Part of 7 days of Proof at DetroitHipHop.net.
Following Proof’s funeral, Khary Kimani Turner wrote this piece for the Metro Times
A lesson before dying
Proof’s funeral was telling and mournful, a sign of the times
by Khary Kimani TurnerThe recent funeral services for slain rap artist Deshaun “Proof” Holton had the feel of a hero’s farewell. That is until Proof’s family arrived.
As soon as Proof’s mother Sherallene entered the 2,000-seat Fellowship Chapel in Detroit, she eyed the gold casket that contained her son’s body and released a loud cry of hurt that echoed through the chamber, and through all of our hearts. She had to be helped to his pall and, from there, to the pews reserved for family members.
The sanctuary then quickly filled to capacity with people who’d lined up early in the morning to pay their respects. Hundreds were turned away. One-time Proof foes, such as rapper Champtown, showed. Larger hip-hop luminaries — Eminem and D12, 50 Cent and G-Unit, Obie Trice, Dr. Dre, Xzibit, Ras Kass, Naughty By Nature — arrived in somber force, as did execs from industry juggernaut Interscope Records. But very little stargazing took place. It was too painful.
Proof was shot to death during an argument early Tuesday, April 11, at C.C.C., an 8 Mile after-hours club. In the fracas, Proof first shot 35-year-old Keith Bender Jr., who died a week later at a Detroit hospital.
As funerals go — and there seem to be many lately — things flowed accordingly until Shady Records recording artist Obie Trice spoke his piece. He got up and pleaded for black men to put an end to the violence.
“I’m hard,” he said, mocking the tough exterior of many inner-city young men, himself included. “We know you hard. We know you from the hood. If you from Detroit, you from the hood. Detroit is the hood. C’mon, I love y’all, dawg!” Considering that a bullet remains lodged in Trice’s head from a New Year’s Eve attempt on his life by an unidentified gunman, the words resonated hard, and drew cheers from the congregation.
Read the rest at the Metro Times.
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