This “Hip Hop History” section challenged my preconceptions and opinions on homophobia and queerness in hip hop. The chapter, “It’s All One”, by Kalamka and West, did a notable job of discussing and rebuking the argument stating that hip hop is a major issue/threat to the queer community, despite its reputation of it being a main contributor. I thought the portion of the chapter that discussed exactly why and in what context hip hop artists are known to use homophobic slurs was interesting because it shed light on an important point. The hip hop community appears to “talk the talk” of being an intolerant and homophobic community through their hip hop but doesn’t “walk the walk”. Shouting homophobic slurs in hip hop music is a common practice- almost a rite of passage to establish their manhood and to be taken seriously in their craft, but, “…in reality, you love your lesbian mother or look out for your baby brother or cousin who you know ain’t never had a girlfriend.” (203) Does this mean that, in this context, these slurs are okay? No, of course not. However, it does speak to the problematic trend there seems to be in the United States of blaming poor and nonwhite individuals for the country’s homophobia, and placing them in charge of the movement to eradicate these issues. Towards the end of this chapter, they began to touch on the fact that gay and straight hip hop alliances are a lot more common than the public is made aware of. I was surprised, yet excited, to learn that the hip hop community is more of an ally to the queer community than I had originally believed. I would love to learn more about this and to discuss some examples of this unexpected alliance.