Eventually, I remembered the interview idea. Desperate for more content, I did a mental shrug, said “whatever,” and decided to try out the interview idea. With no background in writing or journalism, I put an interview call out on multiple platforms as a leap of faith in my trust to luck and in my skills of adaptation. Soon after, I was contacted by RAWB Visuals, a cinematographer based in Los Angeles. Luck paid out, so now it was time for me to “pay out.” When Rawb contacted me, it was the peak of the Los Angeles wildfires, and he was right in the middle of it. With the threat of potential evacuation looming and this being my first time doing an interview, I had no idea what I was doing but I trusted in the process and in myself.

The best way to explain what came out of this “leap of faith” is a direct quote from this interview. RAWB says,

I am chuckling to myself as I write this because what RAWB said is entirely accurate. That’s exactly what I did, and I’d say it paid off well. You will see what I mean when the magazine is released.

RAWB is a one-person team that directs and films his projects with a keen eye for great shots. In this interview, RAWB discusses his journey into filmmaking, a mapped-out creative process, inspirations, and how the people you least expect to can influence you greatly. The questions I asked are indented and displayed in bold.

How did you get started? What made you want to pick up a camera? And what kept you going on this path?

RAWB: In order for me to tell this story, I have to take it back to when I was a child. I grew up around a big Latino family that is a part of a Cholo/Lowrider culture. This culture heavily influenced me as a child with Rap and R&B music, which sparked my interest in various iconic music and music videos, most importantly. By the time I was a teenager, I had fallen in love with how vintage cameras looked and was so involved with rap culture, but more so, I had become fascinated with the fashion of the 90s and early 2000s.

RAWB: When I was in high school—2019—I never thought about buying a camera. It had never crossed my mind before. I was taking film classes and recording silly YouTube videos with my friends, but still, cameras never crossed my mind. As a teenager, I was, and still am, so obsessed with clothing and fashion; all I wanted to be and only to be was a fashion icon. Once I graduated in 2019, I fell into a dark place for a couple of years. I was utterly lost as a person, unfocused, doing drugs, partying whenever I could get the chance, and emotionally unavailable towards my loved ones during that time. Still, it was such a crucial moment in my life for my growth in character and future.

RAWB: I ended up meeting very important people during that dark time that ultimately helped and molded me into the person I am today. 2021 comes around, I’m starting to reinvent myself—beginning to love again and truly enjoy my hobbies again. I bought this VHS filter app for 12 bucks on my iPhone, solely for the purpose of recording myself wearing outfits I thought looked “cool” on me so that I could post it on social media. It was my first time creating a “music video” style edit involving quick cuts and transitions. As the next few months go by, my friend group is starting to become aware that I’m dabbling into editing and recording. Nothing serious at the time—I was definitely not thinking about filming music videos—just purely having fun.

RAWB: 2022 came around, the new year had just started, and one of my best friends, known as “Pdanger,” asked me one day if I was willing to record and edit a music video for him. I was skeptical at first; it seemed like a huge responsibility for me at the time, but part of me knew I could pull it off. As someone who hasn’t been very photogenic their entire life, I always felt like I knew how to make someone else look “cool” if given the chance with a camera. Still, the task felt like a lot of pressure, but he insisted I do it, telling me, “Just try it out” and to “See how it goes.” So I agreed to do it. I recorded my first-ever music video at a skate shop in Granada Hills. “Pdanger” and our good friend “RJ” have good ties with the owner. The entire experience was so fun—it made me feel like a kid again. I had no boundaries, [I was] not worried about the world around me or what’s happening in my life; everyone is there to create something special. From the planning part all the way to the editing aspect, it feels so rewarding. However, the creative aspect of it all is what keeps me going. The fact that I can turn nothing into something feels so satisfying. An artist can trust me to create something amazing with my creativity—even the artist and I will bounce ideas off each other and just create. That is what makes me feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose. Looking back, I see my passion for designing clothes—eventually, architecture, video games, and cars—and my desire to create music, movies, stories, jokes, and music videos is ultimately combined into just one passion of mine: to create.

What is the first step in your creative process? What is the most important? How do these steps influence the development of a project?

RAWB: The First step in my creative process is a tricky question for me. But it all starts with me sitting in a quiet place with a pen and paper. I then close my eyes and imagine what I want. Sometimes, it comes to me instantly before I even pick up the pen and paper. Other times, I have to sit there and let my imagination run wild until something stands out. Recently, I did notice that I get into a chaotic creative flow that seems uncontrollable in the most glorious way whenever I’m on a deadline. For example, during the peak of the Los Angeles fires, I was preparing to record a last-minute music video. The idea was to create a news reporter microphone prop, but I only had an hour or so to make it. While rushing to gather materials and brainstorming what my prop would look like, I randomly started to come up with other ideas for short films and music videos, totally irrelevant to what I was doing at the moment. I then realized this wasn’t my first time entering this flow state. I suppose I do my best creatively in high-intensity situations.

RAWB: The most crucial step to me is writing it all down, preferably on paper or on your phone if you have no choice, but [you] definitely have to set the idea in stone. I’ve had so many ideas I thought I would remember but never did, just because I told myself I would write it down, “When I wake up tomorrow,” or that I’m going to write it down “When I’m done showering.” Always write down your ideas. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. I don’t care if that shower floor gets all wet. Make sure that idea gets written down, or else you will forget. Other than that, the next important step is execution. All my ideas don’t come to life unless I get up off my ass and execute. Even if I’m not feeling confident in my ability to do so, I still make myself show up. The most beautiful, amazing things that have ever happened to me in life were because I decided to show up, which is crucial in the development of a project. [There are] A lot of missed opportunities between artists and I just because they didn’t show up. I, myself, am even guilty of not showing up, and I paid a price for that, but all I can do now is learn from it, show up, and execute.

During pre-interview research, I noticed your motto, “Create the world you live in.” What does this mean to you? How does this statement look in action when it’s applied to your work?

RAWB: I wish I remembered where I got the quote from, but “Create the world you live in” spoke to me much differently than any other quote you see on social media because I truly believe that whatever you put into this world, you get back tenfold. If you think you’re living in hell, your world and entire life experiences will be hell and vice versa. If you genuinely believe this is heaven on earth, I guarantee your experiences will change dramatically. That change of perspective is a big part of how I got myself out of that dark place in my life in 2019 and 2020. This motto I live by has been essential to executing my work. This quote reminds me that I can make it happen. I recorded and edited my first seven music videos on my iPhone. This motto has brought me to a new community filled with positive experiences and incredible, creative people I admire.

