C. Delores Tucker, Political Pioneer and Rap Music Critic, Dead at 78

"She was derided for years after launching her campaign in the mid-1990s. She brought a lawsuit against the estate of Tupac Shakur for degrading lyrics she claimed the late rapper had directed at her, earning her further ridicule.

"Press reports said Tucker’s suit claimed Shakur’s statements disrupted her sex life, a charge she protested, and then later sued to squash.

"The furor distorted both her intent and her contributions for a younger generation that knew her simply as 'that lady in the turban,' said E. Faye Williams, who first met Tucker as a Howard University law student. Williams went on to serve as general counsel for the National Congress of Black Women and had been filling the role of interim chair during Tucker’s illness.

“'People misunderstood what she was doing with the rap singers,' Williams told BlackAmericaWeb.com. 'She never hated these young people. She just wanted to make sure thatyoung people respected themselves and others, not perform songs that were demeaning, especially toward women.'"

Go to http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/tucker1014