Urban Intellectuals

Black culture moves the world.

Our music.
Our language.
Our fashion.
Our sports.
Our creativity.
Our influence.

But here’s the question:

**If we own the culture—but not the schools, banks, land, businesses, distribution networks, or supply chains—how powerful are we really?**

Because there is a difference between being **influential** and being **powerful**.

Influence can make everybody copy what you create.

Power determines who owns it.
Who distributes it.
Who finances it.
Who profits from it.
Who controls the institutions your children depend on.

Marcus Garvey spent much of his life challenging Black people to think beyond representation and toward ownership, institution-building, economic independence, and collective power.

So I want to hear from you:

**Can a people really call themselves powerful if everybody consumes their culture, but somebody else controls most of the infrastructure underneath it?**

And if the answer is no…

**What should we be building first?**

Schools? Banks? Businesses? Land ownership? Media? Manufacturing? Technology?

Drop your thoughts below. 👇🏾

And if you want to be part of a Black social network built for conversations like this, **comment UNIVERSE** and we’ll show you how to join Sankofa Universe.

4 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 416

Urban Intellectuals

What say you?
I think this could be a good conversation for our community.

1 month ago | [YT] | 324

Urban Intellectuals

HISTORY IS THE MISSING CONTEXT.

Most people don’t have an information problem.

They have a context problem.

Every day we’re flooded with headlines, opinions, and breaking news. We’re told what happened, but rarely how we got here.

That’s where history comes in.

History isn’t just about the past—it explains the present.

Every law has a history.

Every institution has a history.

Every neighborhood has a history.

Every movement has a history.

Nothing simply appears out of nowhere.

Imagine trying to understand a movie by watching only the last ten minutes. You might know what’s happening, but you’d completely miss why it matters.

Too often, that’s how we’re taught current events.

History gives us the missing context. It helps us see patterns instead of isolated moments. It teaches us to ask better questions instead of settling for easy answers.

At Urban Intellectuals, we believe history isn’t just something to memorize.

It’s a way of thinking.

Because when we understand where something came from, we’re far better equipped to decide where it should go next.

History is the Missing Context.

⸻

Discussion:
What current issue do you think people can’t fully understand without knowing its history?

⸻

🛡 Think Historically.

History isn’t just something to know. It’s a way of thinking.

If you’re ready to go beyond headlines and understand the historical context shaping our world, join the Urban Intellectuals community.

Comment “UI” below, and we’ll send you more information.

Let’s build a generation that doesn’t just know history…they understand it.

1 month ago | [YT] | 38

Urban Intellectuals

They didn’t just leave facts out.
They trained generations of us to see Black history through the smallest and safest lens possible.

That’s why so many people still think our story starts with slavery, ends with civil rights, and only matters in February.

We need deeper truth.

That’s why I wrote 50 Truths They Tried to Erase.

Comment “50 Truths” and I’ll send you the link.

#BlackHistory #UrbanIntellectuals #50Truths #BlackEducation #KnowYourHistory

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4 months ago | [YT] | 64

Urban Intellectuals

STRAW DISCUSSION HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY, June 14th @ 2pm CST.
Sign up in the comments: 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

1 year ago | [YT] | 7

Urban Intellectuals

Just picked up this nugget from Dr. Aden, our resident historian inside of Urban Intellectuals Sankofa Circle, Black history classes for adults.

1 year ago | [YT] | 7

Urban Intellectuals

1 year ago | [YT] | 9

Urban Intellectuals

Before we hand our kids dreams of success…
Before we teach them how to chase a bag…
Before we send them out into a world that wasn’t built for them…

👉🏾 What’s the ONE lesson every Black household must teach, no matter what?

Let’s build a legacy they can stand on—not one they have to recover from.
Comment below. ✊🏾
#UIQuestion #LegacyBuilders #UrbanIntellectuals

1 year ago | [YT] | 10

Urban Intellectuals

📢 What would a modern Marcus Garvey movement look like today?

Would we have: 🚢 Ships or Apps?
🌍 One united Africa—or a digital diaspora?
🏢 Black banks or blockchain?
🎓 Schools or Sankofa Circles?
🧠 Mindset shifts or passport stamps?

Garvey didn’t just talk Pan-Africanism—he organized it.

So what does our generation’s UNIA look like?

Is it a tech-enabled, Africa-connected, ownership-driven movement of builders, not beggars?

Let’s talk about it.

🗣 Drop your vision below. 👇🏾
What’s the ONE THING a modern Garveyite movement must include?

#MarcusGarvey #PanAfricanism #ModernGarveyism #UNIA2025 #BlackLiberation #Sankofa #DigitalDiaspora #BlackPowerNow

1 year ago | [YT] | 4

Urban Intellectuals

If your great-grandmother was standing behind you right now…
What would she side-eye you for accepting?
What would your grandfather say about your silence, your comfort, your compromise?

Today’s UI Question hits different:
👉🏾 What would the ancestors be disappointed we’re tolerating today?

Let’s talk about it. With love, with fire, with truth.
#UIQuestion #ThinkWithUI #LegacyCheck

1 year ago | [YT] | 10