Abi

Day 34

The graffiti wasn't completely out yet.

I didn't want to go to school today but then my parents would know something was up. Am I a fake black person for not reporting her? For not standing up to Stephanie and Shay more? 

I'm not woke, am I?

I sighed, unable to concentrate in math class. Things will get worse if I do. The school will do nothing. If a cop shoots an unarmed black man for no reason, what makes you think this school will take racism and bullying seriously? Kiwi tried it and it didn't work for her.

Fatima nudged me to see if I was okay. I shrugged.

"Nina said she was gonna come back today. Have you heard from her since this morning?"

"She said she'd get here by lunch."

Lunch came and there she was, taking a nap at the table. "You good, sis?" She jumped and rubbed her eyes. "Hey guys. I'm fine, just tired. Turns out it wasn't the flu, just um...ate some bad sushi the day before. But tell me what happened yesterday."

We gave her all of the information and she listened in horror. "Abi, are you sure you don't want to tell the principal?"

"The school wouldn't do anything. I have no proof that she did any of the things."

"Yeah, a white girl's word against hers," Fatima said.

"Well, I got your back, Abi."

"Me, too."

"Aw, thanks guys. By the way, here's the money from the date outfit. Can't thank you guys enough--"

I felt arms wrap around my head. Victor planted a kiss on my forehead and I slightly smiled. "What's up? I thought those made you smile."

"They do, it's just--I'm feeling blue today." He sat down next to me and felt my forehead. "Tell me about it."

I looked at Nina and Fatima, then back at Victor. I didn't want to bother him with my problems...not right now. "Just...having one of those days. That's all."

"You sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

"Mhm."

"You suuurreee?"

My friends giggled. "Yeeesss, I'm sure." 

"Hm. Okay. Your hair looks nice." He started touching my megabomb cornrows. "It better. It took three hours for my mom to do it. These baby hairs have to stay laid."

"Baby hairs aren't that hard to control," he said.

"Speak for yourself, Mister 3B Hair," I said while running my hands through his hair, "But us type 4 people struggle a bit more."

"I'm sorry, type what?" Nina asked.

"Oh, hair types determine hair texture. Nina, your hair is pin straight, so it would be type 1a. Fatima, your hair is pretty wavy, so it would be type 2b. Victor's hair is curly but coily, so his hair is type 3b. My hair is the kinkiest, so I'm type 4c."

"Ah! So the higher the number and letter, the tighter the strands?"

"Exatamente." 

I looked over at Stephanie and Shay's table, everybody else's voices draining in my thoughts. They were talking with the popular crowd and she looked over at me. I quickly looked away, turning my attention to my friends and boyfriend. 

"Abi?"

"Huh? Sorry, what were we talking about?"

"Every person of color's favorite topic; cultural appropriation," Nina told me.

"Mhm. Examples include Jeffree Star putting a deeeeeep tan on Nikita Dragun--"

"Blackface," Vic and I said simultaneously then we gave each other a high five.

"Katy Perry wearing a kimono during one of her AMA performances...blecch...and Gigi Hadid wearing a hijab on the cover of Vogue Arabia--"

"That one is tricky, though, because...well, A) wearing a headscarf does not automatically mean Islam and B) she's half Arab....but she's not even vocal for Palestinians," Fatima said.

"So, basically, she might be using Arab culture for her benefit but nobody can really determine that because of her heritage. Nikita Dragun totally did blackface."

"Totally blackface."

"It's not a tan. It's blackface and it's racist."

"If Jeffree Star wanted a black makeup model, there's a certain somebody named Muva Doll. He's black and the KOH; King of Highlight!" Fatima said. 

"Right but what black person would even consider working with Star after that MySpace video and those anti-black tweets...what person of color would consider working with him?"

"Both Jeffree and Katy 'apologized' for being racist. I don't buy it nor do I care because you know what? POC's have made it clear to them that what they've been doing is racist and they continued to do it. Racist people just like to do and say racist things but don't want to be labeled as racist."

"And people supporting or defending them don't like to be labeled as supporting racists. If you do something mega inappropriate, then you are that type of person and if you defend a person's inappropriate behavior, then you support those types of people. You can't have your cake and eat it, too--hey, look over there." Victor beckoned at the lunch line. It was Kiwi. She didn't look too good. Who would, after that. A girl walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. They hugged and the girl paid for Kiwi's lunch. 

She looked at me and gave me a slight smile. The girl beckoned at me and said something. Kiwi nodded and they walked over to us.

"You Abidemi Dias?" she asked me.

"Yeah."

"I'm Tausa'afia Kawai."

"T-Tau--"

"Tah-ooh-sah-ah-fee-ah, leader of the SBHSFPOCNCAC: Stony Brook High School's Feminist, People of Color and Non-Christians Activist Club. Pleased to meet you." Tausa'afia held her hand out to shake my hand. "Oh...pleased to meet you."

"I heard you stuck up for my friend, Kiwidinok, here. We gotta stick together--"

"Tausa'afia, 'Kiwi' is just fine--"

"'If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka,' said by the one and only Uzoamaka Aduba. I think all three of us know what it's like to have an ethnic name that's difficult to pronounce."

"That's true. People used to call me Abigail in elementary and middle school. Your name isn't even that hard to pronounce uh..Tau--"

"Tausa'afia. You'll get it, don't worry. Anyway, I came here to ask if you guys would like to join our club?"

"Join your club? How many members are there?"

"Ah, well...it's just us two but the principal approved it! Plus, I guess you could say it's an Anti-Racist club aka Anti-Stephanie club because she's racist but our club would never get approved if we called it that."

"You're right. We do hate Stephanie because she's racist. What about Shay?"

"Shay is her right-hand woman, her yes woman, the beta. She's racist, too, but just to be a suck up to Stephanie...the Desi Piscatella of Stony Brook High School. Our meeting is after school today in room 104, if you're interested in joining us."