This. This simple, respectful acknowledgment of a part of our language is a real moment for me. I’ve always been a lover of words. I keep a word journal to this day (I started my junior year of high school). Words make you feel. And there’s nothing like a lil AAVE to add some funk to your sentences.
On behalf of the Black Delegation, I accept these flowers. I don’t look at this as an approval, we’ve never needed approval. Instead, I see it as a welcomed (albeit late) celebration of how spectacular and multifaceted we are. Welcome to the party non Black folks!!! There is so much more where that came from! We are fun, brilliant, dynamic, trend setting, forces of nature. I’m a whole Black unicorn out in these streets, betta ask somebody!
Television, film, marketing, fashion, social media, music, cuisine, you name it—all influenced by Black culture. Historically, we have received backlash and judgment for using AAVE. As if we have less intellect for using slang. Uneducated. Uncouth. But, then white companies will gladly use said vernacular to sell their products. Take a scroll through TikTok and see the power of Black cultural influence. It’s phenomenal.
This monumental moment has given me high hopes. I need my iPhone to stop autocorrecting ‘’finna’’ to ‘’gonna’’ now! Where’s my update Apple? I know what I type iPhone. I get tired of cussing my phone out for autocorrecting words I type to words I don’t intend to use. Anytime now, APPLE. I code switch in real life and via text. Respect the culture! I can’t wait for finna to be the dictionary.com word of the day. What a time to be alive! #finna #mtm #getintoit
