An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States

e performing minstrelsy without even knowing it. Or it could be a lazy
attempt at appreciating the culture with which you want to engage. I want to
reiterate, this ain’t all the fault of white people. If you’re an Indigenous,
Latinx, or Asian rapper out here sayin’ the N-word, using Black phrases,
nuances, tones, and gestures, if you “sound” Black, and you ain’t also out
here protesting for Black lives and hanging around Black people, you’re a
cultural appropriator. It don’t matter to me if you out here spittin’ liberation
theology in your lyrics, if you don’t try and understand Black history and
Black language, you really need to ask if you’re actively contributing to the
liberation of Black people. Remember this: without Black people, there
would be no rap music. Many, though, support Black lives, so big shout out
to them.
Cultural appreciation is the act of engaging respectfully with, and being
invested in, the culture and the people from which that culture emerges. At
an individual level, it is the act of someone who deeply understands the
experiences and histories of an oppressed group, consistently hangs around
those people, continues to learn from that cultural group, and knows the
boundaries ascribed to them. They are also deeply invested in knowing their
place and supporting that group—and I mean a real ride-or-die. Now hear
me out, my good, liberal white folks: just because you know some
underground hip-hop headz, and maybe they vouch for you, that does not
mean you have a cultural free pass that applies to, for instance, all Black
people. Your cultural license applies to that group who knows you—not to
everyone else. Again, the people who are not from this group know their
boundaries and accept it. If you can’t accept the cultural groups’ boundaries
that they set upon you, are you more invested in the people or in the culture
that you divorce from the people? Let that sink in.
NDN POPULAR CULTURE
In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, the unnamed narrator says, “When
they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments
of their imagination—indeed, everything and anything except me.” 8 This
aptly defines Indigenous people and NdN popular culture. The use of
“NdN” is hard to precisely locate; however, it is a word that is generally
used by Native people only, and usually on social media and in texting
language as a shorthand for the word “Indian.” While my aunties use