Playing off of this slogan. If you could create a world where no matter what direction you pointed a camera in—it would be a perfect shot. What would this world look like? Is it an urban environment or a cityscape? What is this world filled with?

RAWB: This perfect shot would be dense. It is filled with symmetry, chaos, and a mix of colorful but grunge surroundings. Characters [that] are filled with expression and body language, all telling a story, but a story that can be up for interpretation. It would be set in a New York City-like environment, showing positive and negative situations a human being might experience.

Are there cinematographers that inspire you?

RAWB: There’s a handful of cinematographers that inspire me, but there are three that have influenced me the most. I’ll start with “AMD Visuals.” First of all, I literally copied a part of his name—I didn’t know what to call myself then. I needed to add something after RAWB to let people know I was a videographer, so I copied him because he was the cinematographer I was most inspired by at the time. I love how he combined cinematography with a run-and-gun filming style. I could tell he was just being spontaneous with all his locations. It almost felt like, yeah, he was a top dawg videographer, but it still seemed like he was having fun. He didn’t go completely Hollywood on himself, you know?

RAWB: The next cinematographer that comes to mind is “HidjiWorld.” No doubt in my mind, he’s the best one out here really doing this. His work is out of this world. It almost seems unreachable to me. I pray and hope I can become half as good as him one day. If I tried to explain how much of a master class he is with his work, I’d probably be typing all day, and if you haven’t seen his work, I’d go tune in. Then you have “Pietro Biz Biasia.” He’s a new favorite of mine that I enjoy watching. I truly feel like he’s changing the game, implementing mind-blowing masking effects and incredibly creative shots. I’d love to get the chance to work with him. He’s really on the way to being the greatest ever.

If you had a cinematography antagonist—in other words, an archnemesis—for your work, what would their characteristics be? What would their filmmaking style look like?

RAWB: I honestly don’t believe I can answer this question. I’ve thought about this for a few days now, trying to put my filmmaking style into a category to try and make up an antagonist version of myself, but I can’t. I feel I can do it all. I know I can do it all because I’ve done a variety of edits and films in different styles. The last music video I directed was colorful and fun—not so serious—and now I have another music video in the works that will be dark and grunge. There’s just no way I can create another version of myself when I am all types of versions of myself.

What is your most controversial cinematography take?

RAWB: Not sure if this one is controversial; I’m sure some people might agree with me, but I believe you don’t need an expensive camera or lens to pull off great cinematic shots. I think people take cinematography too seriously, therefore making it “played out” in a way. Usually, the students of the game are the ones who impress me with their creativity—rarely the experts. [The] people who have been doing this for a long time can get stuck in their ways a little and lose creativity. It’s almost like their minds are on cruise control, now only going by the book.

The first video camera was invented in 1888 by Louis Le Prince. If you had to direct a video for someone who existed before then, who would that person be? Why would it be them? Why are they significant to you?

RAWB: It would have to be Shakespeare. I feel like that's a no-brainer. If he had been given this crazy piece of technology to create his plays in a three-dimensional digital format where he could practice angles and take as many takes as he liked, I feel like he would have become obsessed with filmmaking. I would be very curious to see what he could do creatively with that equipment. Shakespeare was a revolutionary and versatile storyteller. In a way, he’s one of the reasons, if not the reason, why storytelling and films have evolved to the way they are now.

What is your ethnicity? Does it play any part in your identity as a filmmaker?

RAWB: I am a third-generation Mexican American. I want to think it doesn’t play any part in my identity. I don’t think about race or ethnicity when talking to filmmakers, networking, or posting on media platforms. It just doesn’t matter to me at all. I don’t want to consider my ethnicity as a factor when trying to become a high-class filmmaker. It feels irrelevant. And I know some people might feel disappointed in what I’m saying, probably expecting me to have some Latino pride, but as cliche as this might sound, I don’t see color when I meet people, let alone expect people to see me as a certain color. Now, I’m not saying I don’t respect my culture. I love how cultures can evolve and birth character and tradition. It’s the reason why I am the person I am today. I’m just saying my race doesn’t make me better or worse than the next person. It’s my work ethic that speaks for itself.

RAWB’s excitement about this interview greatly surprised me, and he was tremendously helpful in refining some sort of interview process. I am very thankful to him for giving me this opportunity.

Click to see RAWB’s work

Espy invited me to meet him privately at his gallery, where I conducted this interview. We discussed his inspirations and motivators, including his goals in creating his "Context" collection, which aimed to depict Black and Brown people in unconventional contexts. We also discussed his art's religious, emotional, and societal motivations, including his response to the George Floyd incident in his "Up from the Asphalt" collection. The questions I asked are indented and displayed in bold.

Espy: These [paintings] are from a series called “Context,” where I represented Black and Brown people in a context that we don’t normally see Black and Brown people. Traditionally, in art, especially American art history, we would see only a handful of themes in Black art. So you might be familiar with some of them, figures out in the hot sun bent over in a cotton field or a tobacco field or with harvesting equipment, that kind of thing. Or we could see an old man on a wooden porch, the front porch of a shaft.

Espy: You see those kinds of images often. Then there’s always the barbershop scenes or the woman braiding her child’s hair. Those stories have been told over and over again.

Espy: In “Context,” I was looking to show Black and Brown people in a context that we may not be as familiar with. This one came after the “Context” series, but it’s similar. I kept with the same theme.

Espy: This is Evelyn. The whole time I had known her, she wore her hair in two cornrows. One day, she came to church, and it was in full bloom, right? She looked beautiful, confident, and proud. So she let me take a photo. As I was painting, I was still thinking about the “Context” exhibition. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say about this painting, but I realized her experience in America, as a Black American, is of a mixed-race family. So I reached out to her and asked, “Hey, I got an idea. What do you think?”

Espy: Her afro and the brown hair on her light brown skin reminded me of a Dairy Queen cone dipped in chocolate. I said, “That ain’t offensive. Is it?” She goes, “I love it.” So I said, “You’re going to be the Dairy Queen.” The Dairy Queen marquee on the top and then the ice cream cone on the side were representative of her mixed heritage.

Do you think intersectionality played a part in this painting? You know, your perspective of Evelyn as a mixed woman and your perspective [of America] as a darker-skinned man.

