'No, I don't know every black person on campus'

Eurie Dessie and Kpojo Kparyea don't want to be labeled as "angry black women." So how do they respond when they're asked if they eat fried chicken and drink Kool-Aid? Or if they know every black person on campus?

Or how about when a restaurant manager asked Dessie to "go clean it like your ancestors did."

"I wish I went off!" Dessie said.

Dessie and Kparyea talk about staying calm in the face of racism and microaggressions.

Kpojo Kparyea and Eurie Dessie were interviewed in Seattle by the University of Washington Center for Communication, Difference and Equity. The interview is provided courtesy of StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is "to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world."