CLASS SKIT: "HOLER IF YOU HEAR ME"

Renee
Treanna
Monique
Vonreesha
Eng201A/B
1-2:50pm


No Malcom X in My History Text pgs 76 - 78

Cast:

Treana as “Tupac”
Monique as “Interviewer”
Renee as “Dyson”
Vonreesha as “Narrator”



Setting:

Marin City , Mt Tamalpais High School , 1987



Summary:

In this scene of Chapter 3 “No Malcolm X in My History Text”, of “Holler If You Hear Me” by Michael Dyson, Leila Steinberg presents Dyson with a video interview of Tupac. The interview takes place at Tupac’s High School, Mt. Tamalpais and Tupac speaks on the issues of school and his opinions of how the school system should change. For example, when he says “There should be a class on Drugs” he breaks down the affects of them. In the interview, Tupac stresses out the fact that the world has taught him more than he could ever know more than the school can.



Poem:


Only 4 the Righteous

I'm Down with strictly Dope "So"
That means Im more then you can handle

"Hot" Im hotter then the wax from

a candle

"Him" thats Roc he's my microphone companion

"Lyrics" full of knowledge truth and understanding

"Hobbies" rapping is my only recreation

"retire" u must be on some kind of medication

"why" because I'll never loosen up my mic grip

"Drugs" never cuz im living on the right tip

"sex" only with my girl because i love her

"Babies" impossible I always use a rubber

"Bored" rarely cuz i keep myself busy

"Scratch" nah I leave the cutting up to Dize

"Dize" yeh thats my D.J hes the greatest

"Word" nah he's paying me 2 say this

"the mind" is something that I cultivate

and treasure

"Thanks" your welcome and besides it was

my Pleasure (19)



Act 1, Scene 1



Narrator: This scene takes place in 1987 at Mt. Tamalpais High School in Marin City .

Dyson: “I had the chance to see this desire countenance when Leila Steinberg showed me the video of Tupac being interviewed in high school…Tupac readily admits that he has goofed off in school, largely because he craved popularity and being social. He gives a precocious analysis of the tension between schooling and education. (76)”

Interviewer: “So did you stop going to school or how did you use your education in your everyday life?”

Tupac: “I think that we got so caught up in school being a tradition that we stopped using it as a learning tool, which it should be…(76)”

Interviewer: “What are they teaching you in school that makes you feel like it’s irrelevant?”

Tupac: “They tend…to teach you to read, write, and [do] arithmetic, then teach you reading and writing and arithmetic again, then again, and then again. (76)”

Interviewer: “What do you think should be taught in school that will benefit students better now, then what is already being taught”

Tupac: “There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education, a real education class, not just pictures and diagrams and illogical terms…There should be a class on scams. There should be a class on religious cults. There should be a class on police brutality. There should be a class on apartheid. There should be a class on racism in America . There should be a class on why people are hungry. (77)”

Dyson: “His list gives pride of place to the themes that he learned as a child of social protest and radical resistance. Like a good son of the panthers, Tupac is interested in forging connections between sites of learning and the communities in which they are located. Schools should help students negotiate the worlds they occupy. (78)”

Interviewer: “Was there anything in school that you were interested in that you have carried on until now?”

Tupac: “the things that helped me were the things that I learned from my mother, from the streets, and reading. (78)”

Dyson: “He is grateful to school because it… (78)”

Tupac: “…it taught me reading, which I love. (78)”

Dyson: “Watching this tape, I’m astounded at the thoughtful engagement displayed by this young man who is on the verge of a wildly successful life that will take him far outside the schoolroom. It is clear that Tupac believes schools should address the pressing social issues of the day, and even more specifically, they should help [the] youth confront the ills that directly affect them. Classes on sex education, scams, and religious cults would explore general problems confronted by youth of all colors. (77)”