Espy: When she walked into church that day, it reminded me of my childhood because I was born in 1964. So my earliest childhood memories are from the seventies, and in the seventies, your sisters, your aunties, everybody had afros. So when she had that afro, it just felt like she would be a cousin of mine or, you know, part of my childhood, which is one of the reasons why I chose that background. I superimposed the Dairy Queen, but the background that I put there is from a scene from my hometown of Cincinnati. So, all of it feels like my childhood.

What did growing up in Cincinnati look like?

Espy: My family initially consisted of my mother, my sister, and me, and we moved a number of times, maybe three or four times in my earlier childhood. Cincinnati was very community-oriented, so each community had a different “flavor.”

Since you mentioned your mother, did she have a more significant influence on your art or just on your life in general?

Espy: Mom played a huge role; like any parent, she had her own challenges and flaws. What I remember about Mom, and what anyone remembers, is that she was very kind and loving to anybody she came across. She would get mad at her kids sometimes when we acted badly, but Mom’s influence was definitely that of a woman who taught her kids that she loved us and that we could do anything.

Espy: When she [his mom] was admitted to the nursing home, she called me and said, “I have something for you.” I didn’t know what it was, so she handed me this bag and said, “Open it up.” As soon as it came out, I was like, “Wait, what? You still have this?” She kept it in her nightstand—my whole life. When she gave it to me, she said, “I know you’re going to be a famous artist.” That was easily 10 years before I ever started doing art full-time.

What were the first steps in your creative process when developing the “Up From The Asphalt” collection?

Espy: “Up From The Asphalt” was different because there was no planning or forethought in it because it was never conceived. What happened was an innocent man, or a man who didn’t deserve to die on the concrete, was killed in front of the whole world on live camera. We witnessed the kind of brutality that occurs in U.S. law enforcement. In a lot of various ways, it was exposed in a way I had never seen before. That created a lot of anxiety and a lot of helplessness inside of me. Eventually, I had to put it somewhere. When I eventually decided to [start painting], with the help of my wife’s encouragement, I just started putting paint on canvas. It eventually started depicting scenes specifically from that crime scene. I painted the George Floyd arrest and killing depictions within the first ten days of the incident. However, it was COVID at that time, and the place where my studio was located had to close its doors due to COVID restrictions.

So those Floyd pieces had to go in storage. They lived in storage for three years until last February, when I brought them here to Connecticut. Before those pieces were even completed, they went into storage. A good part of the exhibition you saw were works that were never meant to be shown and were never completed, but I showed them in the last state that they were [in] when the studio had to close its doors.

Imagine you were someone with no background in the arts, specifically a white person, and you went to view the “Up From The Asphalt” collection. How do you think you would perceive it? What do you think would be the most significant takeaways?

Espy: I don’t know if I have ever imagined myself seeing my art from a white perspective. First of all, I can think about what I hope it will look like. I would hope that it would be inviting. That seeing it would make you want to get closer to it, make you want to spend some time with it. With any of my portraits, I hope people can find themselves somewhere. Even if it’s a white person, I hope there’s a commonness in our humanity that even though they might not identify with being Black, they might identify with being an innocent kid. Or they might identify as being a kid who decided to express themselves one day by wearing their afro out. Maybe they’ll think about when there was a time “I decided to express myself.”

Back to your creative process, what emotions go through your head? What do you feel is the central inspiration, “the power?” What’s the gasoline that gets your car moving?

Espy: The motivation changes with what happens to be going on either with me or societally. But the process is, say, I experienced something in society or my personal life that [makes me go] “Man, I want to communicate that” or “I want to share that thing.” Then, the process is that you first have to capture pupils—the image has to capture attention, and then after it has captured your attention, it has to continue to speak. If you see it, it can walk away, and then it was just a “flash.” But if you see it and then you want to get closer to it, and then you want to stand in front of it for a while, that means the art has more to say. For me, the more to say is in the brushstrokes, color choices, and what the composition or arrangement does. Some arrangements point you in a direction, some cause you to be still, and some invite you to look further. I take all that into consideration. I have to admit, though, that sometimes, with a painting, those ideas and thoughts are there at the start: the color, the composition, and the movement. Sometimes, it’s like walking into a kitchen hungry and making something delicious out of what happens to be there, making it up as you go. The more often you “cook,” the better you get at making something good out of whatever. I’ve been “cooking” for a while, so sometimes I can walk in the “kitchen” and slam something together that’s “delicious” that I never made before—a little humble brag.

You were saying emotion plays a big part in the creative process. Let’s say you were advising all the creatives out there; if they were to ask you what plays the biggest part in creating a piece that they want to hit. Is it logic and intellectualism, or is it emotion—pure emotion? What should they hone in on?

Espy: All of us are geared in one direction or the other. Some of us lead first with our brain, and our heart trails somewhere behind; some of us lead with our heart, and then our brain trails behind. From my perspective and my experience, I like to lead with emotion. If a tiger jumps out of the woods, your logic goes out the window. The first thing you feel is emotion. The first compelling thing is emotion, and then if you can elicit the emotion that captures someone now, you have their attention long enough to engage their brain. If the art captures your emotion and you come closer, I always try to give you a few more treasures to ponder, think about, and question. I hope people have the experience of “Oh wow, this is emotionally engaging, but he also made me think.”

Can the use of AI properly convey emotion?

Espy: It’s easy to be charming the first time: flowers, roses, candy, or candles. There are a lot of things to be romantic about at the beginning. But if that’s all you got, then it flickers out. AI lets you have an instant romantic infatuation, but I don’t believe AI will have the capacity to go as deep as the human spirit. Although I believe it’s getting more and more sophisticated, I can’t imagine anything being more sophisticated than the nuances that exist in flesh and blood. AI can reflect heartbreak, but it can’t know heartbreak. AI can reflect joy as a reflection of what we input, but it can’t experience the surge of chemicals that happens in our bodies when we feel euphoria, bliss, heartbreak, or outrage. You can’t put that in an “X on, O’s off.” You can’t do that.

Throughout your life, what influenced you more: your perspective as a Black man in America, your perspective as a Christian, your perspective as a god-following man, or your perspective as an artist?

Espy: It’s hard to extrapolate any of those things because the older I get, the more I realize I live in all those things all at the same time. Definitely, being a follower of Christ has a huge influence on my work, first and foremost. Still, I’m learning that I’m not just a Christian, I’m not just a Christian who’s an artist, I’m not just a Christian who’s a Black married man who’s an artist, I’m all those things at once, and the more I integrate all those things, the more authentic my work is.

