They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Abdurraqib describes watching fireworks shows just before the murder acquittal of George Zimmerman and the death of Eric Garner. In 2015, fireworks coincided with the death of Renisha McBride, the desecration of Black churches in the South, and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people. In parentheses, Abdurraqib includes some of Gaye’s lyrics alongside images of Black resistance, community, and joy.

Abdurraqib considers the performativity of both professional wrestling and rap. Though wrestler Ric Flair came from humble origins, the image he presented to the public was one of ostentatious wealth and glamor; by contrast, his fellow wrestler and rival Dusty Rhodes framed himself as a working-class hero. Abdurraqib considers the different variations on the American Dream these men embodied in their wrestling personas—a “living dream” versus “the possibility of dreaming larger” (125). For Abdurraqib, growing up in poverty, the former was more appealing; he recalls buying all the luxury shoes he saw famous rappers wearing as soon as he could afford them.

Abdurraqib analyzes a single moment in basketball history—Allen Iverson, then a rookie, playing Michael Jordan in 1996. Iverson had a rocky past and finished his high school career in a juvenile detention center. He was known to be passionate and to skip practice.