I don’t think we ever forget those days when we hear a celebrity we adore and love has passed. Although we don’t get to see them on red carpets, in magazines and on TV anymore, one thing is for sure their legacy lives on and I don’t think it will ever end. Today, 16 years ago we lost one of my favorite artists of all time Notorious “Biggie” Wallace. In honor of Biggie and all of our fallen stars, check out how you can still support their legacy by giving back and me personally, I couldn’t think of a better way to honor them!
The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) is home to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, just outside of Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia. TASF was founded in 1997 originally as the Shakur Family Foundation by Afeni Shakur, mother of multi-talented Tupac Amaru Shakur. Since its inception TASF has offered performing arts camps, essay competitions, youth book clubs, visual arts workshops, community development projects, and scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate degrees.
On June 11, 2005 the TASF opened the Center! The Center is dedicated to providing youth and the community with educational programs in the arts. It is a fact that early arts education improves school grades, as well as offers invaluable life lessons while building self-esteem and confidence. For nearly 15 years, the Foundation’s programs have served youth of all social and economic backgrounds, giving countless young people the courage to get off the streets and learn vital skills that have the potential to positively impact their communities. The Center is open to the public and hosts several noteworthy events throughout the year.
The mission of the Tupac Shakur foundation is to provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents. Each and every child desires freedom to creatively express themselves. We provide an environment that encourages freedom of expression, serves as a resource for families, and empowers via education.
Tupac Amaru Shakur dealt with great obstacles such as homelessness, hunger, and pain, amongst other situations during his youth. Performing arts provided the hope that would seed the expression that would one day influence generations worldwide.
Tupac accomplished a lot before his murder at the age of 25. At an early age, he wrote and organized family productions, casting himself as the lead and his older cousins in supporting roles. Tupac formally trained at the 127th Street Ensemble and Baltimore School for the Arts. At the age of twelve, he experienced his first formal stage role as the character “Travis” in the stage play ‘Raisin In the Sun’ at the prestigious Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
An illuminating factor was her conviction to touch and help others. The Aaliyah Memorial Fund was created as a vehicle whereby her fans, friends, and family can contribute to and support causes that Aaliyah found important. The Aaliyah Memorial Fund was started in 2001. For Aaliyah and her comrades that left us August 25th, 2001, there is much we can do as a benevolent community to keep Aaliyah’s dream & legacy alive. With your contribution, research and hope for cures will go with your help in Aaliyah’s name.
The beneficiaries have included since 2001 the Alzheimer’s Association of Los Angeles, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, the National Alzheimer’s Association, the Step Up Women’s Network, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Detroit School of the Arts, the Harlem Breast Cancer Center, the Revlon Breast Cancer Walk NYC, the Sacred Heart Parish, and the Jenna Druck Foundation.
One of my favorite artists of all time, Big is celebrated as one of the greatest rap artists and many will say the king of East Coast hip-hop. Many of Hip-Hop’s top media publications including The Source, Allhiphop.com and XXL have named Big the greatest rapper of all time.
Every year the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds a black-tie dinner to raise funds for children’s school equipment and supplies and to honor the memory of the Notorious B.I.G. (For the event, B.I.G. Night Out, in addition to referencing Biggie’s name, stands for Books Instead of Guns.) Last year at the event not only was homage paid to Biggie and his mother, Voletta Wallace, but also to deceased superstars Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah Haughton, Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Lamont “Big L” Coleman, Christopher “Big Pun” Rios, Raymond “Freaky Tah” Rogers and their mothers. Attendees including Jay-Z, Iron Mike Tyson and the Rev. Al Sharpton came to rejoice. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 20 years since the deaths of Biggie and Tupac, I was in the 8th grade. Without a doubt one way we can always pay homage to their memory is to live a life where we seek to resolve conflict the right way and leave violence out of out lives.
A personal friend of Chinara Butler, Pimp C’s widow, I know first hand the work being done to keep his memory alive and use his death as a teaching moment for countless fans. December 4th will forever mark the date when the south lost one of it’s most notable and classic artists and producers, one half of the rap group UGK. Each year since his death every December his widow, friends and family host the Chad “Pimp C” Butler Hip Hop & Health Fair.
To keep his legacy alive, the health fair raises awareness of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases to youth who lack the resources to get tested. The fair provides information about drug abuse and prevention, free testing and features live performances and appearances from some of Houston’s finest. A memorial fund has also been established to support Pimp C’s three children in Port Author Texas. Lookout for Chinara Butler and the ongoing efforts soon to be nationwide to bring awareness to healthcare in our communities.
Although she was a member of one of the most successful pop groups of all time TLC, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes spent a good portion of the last years of her life very far from the limelight. In the late 1990s she traveled to the impoverished Central American country of Honduras for the first time, and soon made a second home for herself there. 