Espy: So, if I tried to be a Christian and not be a Black man, I wouldn’t like where that would lead my art, but if I tried to be an artist and just a Black man and ignored my faith, I wouldn’t like that either. I’m trying to take all of who God made me. I see myself in a way everyone I think should. I am a particular instrument with a particular set of functionalities, and I want all of those functions to work in service to God. My instrument is uniquely different from every other individual on the planet, as everyone is.

During the time after Floyd’s murder, I felt outraged at God. It wasn’t really because of the murder. More specifically, it was seeing white America’s reaction to the murder that influenced my feelings of outrage toward God. Did you feel anything the same?

Espy: I definitely felt outraged towards the complicity of white America and, I should say, also the complacency of white Christians. I don’t recall feeling an outrage towards God, but I definitely think some of the helplessness I felt at that time was trying to live within the social construct of the church that suggested that protest isn’t “Christian business” or that a march isn’t the “business of a disciple” that it was “civilian affairs” because we are “not of this world.” I have since changed that philosophy in dramatic ways, according to the scriptures: “Love the lord, your god, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Espy: Those are pinnacle—there is no way I can say “I love god” and stand quietly while men and woman, brothers and sisters, I don’t care if they’re Black or White, Gay or Trans—when people are being oppressed and abused, God is not pleased with that and nor should I be.

Let’s say God granted you one painting, which would instantly change the world with God’s power. What is the first thing that comes to mind when considering what you would paint?

Espy: Yeah, I thought about that. It’s a lot of pressure for one painting, but if God’s going to take that painting and change the world, if there was a way to represent humanity in one face, I don’t know how that’s possible, but if I could paint one face that depicted how God feels about us as people, I would try and paint that. Maybe I would paint my mother again.

On those faces, if you painted one face, what do you think the primary emotions would be?

Espy: As I think about it, it would definitely be my mother. The emotion her face would convey would be kindness and love for sure. I ain’t trying to be sappy. That’s the legit answer.

How did academia influence you?

Espy: I enrolled in a program that was called Visual Communication. That was the business side of art, learning how the printing process works, how a concept becomes a layout for a magazine cover, [how that] becomes the blueprint for a magazine cover, [then] becomes the printed cover that gets bound together and published. I learned typography, illustration, design, and painting. I’m a painter today because my high school art instructor, the illustrious Franklin McKenzie Shands, taught me techniques for rendering and portraits. I use the exact same thing he taught me when I was in high school. His teaching gave me a leg up on my classmates in art school, but Henry Koerner was the painting teacher who had the biggest influence on me. A lot of my painting styles are a reflection of his color choices and his brush marks.

I ask you to not be humble here. What do you think is your most underrated skill? When people critique, look at, or review your art, what is one thing that you think they don’t bring up enough, something that you wish would be given more praise, or something that makes you think, “I’m pretty good at this, this should be brought up more.”

Espy: Since you gave me license to brag, I’m good at a lot of things, and to the person who loves art but doesn’t necessarily know a lot about art, I appreciate their feedback. They see something, they love it, or they don’t love it. When other artists appreciate something that’s more nuanced, they can call out that. Maybe someone who doesn’t practice art wouldn’t recognize [it]. I especially appreciate that. I will say this, though: it is not uncommon for a professional artist to use tools that I, being a purist, might call shortcuts, like using a projector to capture a figure or a cityscape on a canvas. When it’s fine art, for the type of art I do, I prefer to fight and wrestle with the figure all day until I get the figure right rather than take 10 minutes to trace an outline. I love the fact that if I were trapped on a desert island and I didn’t have any oil paints or any brushes, I could take a rock and go to the side of a cliff and carve images raw and without any assistance. Humble brag.

Have you ever seen an elephant or a monkey paint? When it comes to animals creating art, do you think an animal could ever think about making art the same way we do? Could an animal produce something on the same level as a human?

Espy: I’ve seen videos of an elephant with a paintbrush in its trunk painting a beach scene. I imagine a trainer could train a particular animal with a certain skill set to follow a course of steps that leads to an outcome that looks like a beach. I’ve also seen animals given a brush, and they randomly select colors, and they randomly make marks. They do what you would consider abstract expressionism, so I can never say what was in the mind of an animal. But I’ll sum it up this way.

Espy: Our heavenly father was the first creative; he spoke and created the world and made us in his image, so I know at least we, as humans, are creative. On occasions in nature, whether it’s a songbird in the morning, dolphins with their clicks, a dog jumping, or a horse prancing and doing different things. Creative expression does exist in wildlife. Maybe it comes out in the way a bird builds their nest. I don’t want to limit the ability of animals to create art. I’m not going to ever spend thousands of dollars on an elephant painting.

Here’s a fun one. If you had infinite time to instruct an animal to learn how to paint in a one-on-one class, what animal would it be?

Espy: It had to be one most like me. I’m thinking it's probably something in the primate family. That is going to move most like I do.

Out of every event in the Bible, which would you rather paint in person?

Espy: I would want to capture Moses’s glowing face when he came down from Mount Sinai after spending time with God. His face, he would cover it. He didn’t want people to see the glow fading away. I would want to try and capture his face while it was glowing. I might have to paint that one.

Out of these three groups, who would you much rather paint with? The 12 Disciples, Job, or Abraham?

Espy: I’d say my tendency is to lean toward Job.

Job? Why Job?

Espy: There’s something about suffering that, if you capture it in a thoughtful, compassionate way, it draws people in. I don’t know if I mean suffering, but for someone like Job, who is going through something difficult, there would be a lot on his face to paint. There’s nothing more boring than painting a beautiful, happy person for me. I shouldn’t say [that]. I paint beautiful people. What I mean is a face that is culturally of that aesthetic—that is easy to look at in the first place.

Eurocentric features?

Espy: Yeah, or even if it’s not. Even if it’s more Black-and-Brown culture. When the face is super polished—in that face—it’s hard to find something compelling. Although, that’s probably a fault of mine and not necessarily of the individual. A person with a pretty face can be just as complex, but there’s something when someone has wrinkles. When they wear life on their face, there’s more substance to me.

Do you consider all things called “art” to be on the same level?

Espy: No, and here’s where I’m going to be an art snob. Everyone has the right to take a piece of clay, pigments, or paints. They can use their hands, they can use brushes, they can use stones. Whatever they use and [they] express themselves, I’ll call it art, right? I think one of your questions was, “How do I define art?”

