Everyone always says how they wish things were different in this world, with all the violence, diseases, poverty etc. But while people wish for a positive turnaround, they live their lives focusing on the negative. Case in point: At Woodbury High School in New Jersey there is a mural in tribute to music’s fallen greats like Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. Several students gained permission to add to that mural with depictions of hip hop’s deceased. Namely, Tupac, Biggie, Eazy E and Big Pun.
Unfortunately, that mural has been put to a stop by the school’s social worker, Gloria Goode. She says that the mural is inappropriate because it sends the wrong message to the young black men. Now what is the negative message? That all those men made it out of poverty-stricken neighborhoods and became successful? That Tupac’s face will remind them of songs like “Keep Ya Head Up” and “Dear Mama” or remind them that living a certain lifestyle will catch up to you. Will Eazy’s face remind them that AIDS is not exclusive to anyone or what a successful entrepreneur he was? It is undeniable that these men said some things in their songs that were negative, but that is only a small part of the picture. Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles were poster boys for mind-altering drugs, by that standard doesn’t that make their pictures just as negative? The ignorance must die people.
