Politics– Shakur first mentions politics by saying that he is no longer in a place where politics is not important. He tells his cellmate that he doesn’t understand that the the prison system has its own set of politics, involving power struggles between groups such as “B.G.F, E.M.E.,” and so on. Politics is important to Shakur to establish his place both within the prison community and within the Crips. The gang seems to be a very political organization, with set agendas and a formal internal structure. The different gangs function as political entities who declare war on each other and also establish peace treaties.
War– Shakur often describes himself as a participant in a war, a soldier who receives training. He mentions an “alert period” in which every “soldier” has to be dressed and out of bed. During the the rest of the day, the soldiers are educated and trained. Seeing Shakur as a soldier seems to make his strong identication with a violent organization more relatable. As he says, he believes in what he is doing. As a soldier, every aspect of life is controlled by the prison system or thegang system.
Degrade– Shakur’s obsession with the war and politics involved with crime both inside and outside of the prison system is made more understandable when we consider the conditions to which he is subjected. He first explains the strip search ritual performed at all prisons, explaining it as simply a “ritual designed to degrade”. He is, with no real explanation, placed in a cell with no light, a dirty place he is not permitted to even clean. Shakur is kept in such dark conditions that when the lights are finally turned on it seriously hurts his eyes. He states outright that the degradation and repression he endures in many ways breeds his resistance.