Yeah, I was just about to get to that. Often, I think the word “art” is too broad. I feel as though we need different terms to describe the various levels. I think back to ancient Greek society’s six different terms for love, such as you don’t love your wife in the same way you love your friends. So, what should your art’s definition be?

Espy: I stole this from something I heard in the last month or so, but “creativity for the purpose of creativity that exposes something inside of you is art.” Does that make sense? Creativity for the purpose of making money could be art, but now it’s just a commodity. Creativity for problem-solving is good, too. I started by saying I don’t think that all things that we call art is art [but] I should better quantify it as: art does have relative value. It’s hard for one individual to assign that value. I will give you this, and then you will have to let it go.

Espy: Any fool can dip his hand into a bucket of paint and throw it against the canvas with his hands and just splatter. The guy who did it first did something creative. The rest, they haven’t done anything new. Putting your hands in the bucket, slinging it around, or tying a boot to a string, covering it with paint, and then swinging it around. Maybe you can call that art the first time you do it—the first time it’s done—or if you practice it to develop a unique technique. When it ceased to be unique, it ceased to have the same creative value. I’ll still call it art, but I don’t value all art the same, just like I don’t value all music the same way.

If you could take all your skills from painting and transfer them to another “sector” of art, which would it be?

Espy: It would be music. In the work that I do, I work with a lot of different mediums. I work with oils, acrylics, and watercolors. I use brushes, scrapers, spatulas, all that stuff. [I] haven’t done it in a few decades, but when it’s time to do sculpture, I believe I will be able to pick that up again. Musically, I would want to be like Prince. I would play the bass, the lead guitar, the percussion, and I would want to produce it all.

What does your professional art career look like?

Espy: It’s interesting right now. A year and a half ago, I was an artist with an art studio who produced art in albums, and then I sought venues to play my album for a month or 3 months at a time. I sell art. A year ago, I acquired this space, and now I have a studio and a gallery. I’m an artist upstairs; I’m a businessman down here. I’m thinking about marketing, I’m thinking about cash flow, I’m thinking about budgets, and I’m thinking about market saturation. I’m interested in local commerce. Things I don’t think about upstairs, [I] definitely think about down here. The reason it’s a Saturday afternoon in January [and] my front door is locked is because there is not sufficient walk-in commerce for me to have my doors open. For people to see my artwork, I’ve become an event planner. I have events here, galas, and a Valentine’s Day celebration coming up, so I get potential buyers here celebrating some occasion in the presence of all my art—an opportunity to sell. I have a lot of different roles right now.

Have you heard of the “12 Steps on the Graphic Designer’s Road to Hell”? It is by Milton Glasier; essentially, it describes various ways a graphic designer can sacrifice their ethical beliefs for a “check.” I am bringing this up because I would like to ask what you believe are the 12 steps on a Fine artist’s way to hell, more specifically, an artist from a marginalized group. What are some steps?

Espy: I want to celebrate Black people. But like what you mentioned, I don’t want to sell food just because people will eat it. So, if I was selling food, man, I want it to be good, nutritious, healthy, thoughtful, clean, [and] beautiful presentation. When you leave, it’s good for your body, right? I want to sell that. I don’t want to give you deep-fried, cholesterol-filled sustenance as my mainstay because I know you’ll eat it. Traditionally—as Black artists paint Black women—there was a period of time when Black people, in general, were not celebrated in our culture, right? There wasn’t a space for Black people to celebrate us, and we weren’t celebrated anywhere else. The depictions of us before we could own it ourselves were stereotypical and degrading. At some point, we painted—especially in the 70s as we felt more empowered—depictions of the Black family. A strong, muscle-bound, dark-skinned Black man reaching down and grabbing the arm of his curvaceous, big bosom, big behind—I don’t mean that in a bad way—Black woman, lifting her up.

Espy: I think there was a time when our culture needed those images. We’re strong, we’re healthy. She’s very curvaceous and eating well. We’re prosperous. [We see] A continuation of that same thing, but just because we buy it doesn’t make it good food anymore, so let’s celebrate our body types, but let’s not paint big behinds because people like buying big behinds. You know what I’m saying? I’m in a little bit of a financial fix right now that a few sales would get me out of. If I wanted to have instance, if I wanted to sell stuff, I could just paint a bunch of naked girls, and I’d be fine. People buy that junk all day long. I’m not painting nudity for the sake of nudity. I’m not painting flesh to celebrate flesh. If I ever did do something that included some aspect of nudity, it would be for a greater message than just flesh. That would be my fast track to even just an emotional hell or purgatory of feeling like I got to sell this.

Do you have a motto you live by, something that you tell yourself to get through moments of turmoil?

Espy: Something that comes up with the art is the way that I paint. I had about 28 years after art school, where I wasn’t professionally doing art. To stay active, I was always searching for the most beautiful marks I could make. I was sketching anywhere I was. I would always be sketching if I had a ballpoint pen and copier paper. I would always find creative ways to make beautiful marks. Twenty-eight years of trying to find beautiful marks has made me a better painter. The paintings I do today are just an assemblage of [many] individual marks. You can’t make a masterpiece without making daily marks that are beautiful. Those marks, for me, translate into how you treat people. If you’re kind to the clerk, you’re kind to the hostess or kind to hold the door—How you treat people on a daily basis.

If you had to symbolize your life so far in one color, of course, not skin color, but what color would it be and why?

Espy: My daughter used to ask me what my favorite color was. It’s going to sound cliché. I used to say my favorite color is black. Not because I’m a Black man—technically, I’m an artist, so I’m not black. I’m brown. My favorite color is black because I learned in high school that when I paint, I save the black until last, or I save black till near the end. Black transforms everything else. When the black goes on, [for example] black next to red, it completely changes it. It adds contrast to everything. No matter where you put the black, it has a big impact. That’s what I like about black.

He then showed me an unreleased collection of a completely different genre. This exhibition would have been called “Genesis,” but Espy decided to change it. We could not use the camera after this point, but luckily, he explained why he chose to change the name before we stopped filming.

