I recently came across a disturbing quote from a Black male influencer. He said something along the lines of:
“Black excellence is a way to dumb down Black people to fit into the white man’s world instead of focusing on Black power.”
Now, I’m not going to call out the brother by name—because who he is isn’t the issue.
I’m writing this because of the many comments under that post—young people, and even some older ones—who co-signed that message. In a time where artificial intelligence, automation, and rising costs are changing the future of work and wealth, Black communities can’t afford to drift. We need direction, not distraction. We need blueprints, not buzzwords.
Misled by what I call the “Black intelligentsia word salad.” Long, poetic statements that sound deep but lack grounding in truth, strategy, or historical context.
The Scriptures warned us about this: false prophets, smooth talkers, and magicians who mislead the people while sounding righteous.
So let me make it plain:
Black excellence is not a tool of white supremacy. It’s the very foundation of Black power.
We can’t demand power while we reject the discipline it takes to build it.
We aren’t owed power just because we’ve been oppressed—we have to organize, strategize, and excel to reclaim it. Yes, the system is rigged. Yes, access has been denied. But that’s exactly why we can’t afford to be average. Oppression doesn’t excuse mediocrity—it demands mastery.
How can we talk about Black power when we lack Black excellence?
We’re not walking in strategic, institutional, economic, moral, community, family, or political excellence—and that’s the real issue. There are those that will disagree because of the circles they might be in, but look at the Black community as a whole. Study the reports done by Black think tanks. Like it or not, we have yet to step up to the excellence that our Black scholars advised us to embrace in order to achieve full independence as a people at every level of our economic endeavors. We also can’t overlook cultural excellence—because media, music, and entertainment shape how we see ourselves. If we don’t take control of our narratives, someone else will continue defining us.
We celebrate visibility but reject structure. We’re loud online but quiet in real life.
But real power isn’t given. It’s built. It’s protected. And it’s earned through excellence.
Let’s be clear—Black excellence isn’t new. We’ve just become a generation raised on clips and reels, addicted to quick takes, and too distracted to read or study.
If we did, we’d know the blueprint has already been laid.
Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Claude Anderson, Dr. Amos Wilson—they all said the same thing in different ways:
When Black people commit to being our best—intellectually, economically, spiritually, and institutionally—that’s how we build real Black power.
And nobody articulated that better than Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who is often overlooked as the man who actually coined the term “Black Power.” Before it became a chant in the streets, Powell used it to define a political and cultural vision rooted in self-determination, dignity, and justice.
He once said:
“Black is beautiful. That is beautiful. Black power means dignity. It means we gotta walk side by side with you or through y’all. We’re gonna be with dignity and integrity. We don’t want any more than you have. And we’re not gonna accept any less than you have.”
That’s not assimilation—that’s sovereignty. That’s not performance—that’s purpose.
That’s not fitting in—it’s standing firm.
If you really want to understand Black Power beyond slogans, you must turn to the work of Dr. Amos N. Wilson, whose Blueprint for Black Power clearly and courageously lays it out.
Wilson wrote:
“Power is the ability to define reality and to have other people respond to your definition as if it were their own.”
For Wilson, Black Power is not symbolic—it’s structural, institutional, economic, and psychological. It’s the power to produce, protect, and provide. It’s the authority to define your reality and control the systems that shape your people’s lives.
But here’s the catch—and Wilson was clear about this:
In order to achieve that kind of power, you must carry out your program, your vision, your agenda with excellence.
No ignorant, disorganized, undisciplined group can pull that off.
Black Power requires discipline in its highest form. It demands precision. Strategy. Patience. Sacrifice.
That’s what excellence really is—not perfection, but commitment to mastery.
And that’s exactly what many of these so-called influencers miss. They downplay excellence as assimilation, when in fact, it’s the only path to sovereignty.
So to those being misled by this false idea that excellence is a trap or a white standard—understand this:
Anyone telling you we don’t need to be excellent in everything we do to achieve power is either confused or working for the white power structure, whether they realize it or not.
Because the system doesn’t fear our hashtags—it fears our standards.
It fears Black people who are disciplined, organized, and unapologetically excellent.
Black power begins when excellence becomes the norm, not the exception.
If we don’t raise the bar, we’ll continue to fall for lies that lower our potential.
It’s time to stop performing. It’s time to build.
Because without excellence, Black power is just a slogan.
#BlackExcellence #BlackPower #SovereigntyMindset #AdamClaytonPowell #AmosWilson #WeAreTheStandard #NoMoreWordSalad
