But Little Richard’s self-regard is like no other’s, not even Kanye West’s. But no sensible person could assume he was bragging for himself alone. This was a country built upon robberies of all sorts. Here was this loud black man who, in his way, wouldn’t shut up about it. He became this emblem of taking justice into your hands when official channels fail, sounding alarms with gospel humor and some inadvertent rudeness (poor Jody Watley really had to wait).

Source: New York Times May 11, 2020 21:22 UTC