Black History Month in Review

On the rollback of DEI, Beyonce’s triumph, and the blackest Super Bowl ever. Plus, the books, articles, films, TV shows, and music I enjoyed this month.

Hi readers – welcome back to another issue of Blaxplaining!

First off, Happy New Year! I hope all of you are well, and thank you for being on this writing journey with me for another year. Before we get into it, I wanted to update you all on some changes for this year. Blaxplaining is going monthly! It’ll be released on the first Friday of every month from here on out. I am planning on traveling this spring and then getting back into the workforce, so I want to make sure that I have enough time to prioritize both while writing longer-form, good-quality content. Plus, I want to be more intentional about spending time offline, so I hope you all understand. Alright, let’s get into it!

Photo cred: Complex Sports

The Elephant in the Room

It’s only been a month. I don’t only mean that in a figurative “Damn, it’s been a rough month” way, but I literally mean it’s only been a month and some weeks since Donald Trump was sworn in again as president. Frankly, I didn’t want to give him or his administration any more brain space. But I couldn’t write about Black History Month without acknowledging the elephant in the room, which has been the rolling back of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. On January 21st, the Trump administration ushered in a new era of segregation by issuing an executive order called “Ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity” and eliminating diversity-related jobs in the federal government. The legal war against DEI also has an effect on other sectors, such as higher education, nonprofits, and corporations. Many corporations, like Target, Amazon, Meta, and Walmart, have since followed suit and are ending or reducing their DEI efforts in what seems to be a show of compliance to the Trump administration. It’s a bleak turnaround from five years ago when many companies promised a “racial reckoning” and a commitment to serving Black and minority employees and consumers after the murder of George Floyd.

These attacks aren’t new. “DEI” – like “CRT” (critical race theory), “woke”, “affirmative action,” and the other euphemisms before it - have been used as racist dog whistles to further stoke fear and division towards marginalized groups. What started as an attempt to promote fairness and foster work environments without discrimination has turned into a debate over merit-based qualifications. What the arguments fail to understand (or purposely misinterpret) is that the DEI protections were put in place to correct discriminatory hiring practices and to make the workplace more inclusive. DEI has now become synonymous with undermining Black intelligence and qualifications, even going so far as to blame DEI for the L.A. fires and the tragic plane crash in D.C.. But the cruelty is the point, and fear is a powerful motivator. We will continue to see Trump and the Republicans push back against the progress we’ve made over the years. Not only do we need the same level of a concerted effort to respond and organize, but we also need to continue to hold our representatives accountable, get involved in our communities, and create our own spaces and opportunities.

Lift Every Voice

Not all of this Black History Month was doom and gloom. The 67th GRAMMY Awards came in like a breath of fresh air – like we were in a timeline where Kamala won. Not only did Doechii win for Best Rap Album (the third Black woman and second solo female winner, ever) and Kendrick Lamar’s (more on him later) number 1 hater anthem “Not Like Us” went on to win five awards, Beyoncé made history as the first Black woman to win Best Country Album. After 99 nominations and 35 wins (the most in GRAMMYs history), Beyoncé finally won Album of the Year after previously being denied the honor six times. She is far beyond the need for Grammy Validation, but if you know the lore of the moment, then you know Beyoncé was booed at the 2016 awards for performing her country song “Daddy Lessons,” and the CMAs shut Cowboy Carter out of its nominations this year. This makes this win a little more bittersweet, even though being the first Black woman for anything in 2025 is an embarrassing stat. It is also important to note that when the most deserving artist of her generation was finally awarded, the voting members of the Recording Academy diversified its membership (nearly 40% of its 13,000 members are people of color). It’s almost as if DEI (oh, that boogey word) made things a little more fair.

Just a mere week later, we continued on the “if Kamala won” timeline with Super Bowl LIX. This year’s Super Bowl had no shortage of Black cultural moments. Singer Ledisi and student members of the Greater New Orleans High School enchanted the crowd during a live rendition of the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and Grammy winners Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle delivered a jazzy “America the Beautiful”. Jon Batiste gave a soulful rendition of the national anthem, and Southern University’s Human Jukebox gave us one of their fabulous performances with Harry Connick, Jr.. But we can’t talk about the Super Bowl without talking about the halftime show’s headliner, Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA and DJ Mustard. From Uncle Sam(uel L. Jackson) to Serena Williams crip-walking, this 13-minute performance offered fearless storytelling, political critique, and Black pride. This is not Lamar’s first Super Bowl halftime performance, but it left a deeper impact on America, especially after a fraught election year. His use of American iconography and frank lyrics referencing “forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than music” was not only a criticism of America’s past but redefined the narrative of American identity on a global stage. Oh yeah, and the Philadelphia Eagles embarrassed Trump's favorites, the Kansas City Chiefs. So, I’d say this was a Super Bowl for the books.

