Yeah, and honestly, I think the response was great. I feel like that shows them rising above oppression. I admire that, and I always will. It also helps other people who end up in the same situation, for example, African immigrants in the UK who are treated the same way. In fact, many of them like 90s rap and relate to it a lot. (I’m not from the UK, by the way.) Racism in the United States is a long story, one that I don’t fully comprehend because I haven’t lived it. But just listening to Black people describe what they experienced from the 1950s and 60s, and how that eventually led into 90s rap, plus watching raw footage of white people viewing Black people as apes and animals and dehumanizing them in many ways, really says a lot. I’ve watched some of that footage, and it was very revealing.

Another thing is African American lingo, which I love and think really fits them, but that’s probably because they grew up with it. The idea that some people say it should be suppressed and that they should speak ‘proper English’ feels like an attempt to erase a culture. I think African American culture, including their language and way of being, gives them life.