Dear Tyler,
I am Surprised by your post because now I know things I didn’t know before. I am an emigrant and I go to school with people from other countries and cultures and in my lifestyle there is not a lot of racism. Maybe in the time of Tupac or in that place there was a lot of racism. I didn’t know this before because my first language is Spanish and I don’t understand all the words of Tupac, but his music catches my attention because I understand some words, for example,”Dear Mama.” That is a song I listen to a lot.
One thing you said that stands out for me is: “Is it possible to change poverty and racism?” I think your question is interesting, because racism is something we live daily. I think that racism can be changed if people come together because the unity is strength. The song of Tupac can change racism as people listen to it and reflect because we are all human and we have the same rights. GOD made us in his image and the Bible says that we all have rights, that we should not discriminate against anyone because of their color, or because of their culture in this world. Nobody is better than anyone.
Thanks for your project. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I think this is a great topic for people to reflect on and not believe that they are better than anyone.

Dear Tyler,
I really enjoyed your analysis and your question really got me thinking. I think that it is possible to diminish racism and poverty but we will never be able to weed out all racism because it is to deeply root in our nation’s culture and history. The song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur talks about how the police interact with minorities and how they mistreat them. He says in one line, “cops give a damn about a negro” and a feel like even though this nation has made so much social progress, there is still a lot of brutality and mistreatment of minorities by the police. Most times the police aren’t held accountable for their actions because they some slick excuse that clears them of any responsibility like saying that they feared for their life even though they might be 6’3 and a hundred eighty pounds and they tase a twelve-year-old approaching them. I feel like Tupac did a really good job of giving people a look inside the lives of minorities living in poverty.

do you think its more than just racism?

Tyler,

I really enjoyed your poem on memory. I thought that your social commentary about how we put so much value in the physical things that we will simply lose, but how we will truly value our memories, was very deep. I loved your use of anaphora in the poem and I really enjoyed the lines in which you talked about your first times doing something.

I hope that you will continue to write poetry, Tyler! Maybe you could try writing an acrostic–I love those.

Gwen