https://padlet.com/bchairez1/zd9fjacoz9zgghut Made with a stroke of good luck en-us 2021-10-04 06:58:56 UTC 2025-04-21 17:26:50 UTC hello@padlet.com bchairez1 https://padlet.com/bchairez1/zd9fjacoz9zgghut/wish/1788799791 If I am being honest, it took me a while to understand that the characters: Jerome, Omar, and Umar were all the same person. I thought new characters were being introduced and I was losing track of all of them. 
Once I made it past that obstacle, I really do enjoy Omar's story. It is very obvious to the reader that he has had a negative environment for his upbringing. With his grandma Elizabeth always taking out her anger on him and his mother, and his father stealing the shoe polishing money, it is clear to see that Omar has had it rough from the start.
Throughout his story, we get flashbacks of him trying to ensure his safety and assert his dominance. When the other boy tried to take his shoe shining customers, Omar beat him up. Or when Omar decided enough was enough and he purchases a hatchet with the intention of killing his father. He has had to fight for his safety and for those that he cares about as a form of protection. I think that some of this might go to Dora's impact on him. He witnesses a truly awful thing happen to her, and he says that when he lost her it felt like he was losing a piece of himself. I think in moving forward, he learned something about the world that day. The negative aspects, and that bad things happen to people that don't deserve it. When working as the head of security at Antioch College, he states that while inside the walls of the university there is a false sense of security. He even lashes out thinking about how he hates everyone because he knows the truth about the world. I think that he has experienced so many bad events, that he is programmed to always have his guard up.
I love the complete shift in himself as he sees the Last Poets perform. Omar is so used to having his guard up, and especially on a high stress night like this due to all the responsibility, that it shows with his interaction with Felipe (?). Throughout Omar's story he has described that music and words come to him as colors or as sounds even. Being a fellow musician myself, I understand that some music can speak louder than any words can, and the way we perceive information greatly impacts our outlook on life. Seeing the performance really opened his eyes to a better possibility of his future. One where he can speak for himself and the things that he values. 
I believe that Omar has had a rough start in life due to all the people who tried to push him down, but I think that his realization about poetry makes him open up and be more vulnerable. He has so much potential for greatness, and I think that the only limitation is himself. As seen when the professor from the college reaches out, and Omar refuses. "...he didn’t have the nerve to discuss his work. As though he didn’t deserve to" (Otten, pg. 17). He has the ability to create such beautiful art, and he has always had this ability, but he limits himself. I believe poetry is such an intimate art style. It is speaking from the heart about the conflicts or experiences you feel need to be discussed, and that seems like such a different thing that Omar has faced in life. He is described a couple times in the book to run and never look back. I think finding his love for poetry makes him tackle these things head on, and it might be overwhelming sometimes. Having experienced the things that he has, he deserves to speak freely- it is just depends if he wants to.
 
Otten, Christine. The Last Poets (p. 17). World Editions. Kindle Edition. ]]> 2021-10-04 07:26:58 UTC https://padlet.com/bchairez1/zd9fjacoz9zgghut/wish/1788799791