One of my favorite—that’s sarcasm—thing about being Black is seeing/watching others make assumptions of what Blackness is or do things to place us into the “box” they think we should fit in. For example, I count the number of times that non-Black Uber drivers turn on rap music when I—a whole Black, queer man—enter their cars; it’s often more likely than not that someone does. I’m not always mad at it because I love a good 90’s R&B or rap hit like the next person yet I question why. I also get folks calling me “brother/brutha” or “family” at every turn. That shit is weird to me. I don’t know folks, we ain’t family.

I only know of my experiences and identities, of course, so I can’t speak of others but do others have the same things happen to them? I am genuinely curious.