussle’s death, everyone said that his death hit them differently. I felt the same. Hussle was a man who became successful but didn’t forget where he came from. He gave back to his community by opening up a clothing store called Marathon Clothing in Los Angeles’ Hyde Park neighborhood. He worked on a documentary to tell the story of Dr. Sebi, an herbalist who arguably discovered the cure to HIV/AIDS. Hussle was scheduled to meet with the L.A. Police Department to discuss strategies on how to stop gang violence. 

Hussle was gunned down by a Black man he knew, Eric Holder. The story is that the two men had beef outside Marathon clothing store. Holder left and came back with a handgun when he open fired killing Hussle and critically wounding two other men.

I never listened to Hussle’s music and didn’t know about the projects he had going on until his death, but it still saddens me to see another Black man dead over senseless acts of violence, especially a Black man who inspired positive change in his neighborhood instead of just living luxuriously and bragging about it on Instagram. 

Will Hussle’s death inspire change in the hood? Probably for a while, but eventually people will move on and the block will go hot again. Well, no one’s death is going to be the end of all gang/beef violence. But, Hussle’s death wasn’t anything new, he was different because of his celebrity status. Black men have been dying all year round from senseless acts of violence.