I can't help myself from blogging this video by Suli Breaks. The message is so good, as well as the delivery, that I repeated it over and over again. It's like listening to a song. So well executed and so moving. I am deeply moved.

He talks about education in his video. I can't write about it better myself. If you want to read the transcribed version of his rap, it's after the video. Credits to the transcription go to silencedogood of rapgenius.
So you want to get a degree. Why?
Let me tell you what society will tell you:

“It increases your chances of getting a job.
Provides you with an opportunity of being successful.
Your life will be a lot less stressful, education, is the key.”

Now let me tell you what your parents will tell you:

“Make me proud.
It increases your chances of getting a job.
Provides you with an opportunity of being successful.
Your life will be a lot less stressful, education, is the key.”

Now let’s look at the statistics:

Steve Jobs, net worth: seven billion, (R.I.P.).
Richard Branson, net worth: four-point-two billion.
Oprah Winfrey, net worth: two-point-seven billion,
Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates,

Now here comes the coup-de-grace:
Looking at these individuals, what’s your conclusion?
Neither of them, in being successful,
ever graduated from a higher learning Institution.

Now some of you will protest, like,
You know money's only the medium by which one measures worldly success.

Some of you will even have the nerve to say:
“I don’t do it for the money”.

So what are you studying for?
To work for a charity?

Need more clarity?
Let’s look at the statistics:

Jesus,
Mohammed (peace be upon him),
Socrates,
Malcolm X,
Mother Theresa,
Spielberg,
Shakespeare,
Beethoven,
Jesse Owens,
Mohammed Ali,
Shawn Carter,
Michael Jeffrey Jordan,
Michael Joseph Jackson,

Were either of these people unsuccessful,
or, uneducated?

All I’m saying is that, if there were a family tree,
hard work and education would be related,

but school, would probably be a distant cousin.

Cause If education is the key, school is the lock.

Because it rarely ever develops your mind to the point where it can perceive red as green,
and continue to go when someone else said stop.

Because as long as you follow the rules and pass exams, you’re cool.
But are you aware that examiners have a checklist?
And if your answer is something is outside of the box the automatic response is a cross.

And then they claim that school expands your horizons and your visions.

Well, tell that to Malcolm X who dropped out of school and is world renowned for what he learned in a prison.

Proverbs 17:16
"It does a fool no good to spend money on an education.
Why? Because he has no common sense.”
-George Bush.

Need I say more?

Education is about inspiring one’s mind, not just filling their head.

And take this from me, because I’m an educated man myself
who only came to this realization after countless nights in the library
with a can of red bull keeping me awake till dawn
and another can in the morn,
falling asleep in between piles of books which probably equated to the same amount I had spent on my rent.

Memorize equations, facts, and dates right down to the letter,
half of which I’d never remember,
and half of which I’d forget straight after the exam
and before the start of the next semester,
asking anyone if they had notes for the last lecture.
I often found myself running to class,
just so I could find a spot on which I could rest my head and fall asleep without making a scene.

Ironic, because that’s the only time I ever spent in university chasing my dreams.

And then after nights with a dead mind I then find myself in a queue of half-awake student zombies waiting to hand in an assignment, maybe that’s why they called it a deadline.

And then after, three years of mental suppression and frustration,
my proud mother, didn’t even turn up to my graduation.

Now, I’m not saying that school is evil and there’s nothing to gain,
But all I’m saying is understand your motives and reassess your aims
Because if you want a job working for someone else then help yourself.

But then that would be a contradiction
because you wouldn’t really be helping yourself you’d be helping somebody else.

There’s a saying which says:
“If you don’t build your dreams someone else will hire you to help build theirs”.

Redefine how you view education,
Understand its true meaning.

Education is not just about regurgitating facts from a book on someone else’s opinion on a subject to pass an exam.

Look at it:

Picasso was educated in creating art.
Shakespeare was educated in the art of all that was written.
Colonel Harlan Sanders was educated in the art of creating Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I once saw David Beckham take a free kick.
I watched as the side of his Adidas sponsored boot hit the patent leather of the ball at an angle which caused it to travel towards the skies as though it was destined for the heavens.

And as it reached its peak of momentum
as though it changed its mind, it switched directions.

I watched, as the goalkeeper froze,
as though reciting to himself the laws of physics
and as though his brain was negotiating with his eyes that it was indeed witnessing the spectacle of the leather swan that was swooping towards it,
and then reacting,
but only a fraction of a millisecond too late.

And before the net of the goal embraced the Fifa sponsored ball as though it was the prodigal son returning home,
and the country that I live in erupted into cheers,
I looked at the play and thought, damn.

Looking at David Beckham, there’s more than one way in this world to be an educated man.

Peace.


That ends the transcription of the rap. It's just brilliant. Take it to heart. I don't have anything else to add as of the moment since I feel too tired to rant anyway and too frustrated about the educational system that I found myself in to even say a word or two.

The rap says it all anyway.