Baltimore honors Tupac Shakur with street, bobblehead, peace pole tribute

Baltimore turned Tupac Shakur’s local legacy into a citywide civic display Friday, with the Orioles’ bobblehead night at Camden Yards, a street rededication on Greenmount Avenue and a peace pole unveiling led by his sister, Sekyiwa Shakur.

At Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the club handed out Tupac bobbleheads to the first 15,000 fans for the game against the Athletics, and the ballpark drew 39,311 people, the most for a Baltimore home game since Opening Day. Sekyiwa Shakur, also known as Set, threw the ceremonial first pitch, bringing the tribute from the music and sports worlds into one packed night downtown.

The celebration also reached back into North Baltimore, where city officials rededicated part of Greenmount Avenue as Tupac Shakur Way. City photo records identified the ceremony as Tupac Shakur Street Naming 5.8.26. The honor covered the stretch where Afeni, Tupac and Sekyiwa Shakur lived during a formative chapter of the family’s life, including the address at 3955 Greenmount Avenue in Pen Lucy.

Tupac moved to Baltimore in 1984 and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet. Those years remain central to how the city tells his story now, not simply as a global rap figure, but as a Baltimore artist shaped by neighborhood streets, school halls and the city’s cultural institutions. Baltimore Heritage says the Shakur family left the city in the summer of 1988.

Mayor Brandon Scott, who said Tupac served as an inspiration to him, joined the rededication as Baltimore linked the rapper’s name to a place marker residents can see every day. The move also fits the city’s broader effort to turn its cultural history into something more than a commemorative gesture, using a familiar figure to reinforce neighborhood identity and draw attention to the city’s creative past.

Set Shakur’s appearance added another layer. She said it was her first time back in Baltimore in 40 years and pointed to the Tupac Shakur Foundation’s commitment to support children in the community. The peace pole she unveiled carried that same message, with the foundation placing poles in communities to promote peace and resolution instead of violence.

Together, the bobblehead night, street naming and peace pole gave Baltimore a chance to test how much economic buzz and civic pride can grow from one local story. For a night, Tupac’s Baltimore years were not just remembered. They were put to work as part of the city’s present tense.