Had a nice lunch with Laura consisting of a Top Dog hot link, tater tots with nacho cheese, and a cold coke. Perfect.
Came back and lazed about with my roommates. Xuemin wanted to watch a documentary about illuminati which led us to this clip:
And all I could think was dang... Tupac was legit. And well spoken. A true revolutionary. And I could empathize with his thinkings. And then we talked for a little bit about how he came from a house of revolutionary thinkers (a family with ties to the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights movement), and was influenced by such thinkers like Sun Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli. And although I'm not going to discuss how I feel about whether or not Illuminati exists, one thing is definitely true:
The media of the day (and one could argue that it still does) cast Tupac as some sort of gang-affiliated, crime committing thug. And did not appreciate the value of his revolutionary and color and class transcending thoughts.
And I wonder if that is what happens to all revolutionary thinkers who work to uplift communities, help the oppressed rise, enable the marginalized to breathe... if they are constantly cast by the media and society as some violent, ignorant, selfish radicals (much like the public image of the Black Panthers).
I'm not going to sit around and act like I've listened to Tupac's work all my life and know all his songs, but I can honestly admit that his death and work did have an effect on my generation. And that he was truly talented. And that I do have a far better appreciation for his work.
One song in particular that I remember hearing when I grew up, was Tupac's "Dear Mama":
In summary, this song gives recognition to the powerful role that Tupac's mother has in his life and he thanks his mother for everything she did for him.
And then somehow it got me to thinking about G.O.D. For reference, G.O.D. was a boy band popular in the late 1990s in South Korea who found great success following their debut with "To My Mother":
This song, much like Tupac's "Dear Mama" in the U.S., is a classic song (classic in the sense that it seems everyone knows this song) in South Korea, representative of the struggles of motherhood and the thanks a child owes his/her mother. In particular, the song revolves around the experiences and pains the mother has raising her son and the regrets the son has in playing a role in her suffering.
Side note: There is a particular line about how the son is tired of eating bagged noodles and so the mother buys him black bean noodles (which are of course considerably more costly) but because they are poor and she cannot afford it, she tells him that she cannot eat it and instead watches him eat. As a result, black bean noodle in South Korea is often representative of mother.
And it led me to think about how the idea of motherhood is quite cross-cultural. And of course, led me to think about the role of my own mother in my life.
And then, I realized, given that today is my father's birthday, that I should also add something related to the other parental figure in my life:
Anyways, Happy Birthday Daddy!
I'm very blessed to have had my parents in my life and remain blessed in that I still have opportunities to thank them and show them that I appreciate them.
And though I still make mistakes and act selfish, I'm blessed that they continue to play a large role in my life and are forgiving of the mistakes I make.
Came back and lazed about with my roommates. Xuemin wanted to watch a documentary about illuminati which led us to this clip:
And all I could think was dang... Tupac was legit. And well spoken. A true revolutionary. And I could empathize with his thinkings. And then we talked for a little bit about how he came from a house of revolutionary thinkers (a family with ties to the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights movement), and was influenced by such thinkers like Sun Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli. And although I'm not going to discuss how I feel about whether or not Illuminati exists, one thing is definitely true:
The media of the day (and one could argue that it still does) cast Tupac as some sort of gang-affiliated, crime committing thug. And did not appreciate the value of his revolutionary and color and class transcending thoughts.
And I wonder if that is what happens to all revolutionary thinkers who work to uplift communities, help the oppressed rise, enable the marginalized to breathe... if they are constantly cast by the media and society as some violent, ignorant, selfish radicals (much like the public image of the Black Panthers).
I'm not going to sit around and act like I've listened to Tupac's work all my life and know all his songs, but I can honestly admit that his death and work did have an effect on my generation. And that he was truly talented. And that I do have a far better appreciation for his work.
One song in particular that I remember hearing when I grew up, was Tupac's "Dear Mama":
In summary, this song gives recognition to the powerful role that Tupac's mother has in his life and he thanks his mother for everything she did for him.
And then somehow it got me to thinking about G.O.D. For reference, G.O.D. was a boy band popular in the late 1990s in South Korea who found great success following their debut with "To My Mother":
This song, much like Tupac's "Dear Mama" in the U.S., is a classic song (classic in the sense that it seems everyone knows this song) in South Korea, representative of the struggles of motherhood and the thanks a child owes his/her mother. In particular, the song revolves around the experiences and pains the mother has raising her son and the regrets the son has in playing a role in her suffering.
Side note: There is a particular line about how the son is tired of eating bagged noodles and so the mother buys him black bean noodles (which are of course considerably more costly) but because they are poor and she cannot afford it, she tells him that she cannot eat it and instead watches him eat. As a result, black bean noodle in South Korea is often representative of mother.
And it led me to think about how the idea of motherhood is quite cross-cultural. And of course, led me to think about the role of my own mother in my life.
And then, I realized, given that today is my father's birthday, that I should also add something related to the other parental figure in my life:
Anyways, Happy Birthday Daddy!
I'm very blessed to have had my parents in my life and remain blessed in that I still have opportunities to thank them and show them that I appreciate them.
And though I still make mistakes and act selfish, I'm blessed that they continue to play a large role in my life and are forgiving of the mistakes I make.
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