Final Reflection

The Rose that Grew from Concrete answered many of my questions about Tupac, his life and his controversial death. It also showed me that by working hard, following your dreams and never giving up you can reach your goals.

The book answered several questions I had about his life. I wanted to know about his childhood and what his early life was like. I learned that he lived in a poor and dangerous area where he really had no support or guidance to help him reach his goals. I also wanted to learn more about his relationship with his mother. I had already knew that he loved her from hearing many of his songs that talk about his mother, especially, Dear Mama. I learned that he loved her unconditionally and he could not live without her. This can be seen when Tupac writes the poem, When your hero falls from grace. He writes this as his mother is going through a period of drug abuse and you can see that he is very depressed and lonely without her.

The book also answered my questions about his death. There is a theory that Tupac was involved in the Illuminati. I was wondering if Tupac had seen his death coming due to the fact that he was challenging and going against the views of the Illuminati. I learned that Tupac did recognize that his death was near. I noticed it when he wrote, “I’ve decided 2 follow my heart and abandon my mind and if there be pain I know that at least I gave my all” (Shakur 149). This shows that he sees his death coming and he wants to do what is right which is to go against the Illuminati.

I found the book very inspiring and informative. His experiences are very sad but touching and encouraging. I took away a lot of inspirational ideas about hope and success. The most important thing I took away was that if I stick to my dreams I have a very high chance of completing those dreams and becoming successful. His dedication which led to his success got me to think about more about what I want to do. In the beginning of the blog I thought it might be difficult to understand his story through poems.

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