The Power of Black Art: Using Music and Creativity to Heal and Elevate

Omar Cook Performs “Spiritual War”

By: Omar Cook

Art is powerful. Every note, every lyric, every visual we put into the world carries energy. As Black artists, we hold a unique platform to influence minds, hearts, and culture. Unfortunately, mainstream Black entertainment has often been steered toward negative agendas—glorifying sex, drugs, and materialism—rather than uplifting, healing, or inspiring. This imagery and messaging aren’t harmless; they shape how people think, feel, and act.

Music is spiritual. It affects the soul whether we acknowledge it or not. When hate, destruction, or death are the themes we amplify, that energy is released into the world, and eventually it comes back to us. Every song, every performance is a choice. It doesn’t have to be gospel or a political speech, but it should be intentional. Ask yourself: Does what I’m creating benefit others? Does it uplift, heal, or inspire, or does it add to the destruction of our people?

The youth feel the impact the most. They attend concerts, watch videos, and consume music on a massive scale. They are receiving this energy, absorbing it, and it becomes part of the environment they grow up in. As artists, we have a responsibility to be conscious of that influence. The music we create isn’t just entertainment; it’s shaping the mindset and spirit of generations.

Promoting positive, high-vibrational artistry starts with us as creators. It starts with being a catalyst for change and holding ourselves accountable for the legacy we leave behind. I want my art to exist as a source of healing, growth, relatability, and inspiration—something that gives people strength to keep going despite life’s challenges. That is the power of intention in art.

But the responsibility isn’t only on artists. As consumers, we also hold power. Where we put our energy—what we stream, share, and support—determines which artists rise and which messages dominate culture. Supporting artists who inspire and uplift is just as important as creating that content.

The shift starts now. It’s time to check ourselves, both as creators and as audiences. Black entertainment can evolve. Our art can carry the vibration of hope, love, and unity. Our legacies can be measured not only by hits and streams but by the healing and inspiration we leave behind. The question is simple: what energy do you want to leave on this planet, and how will your gifts serve the people?

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From Empowerment to Exploitation: How Companies and Culture Exploit the Word | Oped

When Empowerment Becomes Exploitation

Photo Credit: pixelfit via iStockPhoto.com

By: Jamila Gomez

Empowerment is everywhere. Companies claim they empower employees. Brands promise their products empower women. The word saturates ad campaigns, annual reports, and hashtags. But the more it circulates, the more hollow it becomes. Too often, what’s sold as empowerment is exploitation dressed in affirmations—demanding more while insisting you should be grateful for the chance.

The workplace is the clearest case. Employers boast about empowering staff with “flexibility” or encouraging “ownership.” In practice, flexibility means being reachable at all hours, and ownership translates into absorbing responsibilities without pay, support, or decision-making power. You’re told you’re being empowered to grow while your job quietly expands into what used to be two jobs. Autonomy becomes a brand name for overwork.

Consumer culture runs the same play. A fashion label celebrates “empowered women” in glossy ads while underpaying women of color who sew its garments under unsafe conditions. Wellness companies sell supplements, apps, and retreats as tools for empowerment, telling you peace is a purchase away. The burden lands on individuals to buy, optimize, and “fix” themselves, while the forces driving their stress—precarious wages, long hours, unaffordable housing—stay untouched.

The gig economy perfected the script. Platforms talk about empowering workers to “be their own boss,” but what many actually get is fluctuating pay, opaque algorithms, and the risks of employment without protections. The freedom to choose your hours often means stitching together income across multiple apps with no benefits. Again, the language elevates choice while the structure limits it.

This rhetoric doesn’t merely mislead; it relocates accountability. If you don’t feel empowered, the diagnosis becomes personal: you didn’t lean in, hustle harder, manifest correctly, or maintain the right mindset. Structural barriers fade from view, shielded by uplifting copy. Meanwhile, the people with the least control over their time and safety are told to self-improve their way out of systems designed to exhaust them.

Real empowerment is not a slogan. It is structural. It looks like fair wages, predictable schedules, safe workplaces, paid leave, and accessible healthcare. It means transparent advancement, independent recourse for harm, and a voice with teeth—unions, worker councils, tenant protections.

We should retire the applause lines and adopt testable questions: Who decides? Who benefits? Who bears the risk? How quickly can harm be remedied, and by whom? If the answers still point up the chain, that’s not empowerment—it’s marketing. Power that can be taken away without due process or a collective say was never power to begin with.

If institutions are serious, they should stop using empowerment as camouflage and ask harder questions: Are we shifting control to the people most affected, or simply rebranding extraction? Until “empowerment” is tied to actual power—time you can protect, money you can live on, safety you can trust—it will remain a flattering mask.

And masks, no matter how inspirational the slogan across them, cannot clean the air we’re forced to breathe. Real empowerment changes the air. Everything else is costume.

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Blue Meridian Partners Donates $124 Million to HBCU Alliance

The President of Norfolk State University, Javaune Adams-Gaston, mentions that the institution frequently lacks the resources required for significant large-scale projects. (JEMAL COUNTESS/GETTY IMAGES FOR MIGHTY DREAM FORUM)

By: Gentel Sharrie

Donations are pouring in to transform 40 historically Black colleges and universities with the goal of supporting employment rates, enrollment, and graduation rates. This funding comes on the heels of a $75 million donation from Blue Meridian in 2020. Blue Meridian initially contributed funds at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to cover operating costs while HBCU institutions were closed. South Carolina State University was among the first colleges to utilize these funds, investing in a customer relationship management platform to streamline enrollment and financial aid applications, a significant improvement over their previous manual processes.

It is important for sponsors to continue donating to HBCUs because during times of segregation and discrimination, these institutions provided African Americans with access to higher education when other establishments excluded them. HBCUs played a pivotal role in educating generations of Black individuals who subsequently became leaders, professionals, and advocates for these colleges. Historically Black Colleges have a longstanding tradition of delivering quality education and producing exceptional graduates. Despite frequently confronting limited resources and funding challenges, these institutions have consistently produced influential leaders, innovators, and scholars in various fields.

Students on the campus of Spelman College, a historically Black liberal arts college for women located in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP)

HBCUs have historically been pillars of support and empowerment within their communities. They have played a crucial role in uplifting marginalized communities by providing educational opportunities, scholarships, and resources for students who may face financial, social, or systemic barriers to education. HBCUs are important institutions that have played a vital role in providing access to education, preserving cultural heritage, nurturing academic excellence, supporting communities, promoting activism, and fostering diversity. They continue to be valuable contributors to society and the advancement of racial equality and with these donations the HBCUs will continue to rise to the top. 

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