Above the Rim, directed by Jeff Pollack, was released in March 23, 1994. The movie is about a talented basketball player, Kyle, in high school and how he lives in the ghetto and his relationship with two brothers. One of the brother, Birdie, is a drug dealer and other brother, Stepan, was a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now he is employed as a security guard. The movie was not only based on basketball, but it also showed how people were growing up and struggling in the streets. Kyle is a very talented basketball player and he is the star player of his high school basketball team. At the same time, outside school, he hangs out with the biggest gangster in the streets, Birdie. His life was very frustrating and struggling, yet entertaining. He is very talented in basketball, however he was financially struggling and he needed sneakers and some money but he could not get it from his own pocket. So, his friend, Birdie, decides to help him out by giving him sneakers and some money only if he chooses to do some tasks for him. Most of these tasks involved selling drugs, and crime.
Kyle was an eager and desperate teenager so he decided to work for his friend and he got more than he was offered.
Even though playing basketball was his dream; he liked to work for his man, Birdie, because he was getting easy money and respect. This all changed when he started to talk to the former basketball star, Tommy Shepards. He was once in Kyle’s shoes and he gave up basketball for the streets. Slowly, all his crime caught up to him and his life became to fall down. Kyle realized he could be in the same situation as him, so he started to change his morals and he chose basketball as his future.
This can be related to the poem, The Race, because it mentions that “ I need y’all to be careful of who’s runnin’ with you/ ‘cus if they aint positive you need to spring nad leave your crew.” Kyle realized that Birdie was a bad influence to his life and he would have been miserable and guilty all his life so he decides to leave him. The Video Clip shows the scene where Kyle decides to leave his man Birdie and he becomes more independent.
Also, Kyle realizes that his best talent was basketball so he goes to Tommy Shepards to improve his game and he began to focus more on basketball rather than the streets and his friends. This can be seen in the poem, The Race, when it says “Keep ya eyes on the prize, never sellout or compromise, be humble and wise.” So, Kyle decides to work very hard to basketball and he starts becoming more mature and role model for his basketball team.
Jermaine O’Neal is looked up as one of the most successful basketball player in the NBA. He is the second player to enter the NBA after high school. He is living his dreams and playing basketball everyday, but this was not handed to him in one day. He had to earn every step on his own.
Jermaine O’Neal was born on October 13, 1978, in Columbia, South Carolina. He stayed with his older brother and his mother, Angela Ocean. His childhood is not mentioned frequ
ently but he grew up in one the roughest neighbourhood in America. His father was gone from his sight he day he was born, so he was taken care by his mother whom mostly worked all day.
Most of the time O’Neal was in the streets and he could have been easily influenced in the gang lives. However, he had a different ambition. He wanted to be a basketball player and he always looked upon NBA legend, Bill Russel. His brother, Clifford, bought him a pair of sneakers in high school and he kept on playing basketball all night in the rough neighbourhood.
You can relate this Jermaine O’Neal’s portrait to the poem, The Race, because he has been through many obstacles in his life and this picture shows him dunking the net over someone. In the poem, The Race, Birkett mentions that “avoid the approach of a coach named Jealousy and a trainer named Envy as they pretend to be giving you tips to defeat your enemies”. The picture is trying to show that he is about to reach his destination, which is the net, but there is someone competing against him. In life, there will always be people trying to stop you from reaching your goals and trying to compete against you. To overcome your competitor, you have to be more focused and always look at the prize. Quotes that relate to this situation, such as “keep ya eyes on the prize, never sellout or compromise, be humble and wise,/ the man who always fails never tries.” You can see that Jermaine O’Neal is very focus in this picture and he will determined to throw the ball through the hoop and it shows that nothing can stop him, even if he fails. Also, if you look at the surroundings, you can see a shade crowd of fans. These people can be considered as the distractions you face in your lives. They can be your friends, community, culture, etc. The fans are either encouraging or discouraging Jermaine O’Neal in this portrait but the reason it is shaded shows that he is only determined in one thing only; to put the ball through the hoop, nothing else.
When you are talking about inspiration and surviving the struggle, you have to mention Tupac Shakur. Born in the heart of Harlem, he was raised in poverty and violence. Spending most of the nights in the streets, Tupac and his mom learned to survive the cold streets in the hard way.
ong “Changes” by Tupac Shakur was released in 1995-96 in the album, Greatest Hits. It talks about how disturbed the streets were with all the racism, police brutality, drugs and gang violence. These things were common in the streets of Harlem where Tupac was grown up. He had a natural poetic talent and he enjoyed being in the studio recording tracks. However, life was not always easy and simple for him. He was surrounded and distracted with much hostility and gang violence but it didn’t stop him from keeping his mind on the goal.Mr.Birkett talks about how he had similar experiences but he realized the consequences and kept his eyes on the gold. “only time I’ll move is when Sean Paul says fe “Take a run.” This quote, from The Race, line 21, mentions “fe” which is slang for police in the streets. So he is saying that the only time he runs is when he hears the police. This shows that he was dealt with some kind of crime and he could have gone into gangs but he stayed to his goals and achieved it. Mr. Birkett states in the 25th line “Keep ya eyes on the prize/ never sellout or compromise/ be humble and wise.” This means that you always have aim high at your goals and try to reach that level regardless of the surrounding. Tupac Shakur was very determined and he never left poetry and rap, even when he was in prison. He wrote diaries of poem in the prison, called The RoseConcrete. Once he was released from jail, he realized that the streets was not the life he wanted to live so he focus more on the studio and really flourished his career.
