The only constant is change. As we move into 2015 and the end of our country’s first black president’s eight year term, we are witnesses to much change in this country. Between increased tension with police and race relations, we teeter on the cusp of another enlightenment era.

The American Black Experience

This time the enlightenment will be hyper-focused on the American black experience. As we increase the access to knowledge through the internet and empower generations more, we are witnesses of a true birth of a nation within a nation. Today, how we use our freedom will define the level of social injustice and disrespect we’re willing to take as a culture. From there, tomorrow is still wide open.

The American black experience, rooted in slavery, will soon blossom into the vehicle which could save the trajectory of this nation. Our experiences tomorrow will look nothing like our experiences yesterday. An entire designed underclass will teach each other how to thrive in the toughest of times. It’s nothing new. Learning how to recognize true opportunity however, is a rare commodity which will become less so as we teach one another.

The Cambrian Explosion

The Cambrian Explosion was a burst of life from a few simple forms of life into a huge diverse pool of phylum and classifications of which we still need today. It’s like kernels exploding into a hot bag of rainbow kettle popcorn in about 3 mins. This is exactly what is happening today. Soon we won’t be able to box the black experience by prejudged visual outliers such as sagging pants, hoodies or otherwise. The diversity of the black voice in a modern American world will define the next 100+ years of the American experience.

The year 2015, now, is the only time in history which would allow for the existence, let alone the public celebration, of voices such as Kanye West, Cornell West, Dr. Dre, Jay Z, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Michelle Obama. These directly birth new voices as Issa Ray, Ben Carson, Mia Love, Stacey Dash, and Marc Anthony Neal.

You may like them or despise them, but they all have a platform. And they all have a message they want to share. And they’re combined voices cannot be combined any longer. This range of diversity is today. Imagine 10 or 25 years from now? What does that black American experience look like?

If we’re lucky, it’s looks like the Cambrian Explosion over 500 million years ago. How lucky we are to witness and be a part of having the chance to find our unique community identity.

BMWK, what do you think the Black experience will evolve into?