Minnie Riperton Class Discussion

Our class went over the short story “Minnie Riperton Saved My Life” by Luis Alfaro.  Luis Alfaro, who comes from a Mexican heritage, realizes that since there school is overcrowded, they were going to be bused at a school in the valley. This particular moment made me reminisce about my childhood. Although Alfaro was only had to bus to one different school, I still can connect with him. Throughout my grade school years, I’ve been to 6 different schools in the LAUSD.

It always felt weird having to meet new friends over and over again. Although Alfaro had to get bused to school, all my schools were practically walking distance. Alfaro was going to a whole new environment. They were going to be the minority of their new school. It was mostly African-Americans at their school. At most of the schools I transferred to, it was mostly African Americans and Latinos. So in reality, I felt a bit more comfortable transferring to these schools compared to Alfaro.

Another comparison I found to be interesting is the fact that his brother joined a gang. This is interesting because my brother joined a gang practically for the same reason. He wanted to fit in. Please note that my brother feared gangs, he disliked the fact that others have to walk in a bundle just to protect each other. Personally I feel gangs are for petrifying people. That being said, just like Alfaro brother, my brother decides to join a gang. Alfaro joined a gang because he wanted to talk back and show other students that he couldn’t be pushed around. My brother joined a gang because wanted protection.

I can also relate to Alfaro because while his brother was being unproductive, Alfaro joined productive programs such as the gifted program. This is astonishing because while my brother was outside hanging with the wrong crowd, I was always in programs such as the magnet program, Boys to Men, and even sports.  

What excites me most throughout this story is how one song motivated him to join the Columbia House Record Club. Being that music is my passion and it motivates me, I really respected Alfaro. Although I like hip hop and he like blues, music is music. It disturbed me when I found out that he was not getting bused to school because it was unexpected.

            It seemed throughout the whole story, Alfaro and I had a similarities. Unfortunately, his idol dies in the story. My idol who is Big Sean is still alive. It bothers me because his idol dies and mines is still alive. Then on the other hand, it makes me realize that music lives forever. Let’s take Tupac Shakur for example. When Tupac died, he sold more records than ever. Same thing goes for Michael Jackson. This proves that music can never die even if the artist is in a better place.

P.S
The picture on the left hand side is me my brother and my father at a young age. Notice my brother little brother looks all innocent.

The picture on the right hand side is the most recent picture of my brother and I. My brother now has all these tattoos, his face looks bumpy from fighting. Do you see the comparison?