News of May 13, 2004
Tupac's Poetry on Worcester's Summer Reading List
"In 2004, Worcester schools recommended \"The Rose That Grew From Concrete\" as summer reading. Objections arose on the school committee."
Tupac as school reading: In 2004, the public schools of Worcester, Massachusetts, included his poetry collection The Rose That Grew From Concrete on their summer reading list. It was recommended alongside singer Jewel’s poetry collection “A Night Without Armor”. AllHipHop reported on this on May 13, 2004, citing the Boston Herald.
Concerns on the School Committee
Not everyone agreed. At the request of the school committee, the district’s English department was to conduct another literary review of the book. Committee member Mary Mullaney told the Herald that she would not have placed the book on the list herself, but understood that they wanted to reach as many young people as possible. She wondered whether this was conferring a kind of seal of approval on Tupac.
Early Poems
Tupac had written the texts between 1989 and 1991, before he became famous. The volume contains prefaces by his mother Afeni Shakur and poet Nikki Giovanni. Whether the book remained on the list after the review is not stated in the report.