What Happened to Our Blackness? Wokeness Under Siege in the Age of Pop Culture

The era of Black wokeness and stardom feels dimmed—burdened by pretension, dysfunction, and a dismantling of sensibility, nobility, and pride. Our ancestors broke free from bondage of body and mind. By their sacrifice, we inherited a path toward freedom, light, and authenticity—toward being unapologetically our full selves.

So I ask, for my friends who are parents of small children, teens, and young adults: when did our collective “wokeness” get bent into the false promise of social media stardom—where influencers thrive on spectacle, while showing little regard for the moral, social, or communal norms that once held us accountable?

And let me add a smile here—I know I’m not a Gen X or Gen Z insider with the mental currency to decode every cultural explosion that scrolls across a screen. Before the haters hate, do appreciate that I’m not oblivious to pop culture. I’m just generationally challenged. Call it baby boomer talk—said with both love and bewilderment.

Lil Nas X, once relatively unknown to the wider public, rose to stardom through a carefully orchestrated mix of identity, controversy, and marketing spectacle. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, with their hyper-sexualized performances and explicit lyrics, are crowned as queens of culture. Lizzo—undeniably talented—is too often celebrated less for her artistry than for the spectacle of body politics attached to her image.

“Is it his musical talent, or the way his sexuality has been packaged as spectacle, that drives the attention? The artistry is tangled up with a marketing machine that thrives on provocation.”

Nicki Minaj deserves a dubious award for how her vaccine commentary went viral.

Cardi B has turned sexual bravado into her lyrical brand, with WAP functioning as a cultural flashpoint—and, troublingly, as unfiltered curriculum for young listeners.

Lizzo Bares Almost All in See-Through Mesh Gown for Cardi B's Birthday Party
All the rumors are true: Lizzo showed up to Cardi B's 29th birthday in a completely see-through mesh gown. See the “Good as Hell” singer’s bold look below.

A picture may paint a thousand words, but all I saw was naked, wrapped in a sheer sheet. Do you see what I see? Maybe it’s a generational thing, but for me the look felt more raw than regal, more unsavory than iconic. I’m no prude—far from it—but there’s a difference between bold and bare.

And yet, in true pop-culture fashion, the headlines framed it as an “iconic moment,” glowing with praise. The article even ends on a high note, showering Cardi B with love from fans and celebs—Halle Berry herself tweeting, “Happy birthday to this sweet sweet soul.” Cardi’s fangirl response (“Imagine Halle Berry wishing you happy birthday? Like omgg”) almost made me forget that the night’s most unforgettable image wasn’t the cake or the candles—it was the mesh.There was also no shortage of love for the rapper as fans, friends and other celebs, including Halle Berry, showered her with birthday wishes. "Happy birthday to this sweet sweet soul," Berry tweeted. "Hope you have the most beautiful day @iamcardib." The actress' message did not go unnoticed by Cardi.

So maybe this is just me—side-eyeing the mesh gown like the relic the younger generation swears I am. Call it boomer talk, call it generational lag, but I can’t help contrasting all the noise of spectacle with the steadiness of something deeper.

And where I land is here: the words of the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. A verse that refuses to be dated, no matter how many hashtags or headlines rise and fall:

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

At the heart of all these shifts, I return to the words of Lift Every Voice and Sing, the Black National Anthem. They remind us that before the spectacle, before the brand, before the algorithms and the headlines, there was a people claiming dignity, resilience, and hope. The meaning of the Black National Anthem rests in sacrifice and the overcoming of chains past. My hope is that we continue to see ourselves as models of resilience and greatness—not swooned by caricatures of fame or the applause of spectacle, but grounded in the truth of who we are.