Tupac's Changes: How Will You Make a Difference in 2008?

Happy New Year! This great song was written in 1996. It is mond-blowing to me that here it is, almost 2008, and is still relevant. Here are some of the lyrics:

I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
one less hungry mouth on the welfare
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers
give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead
I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other
We gotta start makin' changes
learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers
and that's how it's supposed to be
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that's the way it is

I see no changes all I see is racist faces
misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it takes to make this
one better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
But some things will never change
try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
Now tell me what's a mother to do
bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way
sellin' crack to the kid. " I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, well that's the way it is

And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace
It's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East
Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs
so the police can bother me
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do
But now I'm back with the facts givin' it back to you
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up,
crack you up and pimp smack you up
You gotta learn to hold ya own
they get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone
But tell the cops they can't touch this
I don't trust this when they try to rush I bust this
That's the sound of my tool you say it ain't cool
my mama didn't raise no fool
And as long as I stay black I gotta stay strapped
& I never get to lay back
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs
some punk that I roughed up way back
comin' back after all these years
rat-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is uhh
Full lyrics here
Tupac Shakur - Wikipedia page

Some of my thoughts, stream-of-consciousness style:

Listening to Tupac's song Changes *tears*

'Changes' such great song cause expresses biggest issues facing black americans: external racism, internalized racism

If we can throw off internalized racism it will be on, nothing can stop us thriving. but our minds locked up. not just america, worldwide

They should be playing Tupac's Changes on BET till clock strikes midnight. oh yah that's right BET part of racist machine ha ha

What a senseless loss of a phenomenal talent. have mercy

Tupac was only year older than me. He was just 25 when he died. His work shows beginning of personal growth in many areas. if only

I think he was at a pivotal stage of developing a seriously influential body of work that would impact american culture...

but wrestling w/inferiority complex & identity within af-am urban culture. I believe he would have won that wrestling match eventually

Such a writer! He had a way of turning a phrase that cut to the core

That's what made Tupac an important poet of my generation

How will YOU make a difference in 2008 for black people? It's a crying shame that this song is still relevant. Let's make some CHANGES in 2008.

RIP Tupac.

Originally posted to my Twitter. You can follow me for cultural updates & more throughout the day

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