Stay Woke, Move Deliberately

Let’s get one thing straight: we can’t keep patting ourselves on the back for showing up. Showing up ain’t the summit. Our grandparents did their thing in the ’30s and ’40s with what they had. Respect that. But that era is done. Over. We’re in a new lane now. Black Americans are showing up, showing out, and excelling in every field. The problem? When “success” turns into side-eye and shade, and “failure” becomes a crown, we’ve lost the plot.

So here’s what got me fired up today: a podcast about voting and policy. Host gets asked, “What do you do if you don’t understand the ballot?” And he says, “I skip it.”

Excuse me? No. Absolutely not. In 2025, skipping is sabotage. You don’t duck. You read. You ask. You press. Those who study, who verify, who understand,,,they run the world. Everyone else? Sleepwalking, scratching their heads, and blaming the system later.

Then they hit a gem about schooling. Kids cruise through with A’s and B’s, get to college, and struggle in freshman math. Not because they’re lazy. No, ma’am. Because the system lied. Grade inflation. Push-through policies. Charters cashing in. Kids called “brilliant” while being set up to fail. Fraud, wrapped in glitter.

And us grown folks? Some of us doing the same thing. Skipping the hard reads, shrugging at policy, celebrating bare minimum survival. One host even bragged about a 1.5 GPA and being proud just to pass the test. Newsflash: surviving isn’t thriving. Surviving is settling.

We have to call this cycle what it is: mundane living disguised as progress. Playing small, refusing discomfort, and wondering why the same politicians, the same families, and the same outdated power structures keep running the show.

The problem? It’s not just “them.” It’s us. Us refusing to learn. Us refusing to elevate leaders with vision. Us clinging to outdated loyalty and petty divides instead of building real progress.

Freedom isn’t nostalgia. Freedom isn’t complaining Freedom is action. Understanding. Teaching our kids critical thought. Planting leaders who build, not just flex titles. Freedom is discipline, accountability, and strategy.

What we need is structure.