By Kevin Johnson

Meshaun Arnold

Meshaun Arnold is brash and opinionated. In a 2006 Miami Herald article about the growth of local black theatre, the outspoken actor was quoted as being disappointed by directors not taking chances on black actors in mainstream roles.

“I'm sick of it,” he said. “I'm not going to tap dance. For what? So you can call me when you do a black play?”

After graduating from Florida International University with a bachelor’s in theatre, Arnold hit the ground running with shows including multiple productions at M Ensemble, and a two-year stint as company member for the Playground Theatre. He has been twice nominated for a Carbonell award, for Cobb at Mosaic Theatre and Medal of Honor Rag at M Ensemble.

But two years later, Arnold still feels he is due respect.

“I’m tired of begging for roles and being placed in something like The Little Foxes where I’d have to play a servant,” he says. “The community is scared to put a young black male up for an award for best actor unless he’s playing a slave or a villain. They don’t want to place us in positive roles where we are up for contention with other well-known actors.”

One person Arnold can relate to in his struggles of being artistic is legendary rapper Tupac Shakur. Like Arnold, Shakur was brash, outspoken and controversial. And like Arnold, Shakur strived to be the best at what he was.

“He had words to back up his actions, plus [Shakur] was quick to fight at any cost. That’s why it felt easy for me to understand him.”

The Hate U Gave: The Tupac Shakur Story started out as a senior class project when Arnold was attending FIU in 2004.

“I wanted to find something that I was interested in presenting, plus it was marketable,” he says. “This was something I could keep in my back pocket, if needed.”

Arturo Fernandez, founding artistic director of Ground Up and Rising heard about the show and approached Arnold about performing it again under their auspices. Arnold is ready to remount his one-man show about Shakur, which opens on July 11 in Kendall.

Fernandez is excited to be working with Arnold on this collaboration.

“I knew Meshuan from certain circles, saw his work,” says Fernandez. “He’s an excellent performer and there are incredible segments in this show.”

Meshaun Arnold as Tupac Shakur

Arnold knew the Miami collective’s growing reputation of producing works for the present generation. He was willing and able to comply.

“They are the best thing going right now,” Arnold says. “I worked with other members of the group, so I was happy when Arturo approached me about doing this show again.”

Set at the height of Shakur’s career, Arnold’s piece open when the controversial artist is incarcerated.

“He’s stripped of his material things, his neighborhood, friends, gold, and alcohol,” he says. “When you’re in jail, you got nothing but your manhood and your thoughts. This is coming from the pure man.”

Arnold also sees Tupac in a different light than the masses would remember.

“The guy was not a thug like everyone thinks he was. He was an intellect, but he was around a lot of bad things. To survive in that environment, you have to adapt to that type of life.”

Arnold’s research came from one period of Tupac’s life. He listened to the first three albums of the rapper’s catalog: 2Pacolypse Now, Strictly for My N*****, and Me Against the World. Arnold also took in some material from Shakur’s Thug Life compilation and anything before Shakur was released from jail, signing with the infamous Death Row records.

But Arnold also says that one doesn’t need to research Tupac if one is a young black male in America.

“All we need to do is look in the mirror,” he says. “Go to a store and browse; be caught in Coral Gables after 10 p.m. and get slammed down by police. Then you’re Tupac.”

The real Tupac Shakur

Arnold is currently a drama teacher at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High, and he has also started his own theatre imprint: Mahogany Road, where he did a interpretation of Richard III last year. He has high aspirations for Mahogany Road, because he is tired of seeing the same old shows locally.

“How many times can we see I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change?” he says. “People are hungry for something new.”

Arnold also hopes that this time around with The Hate U Gave, audiences will get the message.

“If we continue to make foolish decisions, going to the rich begging for crumbs, then we’ll continue in the cycle we’re in.”

The Hate U Gave: The Tupac Shakur Story will be performed on the Kendall Campus of Miami-Dade College from July 11-27. For more information, call 305-726-4539 or visit www.groundupandrising.org.

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