Espy: On the seventh day, God rested, right? Did God rest because he was exhausted? The almighty, all-powerful, omnipotent God got tired? I don’t think he needed to take a nap—or he sprained his ankle. He didn’t rest because he was tired. At some point, we can say, “That’s good enough. This is beautiful, this is good. I could keep going, but I am content.” He is teaching us that we can be content. I started this exhibition with a goal in mind, and [when] I started painting towards this goal, I started stressing out about the art for an exhibition about being content. Then I realized, “Oh, wait a minute, as I do this work, I’ve got to be content with what God gives me, at the pace he gives it to me, and not feel stressed about keep going, keep going, keep going, when God himself rested.” So, an exhibition about Genesis and resting reminded me that I needed to rest.

Click here to see more of Espy’s work.

I established The Universal Law and The Conditional Truth in section 1 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Afterlife. The Universal Law of Righteousness is the quality of being morally right or justifiable. If there is an afterlife, and if the supreme deity has the following qualities listed in Section 1, then by all logical reasoning, these 2—so far—laws of the afterlife must be true, but what is being morally right? What does The Universal Law look like in action, and at what scale?

Sin is defined as "an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law." It is a common subject across religious faiths worldwide. To the supreme deity, a person who does not follow The Universal Law of Righteousness is sinning. Furthermore, all transgressions of this law must not be equal. This is gambled on the supreme deity having the qualities mentioned in the previous chapter. If that is so, they rationally would not value all sins at the same level. Humans are predominantly individualistic, and because of that individualism, humans—consciously or subconsciously—will choose their own and especially their perceived "tribe's" contentment over others' well-being. In the modern world, the production and, in some cases, the use of everyday items are unethical and harmful to other beings.

An example is the Conflict Minerals used to produce our phones, cars, and the computer I am writing on. Another more recent case that has only become increasingly detrimental to the environment and communities is the use of Artificial intelligence. Evidently, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. If all sins had the same value, how could any citizens of a capitalist state even come close to a favorable outcome in the Afterlife?

Redefining sin

The most significant factor in committing a sin must be awareness of the act. Most notably, the awareness that one's actions are harming another. Let's think of it like this: When a child reaches to touch a red-hot stovetop, they—at that point—do not know it will burn them. They do not have the knowledge that such an action will cause them immense pain. Of course, once they touch the stovetop and learn the causation of their actions, the child will never do it again. We should treat sin the same way. Suppose one is completely unaware of the negative impacts of an action. In that case, it will cause no grievance to a deity who holds The Qualities. As soon as a person knows that an action will have negative impacts, then no matter how minute those impacts may seem to them, in the eyes of the supreme deity, they should never choose to do it again.

I will give an example: if I purchase fast fashion but am unaware of the unethical practices, environmental impacts, and exploitative low-cost labor. I do not believe I am committing a sin, but as soon as I learn about the immoral factors involved in creating such clothing and still choose to partake, whether for shallow reasoning such as social status or the clothing looks good, it is cheap, it is all I can afford—when thrift stores and other viable options of purchasing used or fair trade/practice clothing very much exist. I am then committing an immoral act. I am committing a sin. I personally am guilty of this, as many of us are. Many other factors play a part in this, particularly having access to those means. Many of us—especially those in the Western world—have access to those options, yet we still choose not to use them.

At this point, with the previous information mentioned in the guide, we can now determine what Hitchhiker's Guide To The Afterlife's definition of sin will be. We will include the guide's definition of The Universal Law of Righteousness and combine it with awareness of one's actions and effects. From now on, we will define sin as:

• Sin: An action committed with the awareness that it is immoral, amoral, and unjustifiable.

If anyone is even slightly aware that an action is immoral, amoral, and unjustifiable, then they have committed a sin.

Is morality subjective?

One may ask, "How can this be true? Throughout history, different societies have had different perspectives on morality. Various groups still have different perspectives on right and wrong in the modern world."

Of course, that is true, but I believe to the supreme deity, the universe, or whatever one thinks is the true governing force of nature—to "them," morality is objective. My proposed answer to the question above is that the supreme deity must have a set of objective rules or laws per se. Obviously, I do not know what these rules are, but that is why we established The Universal Law. The whole point of the guide is to lead the reader to a favorable—synonymous with deserving—outcome in the afterlife, whatever it may be. Most importantly, upholding this law must be done with no hope of personal gain. If one upholds the universal law for their own self prevalence in the afterlife, the supreme deity will not look at them as favorably as one who follows the law with the well-being of others strictly in mind. Even if the contents of this guide are entirely foolhardy, the only way we can succeed is through unity, as found in The Universal Law of Righteousness.

Before beginning this guide, you must be willing to question everything you have heard up until this point, especially your idea of "God." Believe that no singular theory is true; instead, it is more likely that all have certain parts that are true rather than one. Most of the concepts you will witness in this are not new; some ideas date as far back as the beginning of recorded human history. This series could also be called The Hitchhiker's Guide to Perennial Philosophy.

I am not here to tell you which religion/spiritual practice is right or wrong. In fact, I will definitely cover many things I don't believe in or may even consider far-fetched. Of course, I have things that I consider to be truths, but I'm not hurt if we agree to disagree, and I have no issue with being wrong. What I fully believe and trust in, no matter what, is Science, and the scientific method, especially at the highest level of all my beliefs, is moral objectivism. This will become clearer later on.

One thing I feel I can not go further into the guide without saying is sometimes I do consider if, after death, it truly is just darkness or "nothing," as some people might say. If I, through some means, knew that this conclusion to our lives was true, it would not have changed my outlook on life or my goals. I feel as though many people who do believe in "nothing" after death do not have this sentiment. It is the same with all species that evolve. This goal is the success of the species, of our species. I believe—especially since we are the only currently known species with our level of sentience—That we have to choose to evolve, not physically, of course, but rather societally.

The next step in human evolution is, of course, the unity of the species as a whole (human rights, equal opportunities, ceasing needless warfare, etc, you know). Since we will never solve that issue on a species-wide scale, human division will likely be the cause of our extinction. The spiritual doctrines and practices that I believe in, those that will be mentioned in this guide, those that will even be considered as possibilities, are moral and will always align with the success of all human beings. Even though a particular religion may have immoral qualities and/or anti-intellectual doctrines, that does not disqualify every quality of the religious theory of question. Especially this does not allow for the generalization and demeaning of the particular religion's followers. I will touch on this subject more in-depth in future articles, especially regarding the morality of a deity.

