There is a haunting familiarity to this moment in America. It is the echo of a past we know too well—the powerful exploiting division to preserve their empires. Today, the stage is set in Silicon Valley, where tech billionaires and the MAGA movement find themselves locked in an ideological and economic war. This time, however, Black Americans stand poised not as pawns, but as strategic players in a game that could reshape our future.

The history of Black America is a history of paradox. Every attempt to suppress us has been met with innovation. Every policy designed to harm us has sown the seeds of our collective resistance and renewal. We are a people forged in the crucible of hardship, tempered by ingenuity, and propelled by an unyielding belief in our own humanity. Trump’s reelection will not be the death knell of Black progress—it will be yet another opportunity to turn pain into purpose, as we have done so many times before.

During the “good” times of Democratic administrations, Black America often found itself basking in a sense of symbolic progress. Representation in the highest offices of the land, increased access to mainstream spaces, and a rhetoric of inclusion made us feel like we had arrived. But beneath this veneer of success lies a stark reality: complacency. We’ve traded the advancement of the Black family and community for individual advancement.