Tupac Shakur Way: Oakland names street after rapper, 27 years after his death

OAKLAND, Calif. — A street in Oakland, California, was renamed after Tupac Shakur nearly three decades after he was killed.

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The street is part of the remaining portion of MacArthur Boulevard by Van Buren and Grand avenues, according to KNTV. The street name is now Tupac Shakur Way, The Associated Press reported.

The new street name was unveiled during a ceremony Friday, according to the news station. Family, friends and fans attended the ceremony. MC Hammer, an Oakland native, also attended the ceremony, according to the AP.

“It’s a moment that I know my brother would be proud of,” Shakur’s sister Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur said, according to KNTV. “Establishing love and peace in the Oakland community especially mattered to him. Being able to represent safety to his people mattered to him.”

“Let his spirit live on the rest of these years in these streets and in your hearts,” Sekyiwa Shakur told the crowd during the ceremony, according to the AP.

The street name is now Tupac Shakur Way, the AP reported.

The Oakland City Council voted unanimously to rename the road earlier this year, KNTV reported. It was an effort that Councilmember Caroll Fife started.

“The same things that made who Tupac was, what he was fighting for and trying to lift up through his music is what we are fighting for today,” Fife said.

“He loved this place. He loved Oakland,” rapper Richey Rich Double R said, according to KNTV.

“He’s a leader, he’s an innovator, his duality, his fight for the people,” radio personality Sway Calloway said. “He stood 10 toes down, and the fight that he fought for us resonated all around the globe.”

“He spoke up for our people, for our culture,” rapper E-40 added, according to KNTV. “He is the greatest rapper to ever did it, man. He did so much in so little time.”

Shakur died on Sept. 13, 1996, six days he was shot. He was 25 years old. Over the summer, one of the alleged suspects was arrested in connection with his murder.

Davis is accused of plotting the drive-by shooting that led to Shakur’s death.

Duane “Keefe D” Davis pleaded not guilty last Thursday, according to the AP.

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Remembering Tupac Flavor Flav, standing with rapper Tupac Shakur, greets fans backstage during the 1989 American Music Awards, Los Angeles, California, January 30, 1989. (Photo by Clarence Gatson/Gado/Getty Images) (Clarence Gatson/Gado/Getty Images)