When a fellow student has a gun pulled on him by campus officers, and other Black Caucus members propose violence as an organized response, it is Coco who reminds them of what is really at stake. When it comes to individual moments of life and death, holding back is sometimes the best route to go. Obviously, respectability politics need to be resisted and critiqued; relying on respectability is not an organizing strategy for Black liberation. However, there isn’t a single Black person in America who doesn’t have to use them at some point in their life to get or keep a job, secure housing, be approved for a loan, or keep an officer calm enough not to shoot. And sure, none of this is foolproof, but navigating life in this way is a reality we can’t ignore. Coco’s reasons for keeping up appearances are both personal and political.