In childhood, one of the first stories that Chika really connected with was that of Ruby Bridges, who was the first African-American student to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. As Chika told Business of Fashion, she could relate to the feeling of being unjustly discriminated.
"I remember seeing the image of her escorted in by the cops," Chika said. "Five police officers with a small-ass girl and there's like white kids and white families just jeering and throwing insults at them. I think that's when I, being like a little black girl as well who was currently the same age as she was . . . I saw myself reflected in that. I think that's when I began to realise, like, 'Oh they don't like us here.' I'm like, 'That's okay. Got it.'"