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To Pip A Butterfly Analysis

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The strongest themes in To Pimp A Butterfly are black oppression and oppressive structures, which exist to create a glass ceiling for black people, stopping them from becoming as successful as their white counterparts. In this essay I will be discussing 3 of the tracks and whether or not they successfully convey the real situation of black oppression in America.
In the track King Kunta, Kendrick claims he is on top of the world, despite being a young black man he has made a big name for himself in a country where racism and white supremacism heavily exists. The name King Kunta refers to Kunta Kinte, an 18th century black slave whose right foot was cut off for trying to escape his plantation. Kinte is someone he can relate to as they both share a story of escaping the sad expectations society had of them. The use of King Kunta shows that Kendrick believes he is a King for escaping these expectations, becoming a successful black man. Kendrick feels like others are also trying to trap and enslave him, making him become a victim of the music industry. He refuses to let the industry change him …show more content…

The song title comes from the saying, ‘the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice’, and using it as his song title shows he is proud of his blackness. The song also tackles the theme of hatred of black people in American society. Kendrick angrily raps, ‘You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture’, showing his anger for the mistreatment of his people. He believes that anything which has not been created by white people are things that America hates and seeks to get rid of. America has always been a tough place for African Americans, from the past of slavery to the discrimination and racism that still exists there and Kendrick is showing through this song that no matter how much injustice black people face they will never stop loving themselves and their

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He evokes emotion on his audience by discussing the trials and injustice African Americans have endured. In his letter he uses examples like “when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters.” and “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and gathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” to make his audience envision and feel what many negroes felt while watching their families put up with this mistreatment. King provides imagery to make the audience see what it would be like to be an African American in the united

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It reaches out to every person, even the most racist of whites, and asks them to truly feel, if only for a second, what black people feel almost constantly. In doing this, King utilizes perhaps one of the strongest emotions we can experience: sympathy for others. King is almost irrefutably one of the greatest speakers of the century, if not all of history, and it is this particular section of his writing that helps illustrate

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King explains, “When you find your tongue stammering as you seek to explains to your six year old daughter that she cannot go to the public amusement park advertised on TV because it is not open to African Americans.” King also recounts, “or when your five year old son asks, ‘Why do white people treat colored people so poorly.’ King emphasizes how the idea of “white superiority” means to blacks, as he say, ”your middle name becomes boy (no matter how old you are) and your wife and mother are never given the respectful title Mrs. In all instances, King it appealing to the emotional, pathos, of the nation as a whole, by including personal anecdotes that anyone can relate to. King also uses Biblical references and popular examples to connect with the audience.

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