Def Jam’s Stewart Supported Barack Obama, Funeral Arrangements

Stewart was also an avid supporter of Barack Obama and gave to the incumbent president of the United States of America, despite the music mogul’s apparent sudden death earlier in the month.Stewart, the former executive vice president of Island Def Jam,  made large donations to Barack Obama’s highly successful “Campaign for Change.”Earlier this year, Stewart […]

Stewart was also an avid supporter of Barack Obama and gave to the incumbent president of the United States of America, despite the music mogul’s apparent sudden death earlier in the month.Stewart, the former executive vice president of Island Def Jam,  made large donations to Barack Obama’s highly successful “Campaign for Change.”Earlier this year, Stewart gave the presidential aspirant $2,300 as Obama forged ahead to be president of the United States, an historic goal realized on November 4.One

insider wishes Stewart could have lived to see this day.”I

don’t know Shakir’s mind state at the time of his death, but I somehow

feel that if he could have maintained to see Barack get elected, he

could have been charged to overcome any of life’s obstacles,” the

source stated. “This has been a rough year for a lot of people, but now

we feel anything is achievable.”Under federal law, individuals can give up to a maximum of $2,300 to in the primary elections and another $2,300 for the general election. Stewart made his donation as Obama battled Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, according to public records.The 34-year-old Oakland, California native tragically killed himself with a gunshot to the head on November 1, according to Cobb

County, Georgia police.

Funeral

arrangements have been finalized for Stewart and a celebration has been announced.

 

The

34 year-old executive’s life will be celebrated on Friday November 7 at

the historic King’s Chapel, located on the campus of his alma mater,

Morehouse College.

           

Stewart

was in charge of running the day to day operations of Def Jam

Recordings, a responsibility he inherited after mogul Jay-Z officially

vacated the position in December 2007.

 

In his short tenure, Stewart oversaw the handling of Nas’ critically acclaimed Untitled album, Young Jeezy’s The Recession, and LL Cool J’s last Def Jam project Exit 13.

 

Some

have questioned the death of the highly successful executive, refusing

to believe he could with such a successful career and loving family

behind him.Kenny Burns, Stewart’s friend of 17-years, stated that Stewart wasn’t the sort to kill himself. “Me

and Shake, we’re men’s men. We had kids, we’re responsible fathers. And

the man that I know wouldn’t take his life. That man was strong, it

ain’t no street pressure, music business, L.A. Reid, these fake ass

artists…that ain’t gon’ tear nobody like Shake down,” he told  vibe.com “It’s just something that I

can’t see, nor accept. We wouldn’t do that.”Other friends say that Stewart’s demeanor had changed in the periods before his death. Christopher

Hicks, music executive and friend of Stewart, told the Atlanta

Journal-Constitution, “Whatever happened over the past 24 hours is not

a testament to who we all know.”

 

Conspiracy theories aside, police maintain Stewart died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his house in Marietta, Georgia. He was pronounced dead at Kennestone Hospital in the day.

 

The

pending autopsy review can take up to 12 weeks to complete, at which

time the Cobb County medical examiner will declare a final verdict on

the cause of death.

           

The

funeral service at King Chapel is located on 830 Westview Drive in

Atlanta, and will commence at 3PM.Due to the expected high turnout the

family is recommending potential attendees to arrive at least an hour

early.

 

In

lieu of sending flowers or gifts, the family requests that a charitable

donation be made to the children of Shakir Stweart, Micaela and

Sebastian, through a website to be launched at a later date.

 

Donations can also be made by visiting any SunTrust bank location and requesting the Shakir Stewart Memorial Fund.