In the world today, we have finally been forced to realize the humanity of Black Americans in very real ways. Until the great cultural awakening of 2020, an homage to the martyrdom of George Floyd, our society has always viewed the independence and strength of Black people as having a place, a calculated tolerance to how brash or forward we could be. As a self-proclaimed rebel, I have always disagreed with this notion.

Unchecked Blackness has always been problematic to majority society.

I thought it was critical to allow that sentence to live by itself. It is that important, but it is also essential to understand that we have defined Blackness for decades based on what is and is not counter to majority society. It is my belief that this is fallacy. Considering that the most potent export of America is the cultural influence that Black Americans have shared across the globe. We are the tastemakers and the definers of cool around the world and thus we have to find a new definition of success that fits our prominence.

In 2019, Hip-Hop became the most consumed musical genre worldwide, which means that what used to be counterculture is now mainstream. Tik Tok does not thrive without our music and our rhythm. Dapper Dan went from knocking off luxury brands in the 80s and 90s to being a premier brand ambassador. Clubhouse reached an incredible billion dollar valuation so quickly after launch because of the social capital that was gained by our Black voices joining the space. We have arrived on the global stage in ways that we could not fathom in yesteryear. We have earned our inalienable right to define ourselves for ourselves while only answering to ourselves.

In Resist Every Bias on Every Level, a rebel (n) is defined as an individual who reflects on their cultural, historical, and social status and through that interpretation pursues autonomy from stereotypical outcomes. By definition, it is safe to say several things: 1) a rebel is a person who is self-aware; 2) a rebel embarks upon a journey of self-definition and; 3) a rebel self-determines their life outcomes. With these revelations in mind, we have to take a deeper look at what makes us, as Black people, amazingly unique in our society and throughout the world.

Bishop T.D. Jakes wrote something amazingly revealing about the Black experience when we declared, “we entered into the American dream while still in the deep sleep of an African nightmare.” An incredible juxtaposition, he exposes that we were not considered when the American dream was imagined. That we had to learn to define humanity and imagine community with deliberate opposition from majority culture while overcoming horrific manifestations of unchecked power i.e. conditions of slavery, lynching, prison industrial complex, police brutality, and the list goes on.

There is not a single hour that passes where we, Black Americans, do not feel (though we may choose to ignore it) the reality of our Blackness and what that means in the prism of our complex history. This is why James Baldwin proclaimed that, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” But alas, we have undeniably contributed more to building and molding American society through our ingenuity, innovation, and inventions than all others regardless who reaped the benefits.

“Is fame not the tastiest morsel of our self-love?” This quote comes from Friedrich Nietzsche, but beautifully captures the complexity of where Black people have found the most success per capita — in entertainment and sports. But there is something much deeper than just simply dribbling a basketball or singing a song. It does not talk about the refinement process to perfect one’s craft. In many cases, there were others who had more natural talent, but were not fortunate enough to escape the disillusionment of self-doubt or the hazards of growing up Black in majority Black spaces. The reality is that it only takes one mistake to change your entire life in our unforgiving society.

Jay-Z once remarked that, “the genius thing we did was didn’t give up,” and I would counter that the fortunate thing is that he never got caught like thousands of others did. This is the reality for so many of us who have been able to succeed in various professional endeavors and industries where making it out of our circumstance is more than half the journey. I was blessed to have sterling examples, an iron fist, and a praying grandmother to guide and protect me on my journey to become the man I am today. So many others were not so fortunate and we can never forget that, but I digress.

It is always important to remember that we started in 1865 with almost nothing while being completely separated from our cultural forebears. We were forced to self-define who we are, our value system, and the norms that we would pass along. Our legacy is one of passion and perseverance while we setup the next generation for even more success. Thus, today we have to be able to give our babies a brave new outlook on life and our place in society. By all means we have to acknowledge and appreciate the traumas that we have endured while in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, but we have to be able to narrate our own stories.

Re-definition is the opportunity that lies before Black America today in 2021. But that doesn’t happen without two things: celebrating the resilience of our past and reclaiming the value in our creative genius. This is the essence of what it means to be a rebel in this world. It is accepting the beauty from whence you come and honoring their sacrifice by continuing our fight. A fight for equity, for humanity, for absolution, for recompense, and for self-love.

That is why with REBEL, we share the permanence, persistence, and power of being Black and brilliant in America. It is root of the unspoken language we have among each other — our culture. We all remember when JJ was shot on Good Times or when the Fresh Prince cried into Uncle Phil’s arms or the first time we heard Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . It is through the celebration of our creative prowess that we chart a path toward inspiring the generations to come. It is our greatest resource and our most formidable weapon to control what the world believes about us.

To be Black and successful is an act of rebellion — a conscious decision to define self and resolve to make the world better because you lived. The late great prophet Nipsey Hussle put it like this:

“See it’s a couple n***** every generation/ That wasn’t supposed to make it out, but decode the Matrix/ And when they get to speak, it’s like a coded language/ Reminds n***** of all their strength and all the stolen greatness.”

The author of this article, Carlton R. Collins is an activist with The Heights Movement, author of Resist Every Bias on Every Level, & an entrepreneur focused on education and minority business.