Tupacs song “Changes”, released in 1998, is a song that addresses problems that black people face. In the song, Tupac addresses racism, police brutality, and the unequal treatment of black people versus white people. Tupac expresses a message of strength and resistance in the face of systematic racism through vivid imagery, repetition, and allusions to black history. The song is still relevant today, inspiring and empowering people struggling for a more equal society.
First of all, Tupac uses vivid and powerful imagery to paint a picture of the struggles black people face. Tupac begins the song by expressing the difficulty of being a black person, including feelings of hopelessness and poverty. He highlits the wage disparity between black and white people, this can be suported and proven by a statistic from 1987 to 2017 revealing the median household income for asians, whites, all races, hispanics, and black people. The data shows that in 2017, the white income was 68,145$, while the black income was only 40,258$. Over the thirty year period, black people’s income increased from 30$ to 40$, however,
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In the song, Tupac repeats the theme “It’s time for us as people to start makin’ some changes”, emphasizing the importance of acting and change. Its repetition creates a sense of urgency and emphasizes the significance of the song’s message. He also uses the statement “I’m weary of being poor, and much worse, I’m black” to underline the intersectionality of oppression that black people endure. The song also addresses police violence and white cops killing black people. Tupac sings that officers don’t care about black people and will kill them without getting punishment. The song ties up with the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013, and demonstrates that police violence and equality against black people. The recent murder of Gorge Floyd in 202 serves a reminder that this issue is still present