Most of the theories featured in Hitchhikers Guide to the Afterlife (HGTA) will bank on this assumption. If a supreme deity exists, they must conduct their activities impartially. The abovementioned "if" statement leads me to the big problem with the title "Hitchhikers Guide to the Afterlife," which is within the definition of the word "guide." Merriam-Webster defines a guide as "a person who advises or shows the way to others." My issue with this is that I have no concrete evidence of any religious theory being true. How can these series be a guide if I have no hard evidence? How can I be 100% sure I am pointing the reader in the right direction? This "dilemma" is the basis for my first claim. The claim that the rest of the guide will be built upon.

Original Claim

I deem this claim as "The Universal Law." No matter what belief system a person dedicates oneself to, even if one's belief is wholly based on delusion, upholding this law wholeheartedly will always lead to a favorable outcome.

The universal law of Righteousness—the quality of being morally right or justifiable—should be held above all other beliefs. It is the key influence on your soul's outcome in the afterlife. This law is humanity's closest thing to a "Divine Truth/Fact." This statement fundamentally relies on whether the supreme deity in question has the following qualities:

• Omnipresence: The Deity currently is being and has been present in all places at all times

• Integrity: The Deity has a firm adherence to moral and ethical principles

• Veracity: The Deity conforms to fact and reason

If a Deity claims to be a fair and just god, according to its doctrine, the deity will not (or can not) place any other factors—such as sacrifice—above the universal law.

Conditional Claim

This statement is based on the unfortunate chance that the deity in question does, in fact, value other factors above righteousness (for example, a declaration of faith). If this condition is true, the universal law will not be definite in leading to a favorable outcome after death. To further improve one's chances of a favorable (equivalent with deserving in this circumstance) outcome in the afterlife, one must also uphold what I will deem as "The Conditional Truth."

If there is one thing a deity will not forgive, it is a lack of reverence. A lack of faith is likely to be forgiven, but a lack of respect is not, especially regarding their devotees, holy sites, and sacred texts.

Perky’s Mag

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"kill all men"/"Bear or Man."

Often, men blame generalizing statements such as the terms mentioned above for the reasons they or other men struggle. Classic defenses to these arguments include "Not all men" or some form of "I am different." Men cite these statements as the reason for their depression or lack of success in dating environments. Some men relish the fact that they are not a "Pervert/Creep" and think that it adds something to their character/personality. Arrogance from doing the bare minimum conveys these men as pretentious and narcissistic. Men take the statements mentioned above as an attack on their character and miss entirely the reasons and the issues that cause women to say these things. Since an overwhelming amount of men are perverts, women use these statements as a way to protect themselves; the same others do in their ethnic communities. The victimized community is not committing an immoral deed by making generalizing statements; they have created methods of protection/defense for their community; it is not an attack on a man's character specifically, and taking it as an attack undermines the true intent of these statements: To shine a light on the issues that created these statements. Women are not saying every man is one of those "men," but those men are still your brothers, friends, and parents. 81% of women reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime, so even if a man knows they are not an aggressor, the chance that a man who is an aggressor is in their everyday life is almost 100%. The problem is complicity. Men who commit such acts are protected by men who do not, and vice versa. Take, for instance, how Kobe Bryant's career was not affected in any monumental sense; after he was accused, his fame and legacy grew even more.

"Straights Club."

The people who perpetuate the reason "Nobody cares about men's mental health" the most are Cis-men. A lot of Cis-men will say that their peers can be vulnerable about their mental health issues, but that is not true. They can only be "vulnerable" if they are not because legitimate vulnerability is perceived as weakness. The obsession with this social construct of masculinity is the downfall of men's mental health. The relentless bullying of men who do not fit this social construct of masculinity is one of the most prevalent issues in this conversation. A feminine man is just something to be laughed at by the majority of Cis-males, referring to them as sweet, sassy, DL, suspect, or just simply gay. Insecure Men(which are most of the men who are obsessed with masculinity) dedicate so much mental energy to being the farthest from "Gay" they can be. Especially in everyday friendships, most Cis-Males could not fathom being close friends with an openly gay male. Anyone who is in these communities who thinks they might be deviating from the status quo or those who are questioning their sexuality will never live their truth because they are so obsessed with falling into line with the social construct of masculinity that they end up in an unhealthy mental state, resenting themselves which leads to struggling depression and in many cases can eventually lead to suicide. Toxic masculines always want to be the best, to be perfect in the eyes of other men, so they push each other away and despise themselves because their idea of perfection and masculinity is deeply rooted in misogyny and homophobia, and that is the issue with men's mental health. Men are men's greatest enemy in mental health. Toxic masculines cannot highlight the reason their mental is unhealthy because their truth is buried under layers of misogyny, homophobia, and an intense desire to fit in, and the ones at fault are nobody but themselves and their peers. Toxic masculines inherently choose this emotional pain because they try to squeeze themselves into a lifestyle they subconsciously(sometimes even consciously) do not want.

"Women have it easier"/ Incels.

This statement typically refers to some minor success that a woman has achieved. However, this is only half-way true. What is true is that "A woman will have an easier life if she completely conforms to the patriarchy." Anytime the statement, as mentioned above, is said, is when a woman decides to use misogynistic culture and the patriarchy to her benefit. Men cannot say that prettier women have it easier when it is men who have only valued women for their looks since the start of modern society. If men did not design whole systems that value the body of a woman rather than the brain, this would not work; this obsession that incels have with pretty women having "it easier" in life is hilarious because the only reason any of that works is because of men. It is the same as when men complain about the dating environment, saying things like "Women only care about money." when the only reason such stereotypes and status quo exist is that women did not need to care or instead were not allowed to care before. They were just objects in the minds of their husbands. A woman would never need to care about money because she was not allowed in any spaces to make actual money until very recently.

The men's mental health conversation has turned into finger-pointing and victimization. Toxic masculines and the patriarchy are the root causes for most, if not all, of the issues in men's mental health. Men who follow in the path of toxic masculinity are other men's antagonists in the struggle with mental health.

Editors note (10/10/24)

Of course, as a biological man, I have also participated in misogynistic speech and actions that inherently uphold the patriarchy. Every person who was assigned male at birth has also contributed to the patriarchy (Those who think they are innocent are ignorant.). Gay men, trans men, and Cis-men, whether you have participated in misogynistic values consciously or subconsciously, it does not matter if it was subconscious or not; we still are not absolved of guilt. We must call out any form of misogynistic values we may see in the home, our friends, and even in passing by. The only way to repent is through educating ourselves and each other and especially being good role models and teachers for the younger generations of men. We might not be able to fix the world our ancestors created, but we can make a safer and fairer world for the generations of women to come.

