Beyond Black – Identity, Culture, and the Mindset Shift for True Socioeconomic Power
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 18
- 5 min read
Written by Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant
Shardia O'Connor is a mental well-being advocate and cultural consultant. She is best known for her hosting and writing skills, as well as her sense of "fashion." Shardia is the founder of her online media platform, Shades Of Reality, and the owner of Thawadar Boutique LTD.
Let's stop romanticising the struggle. Let's stop parading trauma like it's a medal, packaging pain as profit, and calling it empowerment. Let's stop pretending that "community over everything" is a strategy when most of us can't fund our visions. The truth is uncomfortable, but it will free you. Your identity is not your skin, it's your mindset. And if you want to build legacy, wealth, and systems worth copying, you need to stop clinging to narratives that were never designed for your evolution.
Being Black is not your identity, it's a construct
The term Black was never created to empower you, it was created to define you, limit you, and label you as "other." It's a social construct used to categorise, control, and commercialise. It became a convenient brand for everyone else to exploit while we stayed busy defending it instead of redefining ourselves.
Let's be clear, culture is rich. History is rich. Skin? That's just packaging.
We need to stop building businesses and platforms that centre being Black as the product. Why? Because identity politics alone won't build you generational wealth. You're not a Black entrepreneur, you're an entrepreneur, period. You don't have to centre Blackness in everything to prove you're not selling out. Selling to non-Black audiences isn't betrayal, it's strategy. If we're serious about equity, then inclusion must go both ways.
Stop building off pain and start building off power
Let's talk about the obsession with struggle.
Too many people think trauma is a business model. If they tell a compelling enough "started from the bottom" story, the world will reward them. But your trauma isn't your competitive advantage, your execution is. Pain doesn't make you special. Discipline does.
Success requires more than resilience. It requires systems, structure, and strategic thinking. Your brand should not be built on the validation of pain, but on the precision of vision. Don't sell sob stories. Build assets. Build frameworks. Build something that lives beyond your survival.
"Community over everything" will leave you burned out and bankrupt
We all love the idea of community, but let's stop lying to ourselves.
If your business model is "give everything back to the community" before you've built sustainability, you're on the path to burnout, not legacy. The reality is, the same people you break your back to serve are often the first to question your prices, drain your time, or guilt you into staying small.
Build the foundation first. Build wealth, systems, leverage. Then give back, with boundaries.
Crabs in a bucket are real, keep climbing anyway
Let's not sugarcoat it. If you were born into disadvantage, you've already seen it, family, peers, or old friends who project their fears onto your progress. The crabs-in-a-bucket mentality is very real. It's subtle at first, jokes, shade, questioning your moves. Then it becomes emotional blackmail, "You think you're better than us?" or "You've changed."
Damn right you have. And you should. Because not every "struggle" is your burden to carry. Their trauma is not your tax.
We are all on our journeys. Stay focused on yours.
You don't owe anyone anything, not family, not friends
As you evolve, guilt will creep in, especially when it comes from those who were once closest to you. But hear this clearly, you don't owe anyone anything. Not family. Not your old friendship circle. Not the people who only show up when your wins go public.
Success often exposes entitlement. And when you stop shrinking yourself to fit old spaces, the manipulation kicks in.
Don't give in. Emotional blackmail is not love. Loyalty doesn't mean sacrifice.
Maybe it is a problem, maybe it isn't
Either way, just keep pushing through, being the best you can be.
Yes, the system is flawed. Yes, inequality is real. But some of you are hiding behind that truth to avoid accountability.
You can't keep blaming systemic racism for every missed opportunity while you ignore your lack of discipline, consistency, or strategic planning. You can't scream "support Black businesses" while running yours like a side hustle with no customer service, poor branding, and broken infrastructure.
Sometimes, the obstacle isn't oppression, it's procrastination.
Just focus on being a good person. Be excellent. Be consistent. Be useful. That's the revolution.
The white liberal movement and Malcolm X's warning
Let's get uncomfortable for a moment.
Malcolm X once said the most dangerous person to Black progress was the white liberal. Not because they're overtly racist, but because they offer symbolic solidarity while ensuring that true power remains out of reach. Their allyship often comes with strings, limits, and optics. It feels good. It looks good. But it doesn't move the needle.
We've confused inclusion with liberation. We've accepted visibility over autonomy. And we've allowed the performance of support to distract us from the pursuit of power.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Black victim mentality has become just as dangerous. It tells us that we are always owed, always disadvantaged, always fighting. It's exhausting. It breeds entitlement without execution. That's not liberation, it's learned helplessness wrapped in cultural pride.
The myth of "skinfolk"
One of the most underquoted truths from American writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston is this, "Not all skin-folk are kinfolk."
Marcus Josiah Garvey went further, warning that many of our people in the West are so broken, so compromised, so far removed from values and principles, that even repatriation to Africa wouldn't fix them. "I have no desire to take all Black people back to Africa. Some Blacks are no good here and will likewise be no good there."
Translation. It's not about colour, it's always been about character and consciousness. You cannot uplift people who are committed to remaining in bondage, mentally, spiritually, and financially. We need to stop assuming that proximity to Blackness equals alignment with our vision. It doesn't.
Unity without values is chaos. Culture without accountability is noise.
The new identity: Mindset, mastery, and movement
So where does this leave us? We need a new framework for identity, one rooted in:
Mindset over melanin
Execution over emotion
Legacy over likeability
Consciousness over clout
Systems over sympathy
We need to raise the standard, not lower the bar. To build businesses that outlive our names. To shape narratives that aren't just about survival, but sovereignty. To lead with value, not validation.
This isn't about rejecting your roots, it's about grounding your future in something deeper than struggle. Something richer than trauma. Something worth building. Worth buying into. Worth passing on.
Final word: Your evolution is not a threat, it's the blueprint
To those reading this who feel like they're outgrowing everything they've ever known, keep going.
You're not crazy. You're not arrogant. You're evolving. And your evolution is not a betrayal, it's a blueprint.
Don't let identity politics box you. Don't let culture trap you. And don't let guilt stop you from becoming all that you were designed to be.
Because this is no longer about Blackness. It's about brilliance. And brilliance is borderless.
Read more from Shardia O’Connor
Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant
Shardia O'Connor is an expert in her field of mental wellbeing. Her passion for creative expression was influenced by her early childhood. Born and raised in Birmingham, West Midlands, and coming from a disadvantaged background, Shardia's early life experiences built her character by teaching her empathy and compassion, which led her to a career in the social sciences. She is an award-winning columnist and the founder and host of her online media platform, Shades Of Reality. Shardia is on a global mission to empower, encourage, and educate the masses!
