Time For Change?

More than ten years after his death, rapper Tupac Shakur's influential track "Changes" is still in rotation. Known for being one of the greatest rappers of all time, it is no surprise that his lyrics carry messages easily relatable to current issues within our society.

Tupac rapped in the mid-nineties that; "its war on the streets and the middle east / instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs"
Those two melodic bars touch upon issues that effect all of our daily lives. However, for a multitude of reasons these problems are often overlooked and devalued.

Fortunately, we as a united people, have elected to recognize that these issues need to be addressed. Some have concluded that these problems will not go away without the right leadership. We have elected a black presidential candidate. Whether his experience - or lack thereof - challenge his ability to function as the ideal president is topic for another discussion.

However, what he does present to our nation is a change in ideological properties, and breaks down many imbedded stereotypes. Sadly, such a momentus part of history is tainted by a controversial dialogue from prominent black role model and activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, who used the word "nigger" and mistakenly spoke on a live microphone negatively (and offensively) about Barak Obama. How much change is really going on?
We move two steps in the right direction to fall three steps backward; this is not the change we need in order to resolve our issues.

The ignorance within our society is holding us back from our full potential. With mainstream music encouraging us to "turn a crack rock into a mountain", "get silly" and "superman that hoe" - what exactly is being taught? Are enlightening lyrics like those in "Changes" even going to help? How many people stopped selling crack after hearing "Changes"? How much did gang violence decrease? How much did the population of incarerated blacks decrease?
How much CHANGE for the better came from this record? How much CHANGE for the better will come from having Barack Obama as president?

Either way, I think its fair to say society is fucked up and full of idiots. But what better way for the rich to get richer? This country runs so smoothly by exploiting closed-minded individuals. But how many times do we need to be slapped in the face to open our eyes and acknowledge what is going on - and DO something about it?

-DUR/eb