"Statistics." National Sexual Violence Resource Center, www.nsvrc.org/statistics. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.

Thomas, John C, and Jonathan Kopel. "Male Victims of Sexual Assault: A Review of the Literature." Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland), U.S. National Library of Medicine, 3 Apr. 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10135558/#B28-behavsci-13-00304.

"They love our culture, but they don't love us."

You may have heard this axiom or reached this conclusion through your perception and participation in popular culture. For instance, one of my favorite examples of this axiom in the hip-hop sector of the music industry is the rise of (and I use this term very loosely) rapper "Lil Mabu." He is one of the most blatant examples of the aforementioned term. Here comes this young kid(at the time) rapping/glorifying a life of crime and violence when his entire life he's lived lavishly in multimillion-dollar homes. He completely fabricates his identity while mimicking his peers in the industry's songwriting styles in such a blatantly disrespectful and uneducated way that it inherently comes off as mockery(which it essentially is). "Lil Mabu" can do all this and still rise to the top of the charts, much faster than his black and brown counterparts that have been in the "rap game" for years. It's not like "Lil Mabu" is doing anything new and intuitive; he is just New York drill repackaged in America's favorite color. But that is also the thing: this life of crime and violence that many artists in the New York drill scene rap about in their music is not African American culture as so many tend to think. Instead, it's better defined as the industry's and the average consumer's "Idea" of African American culture. The axiom mentioned before is too simplistic and doesn't highlight the real issue. Rather, I think it's better said like this: "They love their concept of our culture; they don't love us." This is especially evident in how the average consumer interprets the drug use in rap culture; rather than hearing this apparent cry for help from the artists or seeing how this constant abuse of drugs is from all the trauma and pain in their lives and the systems set in place from our government have brought to them and their community. The average consumer (which is not limited to only "outsiders") interprets some message that makes them think this lifestyle is desirable or, for lack of a better term, "cool." Then, they will try to replicate this bastardized view of what they believe is our culture, subconsciously upholding stereotypes that only go on to further damage the "genuine culture" even more. One of the most abhorrent and prevalent thought patterns that have risen from this lack of media literacy and empathy is fetishism. One type I'm sure most readers have heard recently in some form or another is the term "Snow Bunnies." I think proud fetishes such as these are the proudest and in-your-face racism one can experience because they're not attracted to you specifically. They're attracted to the idea of you and the stereotypes surrounding your appearance. Even if it is entirely subconscious, it's still prejudice in one way or another, and the strongest emotion they will ever feel for your genuine self is lust. They never only date/prefer one race for any reason that doesn't involve a negative aspect or stereotype of your culture. Even in simple everyday interactions, the truth of the axiom, as mentioned above, is evident, for instance, in the misuse of AAVE( African-American Vernacular English). Often, the standard reasoning for being called out for this is to say in some form or another, "It's just slang; don't think about it too much." Ignoring the fact that these sayings that are denoted just as simple slang or "unprofessional" speech have a deep history in many communities, the misuse of these sayings is inherently a direct mockery of these communities while upholding implicit biases that AAVE is an uneducated form of standard american english even though true AAVE is a lot more grammatically correct than the standard American English taught in academia. It universally is more straightforward and easily decipherable for non-English speakers

Who are the perpetrators?

Honestly, I find a tremendous amount of typical social commentary slightly humorous; when it comes to social commentary, we can often assume, especially from the contextual standpoint of this article, that commentary tends to be simplified as an "outsider vs. insider" dilemma. But that can not be false when it comes to the romanticization of trauma because anyone and everyone can be equally apart of this issue; as black and brown people, we also romanticize prevalent problems in our communities just as what some might call "outsiders" do too, for example, prominent names in the industry such as Rick Ross and even up-and-coming underground artists like OsamaSon who have also fabricated their identity just as much as artists "Lil Mabu" have. Look at artists like Lucki vs. someone like OsamaSon. Sure, they both rap about drugs and violence, but assuming that they are the same is a vast understatement and overgeneralization of their music; when we listen to Lucki, he raps about the heartbreak in his life, the people he's lost, regrets from his actions in the past and present, essentially just all of the trauma he's accrued from living a lifestyle such as he does. All of the tribulations from past and present culminate to explain why he heavily abuses substances, more specifically, downers such as Codeine, Percocets, and Xanax. Lucki also conveys to the listener in his lyrics he doesn't want to be addicted to these substances. He continues to partake because of the many regrets and trauma in his life and from his choices; he abuses these substances as a coping mechanism. If the audience were to actually listen with empathy to his music/lyrics, nobody should want to replicate a lifestyle such as his. Then we have OsamaSon, and I could delve into his lyrics, but there is nothing of substance. He raps about gang violence even though he has been far from it all of his life for what? He has never lived a lifestyle like this. Still, artists like him who deem these issues as "cool" or their only way to "make it" in the industry are causing irreparable damage to the community just as much as the consumer who desires to replicate their "lifestyle." They are continuing the cycle of violence and substance in these impoverished communities where such issues have already been woven into their everyday life. They also contribute to why these issues have become increasingly more predominant in recent years. Influencing the generation after them to chase such destructive lifestyles, especially the impressionable kids in these communities who need proper role models in the industry and their "In-Person" lives to tell them and, most importantly, show them other ways to live. Still, all the available role models are regurgitating an abhorrent lifestyle and mindset that the community is already pursuing and has been, with no one to show the younger generations that there are other ways to live; this cycle of violence and substance abuse continues.

As a community, we need to stop supporting artists and people in our everyday lives who uphold such harmful and destructive stereotypes about our culture and our communities; such people are no different from those who use their race for traction and monetary gain in political sectors and are not better than industry executives who just want to get richer off the culture. Even artists who have lived in these impoverished areas get some form of traction and leave the community in the dust, never looking back or giving back. At the same time, They abuse and further destroy the culture and our communities for their own gain. The degradation of our culture, our children, and our speech is not just an insider and outsider issue. It's a humanity issue, and the only way to solve this significant issue is to unite and further the fantastic qualities of our cultures, support good influences for the youth, and especially leave behind the people who don't want to abstain from living such harmful and destructive lifestyles and upholding negative stereotypes.

Pullum, Geoffrey K. African American Vernacular English Is Not Standard English with Mistakes, 1999, web.stanford.edu/~zwicky/aave-is-not-se-with-mistakes.pdf.