https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d Upstanders en-us 2022-04-27 14:18:41 UTC 2022-05-09 14:23:04 UTC hello@padlet.com cmall https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466132      Kendrick Lamar is an upstander because through his work, he has focused on discrimination agaisnt African- American citizens. Growing up, Kendrick lived in Compton, CA which was known for a lot of gang violence, crime and a lot of people living in poverty. Unlike a lot of people though Lamar decided to try to back away and not join in on gangs and criminal activities as it was said that he was a quiet kid for the most part. Additionally, he started writing songs about his struggles living in Compton, he eventually started to become a very popular rapper and was even signed to a record label from a big company. All this helped him build up his platform that he wouldn’t just use for himself but to help the community as well. Some of the things that he started doing was attending BLM protests and marches, to act against the police brutality that had been affecting African Americans. This makes him an upstander as he is a person who acts in support of this cause, trying to help and stop anymore people from getting attacked or treated unfairly just because of the color of their skin. Correspondingly, he has played his role as one of the many people to protest against police brutality and racism, he even does this by writing music as a form of more of a peaceful way to help this cause. To add on Kendrick came from a very bad spot as a kid as mentioned earlier, and that would have definitely been the thing that would’ve tried to hold him back the most. Although through his hard work and determination he’s been dominating the hip hop stage, and he has never forgotten where he came from. Furthermore now he is trying to use his platform and money to try and help kids not have to grow up like he had to in Compton. Through doing these acts he was even awarded California’s 35th generation icon from the senator for all the contributions he helped with in the community. Finally, he is very aware of his position as an upstander, as he knows the power that he has to change the world, which he has already started doing. In addition, he has inspired many young people to follow him in what he is doing to help and serve his hometown. 

]]> 2022-04-27 14:18:41 UTC https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466132 cmall https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466133    Kendrick Lamar is able to turn his words into actions by first off speaking out and writing about the issues and effects of the BLM movement then later going out to protest to show his support even more. Along with that he often will go with other well known celebrities such as Demar Derozen(NBA player) and Russel Westbrook(NBA player) who also bring large amounts of support and even donations. Furthermore he has even changed his actions into words by writing songs and singing about struggles being African-American. Additionally people can learn from these words because usually while he writes these songs he makes them with many uprisings words and phrases to help others learn about what is going on. For example in his hit song “alright” he talks about how African-American people will make it through the racism present upon them along with them making it out hard and unfair to live in, in places like Compton and Chicago. These words will definitely help future generations as racism has been an ongoing problem since longer than anyone could imagine. Also the words and phrases said by Kendrick Lamar can also affect future generations as it can inspire more people to follow in his footsteps. To add on, it is a key skill in this world to read, understand and analyze older generations texts, songs, or even diaries like Anne Frank. This is because you can learn what to do to make sure nothing like what had happened before, happens again. Relating to this, Kendrick's songs inspire many people to be determined and preserve through racism, this is because the words and emotions presented during his songs are very moving and inspiring. Correspondingly since it is present in an easy form to listen and pick up on(music) more people can hear the words which causes more effects across the country then other ways of media. Kendrick also doesn’t really directly provide this message for others to help the cause but if you listen and analyze the words enough then people can realize the message he’s trying to infer. Lastly, it is unknown the series of actions that need to be done to fix this problem, but by doing things like protesting,speaking out, and not joining in on racism or offensive acts this problem can hopefully be fixed, either now or sometime soon. To add on the second racism can be ended then it would strongly better the world.

]]> 2022-04-27 14:18:41 UTC https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466133 cmall https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466134     Kendrick Lamar is an incredible writer and musician but when looking at more specific parts of his songs it creates a deeper meaning for his music. For example this is one quote that Kendrick Lamar sang “Look at me, I’m a loser, I’m a winner, I’m good, I’m bad. I’m a sinner, I’m a killer. What I’m doing, I’m saying that I’m human.”(Kush & Corinthians, 2011) This quote is explaining the troubles and characteristics of people in their everyday life and the point of Kendrick saying this is because in his eyes no matter what a person acts like or how a person looks they will always be a human and that’s the bottom line. These words are inspiring because it could really affect anyone who chooses to view this correctly. Additionally as mentioned before he’s saying that everyone’s human and that part will and can never be taken away from them through words or through a physical way. This can affect people because when you play in things like racism, sexism, and homophobia which are very relevant topics today. Some people would consider people who are African American or maybe even gay to be on a lower level or race of human, which is completely and utterly not true as most people should realize like Kendrick Lamar had too. 

]]> 2022-04-27 14:18:41 UTC https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466134 cmall https://padlet.com/cmall/2evi4jiv85x0s37d/wish/2160466135      “BLM is not merely a social media trend. Keep your voices heard and continue to fight for equality.”(Kendrick Lamar) This quote from instagram on June 17, 2020, Kendrick Lamar is addressing the BLM protest that has been recently going on, along with the brutal murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. He’s bringing up this issue to tell people that racism is not a joke and the protests for BLM were not just done for social media but to create a change. These words are inspiring because it shows Kendrick’s support for the cause and letting people know that he is willing to fight and speak out against racism. These words could also inspire new people to join the protests causing a larger fight for equality as Kendrick would say. In addition Kendrick Lamar inspires me the most through his music as I feel like it is a very good way to get important quotes and messages out to a larger audience in a very catchy way. Correspondingly he inspires me by actually going out  and protesting unlike some celebrities who will say moving quotes but they won’t actually go out of their way to help the cause.

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