Not many black men or people of color in general make it out of the hood the way X did. He was inspiring in the sense that he was living proof that just because you were born into section 8 housing, didn't mean you were confined to a life of poverty. To a lot of people of color, particularly young black men x was a symbol of freedom.
On top of that his music spoke to many people who struggled with mental health issues like depression and anxiety, and in that sense people were able to feel less alone, and in a lot of cases empowered by his message. Even though a lot of his music was sad, his core message to the youth was to Persevere and to keep moving forward. His music was raw and his message was genuine. To completely negate his contributions to the world and focus on all the mistakes he made instead, is eye opening to say the least.
