For me, personally, this was amazing. When I was in high school at Crow Creek, SD, I had the opportunity to go to a youth enrichment program in journalism called "Crazy Horse Journalism Workshop" in Paha Sapa.

I was young, so I'm forgetting some details, but I remember presenters introducing Mark Trahant to speak at the end of the workshop. I didn't just notice his accolades, degrees, and accomplishments, but the sense of fight and community-mindset that his work had been in. Then, they showed the crowd a clip of him asking President George W. Bush what sovereignty means in today's world, something that exposed the president's igonrance of this dire concept for Indigenous Nations. It gave me something to look up to in my line of work. For many years, I thought of myself to become a journalist, only to find later that I don't blend with the laws of written english very well.

What brought me so much validation (aside from being interviewed by someone I was so inspired by at a young age), was what was said after our interview. In speaking with Mark, he said something along the lines, "I wanted to say, too, that hip hop is a form of journalism."

I am so glad I stayed continuing to make art even though I've wanted to give up so many times.