Dear Trevor Noah,
My name is Alake Imo and I am a Freshman at Brooklyn Technical High School; my English class read an excerpt from your memoir/autobiography “Born a Crime'' (“Chameleon”)- it really meant a lot to me. I never thought of things from that perspective, because I never had to, it was never presented to me in a manner of importance, nor relevance; the educational system never taught me to think/care about things that didn’t affect me personally- ‘if it doesn’t matter to America, then does it matter at all? If it doesn’t affect us, then why should it be taught?’ was always the status quo of the institutions of American education. Many, are never taught about enslavement (whether it be the enslavement of Native Americans, or the enslavement of Africans, etc.), if it can be bypassed, then it usually is and that is why I wanted to read your book- it made me think about apartheid and institionalized slavery from a different perspective, it made me see it as a person, which allows for a different type of loathing, a loathing that doesn’t allow for detachment, nor ignorance. So, I requested to read your entire memoir and thereby alter our entire curriculum, and my class voted, and we chose to allow for the creation of new perspectives that will one day help us change the world- except for this one kid, but it was only because you used cursed words, but I assessed that I would forever be in a state of delusion of the world around me, if I did not read your book, so I just skipped over them. The gift of life changing literature that nourishes your soul, heart and mind is truly an extraordinary gift that comes around once in a blue moon. I loved your book and my favorite chapters were the love stories- which is surprising, because I don’t even like romantic novels, or anything like that, but when you were telling us those stories, man, I was in there- I was present! I was getting excited, hyping you up, screaming “HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!” I was there- especially for part two, because that, that was brutal, that was tragic- I needed a break after that. Like, we were just doing so good and then- well, I’m sure you know the story. Those three stories (apart from their powerful messages) made me go through it and I know that this is becoming entirely informal, but I just have to say, at some point, I was just like: “this is despair, this is sadness- this is heartbreak. How could this happen- w-why?! Honestly, why though, what does one have to do for God to just let this happen? I have never seen such phenomenal highs, be crushed so easily in an instant, my gosh.” You have a gift. I’ve never seen an author legitimately articulate such a complex subject, as apartheid, in three sentences alone. You are truly remarkable! Though my class has not finished reading your book, I have and I want to share with you a previous homework assignment about quotes that mean a lot to us and that shape, or even re-shape who we are (I quoted the entirety of pages 19 and 20, so I am going leave my response alone/not insert the quote): “Three sentences put apartheid into perspective for me; it never seemed so direct and clear, but I think that I finally understand the “general thrust of it.” “To the same group of people[,] at the same time.” Other than the obvious realizations, this quote helped me truly understand and internalize the hypocrisy that is the American mindset: why is it that we either think that Africa is all violence and poverty, lots and lots of violence and a smidge of poverty, or we just accept that others think that Africa is the epitome of poverty and violence (we don’t do anything about that)? Africa’s violence is a lot like America’s, ours is just more organized. We likely will not slash you in the middle of the street, in broad daylight, but, if we wanted you dead, we would prefer hiring a hitman/hitwoman- it takes the blood off of our hands- less guilt and repercussions, in the end; the only difference is that in Africa, it is more likely that if someone wanted to kill you, you would be dead and the police wouldn’t really care- in America, the police are the ones killing you, but in Africa, they just get paid to do that- and whose fault is that? Well, that’s another similarity between Africa and America- it’s colonizers and their, “ways.”” Those are the some of my biggest take aways from your work of art: apartheid in persepctive, the hypocrisy of the American mindset, the realization that all of the world’s problems usually start with ‘colonizers’ and then expand into far greater/things that become institionalized and systematic, etc.. You made me think about the entire idea of perspective in a new light- in a more personal, rather than detached perspective/being; I stopped treating such situations as something that I am not a part of and more so as problems that I chose to ignore/detach myself from, therefore making me a part of the problem. It’s not that I didn’t think that it didn’t matter, I just treated it with an American mindset and therefore concluded that unless we go to war against a system, that country and its neighbors should destroy it- we're on the other side of the world and we have our own problems- people of African descendants are getting murdered twice week here and there are already petitions, posts, news articles about what’s going on over there- plus, this is not my responsibility (though I know that it is my responsibility as a human being to end systems that suppress, I’m trying to fight the problems at homebase first), isn’t this what the United Nations is for? To unite people, especially in the face of oppression? How ignorant was I, to never consider, that they were the ones that created it and therefore never wished to put an end to it; though, I was not surprised. Part two was my favorite part of your autobiography, because of various, intricate reasons, one of them being that I considered an unconscious practice that, upon further investigation, I realize that it was a matter of deeper perspective seeking, rather than the truth. I pondered upon the possibility of being a person that has befriended someone, but was never truly their friend (like those high schoolers in “Outsider”), because it was more so out of convenience and circumstance, than it was out of friendship.. I climbed deep and found nothing short of nothing to solidify such a belief about myself, but whilst contemplating my unconscious behavior in past circumstances, I realized that I was distancing myself away from the truth of it all: that was me, for the majority of my charter school experience. I was the chameleon. Charter schools ran by white supremacists are a tough place to be at, especially when you’ve been a Private School Kid your entire life and now you’re being faced with drug dealers that are definitely not graduating, but you don’t want to feel lonely, so you befriend the less insane, but after you’re out, you can finally admit that you never even liked them and that you just didn’t want to sit alone. So yeah, chameleons are cool. You taught me a lot about the hood! Like, a lot, and I’ll never forget about what you taught me. You also taught me, and showed me, an entirely new literary writing style that is comprised of serious situations told in a comedic fashion- and I loved it, to a degree. I still feel guilty for laughing at certain parts, but, that one chapter, about a certain person, was hilarious and I will never feel guilty about laughing at that entire ‘situation.’ On a completely different note, I completely agree about what you said about the eradications of history and how documentation is a way to tier them (though tiering them undermines others completely/if we absolutely had to tier them, documentation would be a good way to do so). The entire dynamic of it all, was surprising to me- I didn’t expect not a thing that you said. Everything, everything, was engulfing, tragic, a storm. It allowed me to see another side of apartheid and how it was “perfect racsim.” It can’t possibly get any worse, I hope, but I know, that somehow, some way, they always find a way to up their game, so we must destroy it and its institutions and its systems and its being as a whole; we must destroy racism. Of the many sentimentals, one of the greatest that you taught me on an entirely different level, was that you should never give up. That perseverance even in some of the darkest of situations builds character and makes stories that empower and provoke (good trouble). ‘Cause your mother persevered, you are who you are and get to tell me your phenomenal story and I just want to say, thank you (to your mom). Please come to my school and talk to us! That would be beyond incredible and fantastic!!!!! We can set up a Zoom Meeting! Also, your birthday is tomorrow!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! Thank you. Thank you for telling your story. I really loved your book; it changed my life. Thank you and happy birthday! Have a Blessed Birthday and Thank You Tremendously, Alake
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