I will always love hip hop music and at one time in my life I thought it was what I was going to be, a hip hop artist. I went to high school with who you know as A Tribe Called Quest (class of 1988) and The Jungle Brothers. I had the opportunity to be in the crew but I had “church brain”, I was young and I kept letting religion and what people would think of me get in my way. Kendrick Lamar did what many preachers, scholars, theologians have failed to do. He gave us a blue print to set the captive free. Here is my interpretation of his prophetic message/instructions last night at the Super Bowl.

1) Liberation Work is Layered

Oppression thrives in what is unspoken, and so does resistance. Kendrick Lamar understands that Black folks, especially those of us at the margins, have always had to communicate in ways that were not overt for our own survival. His art calls us back to this ancestral wisdom, our history of spirituals, coded language, hush harbors, and side-eye sermons.

Our freedom work is layered. Read between the lines. Hear what is not said. Liberation is often whispered before it is shouted.

2) Emotional Intelligence Over Outrage: Be Strategic, Not Just Loud

The world expects us to be reactive, to scream in our pain, to explode in our frustration. But Kendrick Lamar reminds us that sometimes the most radical act is to be deliberate. His artistry is not just about speaking truth but about making sure it lands where it needs to.

Resist the bait. Take your time. Let your response be as deep as your wound and as sharp as your wisdom.

3) Mastering Restraint is a Superpower: Every Moment Ain’t for Performance

In a culture obsessed with visibility, where clout can feel like currency, restraint is a radical act. Kendrick Lamar does not  perform just to be seen, he moves with purpose. Black liberation work demands the same: not every moment needs to be a public fight. Some battles are won in the quiet, in the planning, in the refusal to play the game.

Wisdom knows when to speak and when to let the silence do the work.

4) Question the Narrative You are Given: Who Benefits from This “Truth”?

Kendrick Lamar refuses to accept dominant narratives at face value. As Black folks, as queer folks, as those who disrupt the status quo, we must do the same. Who is telling the story? Who profits from it? Who gets erased? Our theologies, our histories, our very lives have been distorted to fit someone else’s comfort. We must unlearn, reclaim, and tell the truth.

If the story centers power, whiteness, and patriarchy, question it. If it centers justice, community, and truth, lean in.

5) The Best Thinkers Leave Room for Interpretation: Discomfort is the Work

We have been conditioned to seek easy answers, but liberation does not live in certainty, it lives in the wrestle. Kendrick Lamar’s refusal to spoon-feed meaning is an invitation. True freedom work requires us to sit in discomfort, to hold tension, to ask hard questions without rushing to resolution.

If you only seek answers that affirm what you already believe, you are not growing, you are just repeating.

6) Symbolism is a Lost Art. Reclaim It. Our Ancestors Spoke in Code.

Whether it is the hush harbors of enslaved Africans, the Harlem Renaissance, or the coded resistance of queer ballroom culture, Black folks have always communicated in ways that transcend the literal. Kendrick Lamar reminds us that symbols carry power, if we train ourselves to see.

Nothing is just aesthetic. Colors, movement, placement, everything has meaning. Are you paying attention?

7) Culture Moves When We Take Risks: Liberation Ain’t Safe

Kendrick Lamar did not play by the rules of the halftime show. He knew that to shift culture, you have to be willing to disrupt it. The same is true for us. Black queer womanist theology, radical justice work, the fight for true liberation, none of it comes without risk. But playing it safe never changed the world.

History belongs to the bold. Step out. Take the risk. Build the future that does not yet exist.

Kendrick Lamar does not just perform, he prophesies. The question is, do you have ears to hear?