Two weeks before his death, Shakur explained: “I feel like Black Jesus is controlling me. He’s our saint that we pray to; that we look up to.” Shakur believed that the black Jesus protected him for a greater purpose: “How I got shot five times—only a saint, only Black Jesus, only a nigga that know where I’m coming from, could be, like, ‘You know what? He gonna end up doing some good.’”22