Giving Respect

There were other Black cultural moments to note this month. From fashion to music, Black gamechangers were recognized for their impact across different fields. In the fashion world, three Black designers (Torishéji Dumi, Tolu Coker, and David Boye-Doe Kusi) are this year’s LVHM Prize Semi-finalists. At the 56th NAACP Image Awards, advocates and creatives who are dedicated to telling Black stories were honored. Keke Palmer and former VP Kamala Harris were awarded Entertainer of the Year and The Chairman’s Award, respectively. However, the most memorable recipients were the Wayans family’s induction into the Hall of Fame and the touching tribute to the survivors of the Eaton Fire. Lastly, we celebrated the lives of our ancestors. Toni Morrison, whose birthday is on February 21st, would have turned 94 this year. Singer Roberta Flack, one of the top recording artists of the 1970s, and Chris Jasper of the Isley Brothers both passed this month and became ancestors as well. (At the time of publishing, musicians Angie Stone and Roy Ayers both passed, so we will honor them and pay tribute to them as well). Rest in power.

Books 📚:

• I finished reading On Tyranny by Timothy Synder. Written as a guide for citizens to identify the signs of tyranny and authoritarianism, On Tyranny was written during Trump’s first presidency, but its message resonates even now as we navigate his second. It also includes lessons that we can learn from not only our past as Americans but also from looking to other countries as blueprints for defending democracy (e.g., the rise of authoritarianism in 20th-century Europe).

• I’m currently reading Blood over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. A fantasy, dark academia novel that explores how imperialism, through the lens of magic, uses different -isms (racism, sexism, classism) to uphold a system of oppression. The magic system goes over my head, but the characters are complex and well-written, and there are twists and turns at every corner.

Articles & Essays 📰:

• Want to read what people from 100 years ago thought 2025 would look like? Read Predictions from 100 Years Ago from the Akron Beacon Journal.

• A Homecoming of Epic Proportions at Howard University featuring model Anok Yai (whose picture went viral during Howard’s 2017 homecoming) captures the authenticity and spirit of Howard University and HBCU campus life.

• Fellow Substack writer

  biglittlemia
  ‘s relatable and touching piece on defining Black girlhood, What Type of Black Girl Are You?

Films 🎬:

• Piece by Piece (Peacock). Pharrell Williams's autobiographical Lego film was on my wishlist since October, but I finally saw it this month. The art direction and the millennial, hit-filled soundtrack make this a must-watch.

• Blink Twice (Amazon Prime). Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut, originally titled “Pussy Island”, threw me for a loop. Trigger warning: some scenes are sexually graphic, but it’s a mysterious, shocking film about the abuses of power and privilege and being a woman in a man’s world.

T.V. 📺:

• Harlem (Amazon Prime). The Final season of Harlem was a fitting conclusion to the series. I loved experiencing this colorful friendship group of Black woman, and I’m glad each had their own happy ending.

• Represent (Netflix). A French comedy series, also known as En Place, in which a Black French man becomes the president of France. This series tackles serious issues such as immigration, colonialism, racism, sexism, and Islamophobia in a comedic manner but gives us a glimpse into French politics and society.

• Tokyo Girl (Amazon), 1122: For a Happy Marriage (Amazon), and Tokyo Love Story (Netflix). This month, I binge-watched three different Japanese dramas ( also known as Doramas). Tokyo Girl, 1122, and Tokyo Love Story are slice-of-life dramas that focus on young Tokyoites' romantic escapades. Each tackles issues of fidelity, social roles, and finding yourself while featuring the city of Tokyo as a main character.

Music 🎧:

• Keep Me Satisfied - Jungle. Not only is the song a bop, but the choreography led by dancer Will West is just as mesmerizing. Watch the music video here.

Etcetera🤎:

• The Met Gala’s dress code was revealed! According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the code is a nod to the exhibition's focus on menswear and Black dandyism. This year’s theme is inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.

• The fashion at this year’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was my favorite of the awards season. My favorites were Danielle Deadwyler’s Louis Vuitton structural dress, Cynthia Ervio’s pull from the Givenchy Couture archive, and Anna Sakai’s custom Armani Prive.

• LAST but not least, we celebrated my mommy’s sixtieth birthday this past month. Happy Birthday to my best friend and the best to ever do it! Love ya, mommy!

That’s all for this month. As always, thanks for reading!

-Tyler