Instructor Spotlight: Deion Owens

Tell us about your background and what inspired you to teach this course

I’m an educator and doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, but I began my career as a high school English teacher and principal in Chicago. My work has always centered on helping students make meaning of the world around them through culture, identity, and justice. Exploring Sociology through Tupac was born from that same spirit. Tupac Shakur’s life and lyrics invite us to examine race, power, and possibility, not as distant concepts, but as lived realities. I wanted to create a space where students could use his art to study systems, critique structures, and imagine new futures.

What is your favorite Tupac song?

“Keep Ya Head Up.”[1.1] It’s both a sermon and a love letter: an anthem of affirmation that refuses to surrender to despair. Every time I hear it, I’m reminded of the dignity and resilience of Black communities, especially women, who have always been the moral center of social change.

How has the role of Tupac and his music in society evolved over time?

Tupac began as a voice of defiance, but over time, he’s become a mirror, reflecting America’s enduring contradictions. Today, he represents both the beauty and the burden of being awake in an unjust world. His words still echo in movements for equity and truth-telling. In classrooms, he has evolved from a rapper to a philosopher whose art bridges sociology, politics, and poetry.

What is something we could all learn from Tupac’s life and legacy?

That duality is not weakness. Tupac lived in tension: revolutionary and vulnerable, scholar and street poet. He reminds us that holding complexity is a form of strength. In leadership, education, and life, we need more people willing to wrestle with contradictions instead of hiding behind simplicity.