She was drawn to the country’s natural beauty, holistic healing, and most of all to its people. When she passed away there in 2002, she was in the process of bringing to fruition her dream of establishing a non-profit educational and medical center on some property she owned near the coastal cities of La Ceiba and Jutiapa.
Today, the Lisa Lopes Foundation is poised to make Lisa’s dream a reality. The Lisa Lopes Foundation, Inc. (LLF) is dedicated to providing youth from low income communities and diverse cultural backgrounds with innovative programs, and resources to increase motivation and strengthen their desire to succeed in school and beyond.
A visionary who thought it robbery not to give unto those who were impoverished. Our father, James Brown the Godfather of soul, was that visionary. We celebrate his legacy in so many ways, in music, performance, and live recordings. This foundation’s concentration is on his legacy of giving.
The Brown Family Children Foundation, Inc is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created for charitable and educational purposes. Our father, the founder of the Annual James Brown Turkey and Toy Giveaways, assisted underprivileged children and impoverished families through these and many other projects. It is in accordance with his wishes to continue to bring hope and fulfillment of life to those families in need. This is the main purpose of the foundation organized by the children of James Brown.
The inception of this foundation began in April of 2007. The importance of continuing the annual giveaways was dominant among the hearts of his family. These two events were dearest to Mr. Brown. Only on one occasion Mr. Brown was scheduled to perform in Europe and could not cancel, he then reached out to one whom he had a son-like relationship with, Reverend Al Sharpton to fill in. Since Mr. Brown’s passing, Sharpton continues his support to the Brown family and foundation.
On November 19, 2007, James Brown’s children held the first annual James Brown Turkey Giveaway after Mr. Brown’s passing. This was a day of remembrance but also, a day of helping the needy.
On December 21, 2007, the first Annual James Brown Toy Giveaway after Mr. Brown’s passing was held. It was as if Santa had not forgotten those children who needed toys, even though one of his most faithful helpers had gone on, Helper Godfather.
The Foundation will also offer assistance in the development of programs for students of music. Fund raising programs will be developed to assist in music education programs, to assist families in need after disasters and in providing information on health awareness.
Michael Jackson was a true humanitarian. In his lifetime, he was listed in the 2000 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records for breaking the world record for the “Most Charities Supported by a Pop Star.” He had supported 39 charities in which 36 known charities of Michael Jackson are listed on All Michael Jackson.com while the entire list of Michael Jackson’s charities is available on MJFC web site. Michael cared–he truly cared about others. He was passionate about giving back. It is too bad that much of his charitable contributions took a backseat to negative publicity, whether true or not, that occurred in his life time.
For example, mostly everyone knows about “We Are the World” and the collaboration with 44 artists with the proceeds from this records donated to the starving people of Africa, but very few people know about his donation to Childhelp USA (the biggest charity-organization against child abuse), he equipped a 19-bed-unit to part of the T.J. Martell-Foundation for leukemia and cancer research, nor do many people know that Jackson hosted 200 Air Force families at his Neverland Ranch on October 12, 2002. It was a gesture of appreciation for men and women who served overseas.
The purpose of the charity was to provide medicine to children and fight world hunger, homelessness, child exploitation and abuse. Jackson stated that he wanted “to improve the conditions for children throughout the world.”
Since her debut in the 1980′s the actress and Grammy award winning Whitney Houston has always been a socially-conscious giver and supporter of so many causes in our community! Most recently, in 2011 Whitney Houston has partnered with her sister, Patricia Houston, to develop a unique new scented candle. Called Marion P, the line consists of five scents inspired by a trip to Israel that Whitney and Patricia took several years ago. A portion of the proceeds from the candles has benefited the Teen Summit mentoring program which Patricia started in 2007 through The Patricia Houston Foundation. The Patricia Houston Foundation seeks to “Rebuild, Restore and Repair” the lives of young adults, and Teen Summit provides thousands of teens with opportunities to participate in workshops and hear speakers. Whitney described the candle as “an experience” and encouraged people to do a good deed by supporting the Teen Summit program. If you would like to purchase a candle in Whitney’s honor today you can visit MarionPCandles.com. In 1989 Whitney formed the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, the foundation aided sick and homeless children, and worked toward the prevention of child abuse. The foundation at one time also worked to teach children to read, and built inner city parks and playgrounds. In past years, the foundation also has hosted a Christmas party for homeless children. The foundation’s work garnered Whitney several humanitarian awards. It is not clear when or if the foundation dissolves, however as of this report the website for the charity was down. Whitney Houston has been honored for her charity work by the VH1 Honors in 1995, The First Annual Triumphant SPIRIT Awards by Essence Magazine in 1997, and 1998 Trumpet Awards (organized by Ted Turner). After Whitney’s death in February, the Houston family requested that in lieu of flowers all donations be made to the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in East Orange. Jay-Z and Beyonce made the second largest contribution — $10,000. The check from Shawn Carter Foundation, Sony also donated $25,000.
May their legacy live on forever, we miss you all!
