The Black Metrics

Who Decides What It Means to Be Human?

Black history is often taught as a series of events. This blog asks a deeper question. Who decides who counts as human in the first place?

Drawing on the work of W E B Du Bois and Sylvia Wynter, this piece explores how modern systems were built around a narrow definition of humanity and how that definition still shapes education, healthcare, the environment, and Black life today. Du Bois exposed the global color line. Wynter explains how the category of the human itself was constructed to exclude.

The argument is simple but radical. You cannot build sovereignty using a definition of humanity that was never meant to include you. Educational sovereignty, healthcare sovereignty, and environmental sovereignty all begin in the mind.

If you want to understand why systems function the way they do and why reclaiming definition matters, read the full blog post.

Brief Suggested Reading

W E B Du Bois
The Souls of Black Folk
Black Reconstruction in America

Sylvia Wynter
Unsettling the Coloniality of Being, Power, Truth, and Freedom

These texts introduce the ideas explored in the post, but they are only the beginning.

Go to the blog page to read the full post and access the complete suggested reading list connecting Black intellectual history to sovereignty in practice.

Read the full story here: ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

1 week ago | [YT] | 6

The Black Metrics

📘 Build Black Economic Sovereignty — Your Guide to Collective Power

Our communities already have immense economic power, but without coordination, most of it leaks out. Economic Sovereignty: Building a Self-Sufficient Black Economy shows how to turn everyday spending, existing institutions, and entrepreneurial energy into lasting wealth, ownership, and influence.

This is not theory or motivation. It is a practical, data-driven blueprint. You will learn how to map where economic power already exists, coordinate spending to create community leverage, build cooperatives, credit unions, and land trusts, connect local economies to the global Black supply chain, and measure real impact with actionable metrics.

The eBook gives you the strategic manual while the companion workbook guides you to translate knowledge into action.

💡 Take control. Move from participation to ownership. Start building a self-sustaining Black economy today.

Get your copy now: eBook $9.99 | Workbook $7.99 | Bundle $15.99

ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 6

The Black Metrics

Racism is literally making Black people sick and shortening lives. A 17-year study shows that the stress of discrimination and systemic inequality increases inflammation, wears down the body, and drives earlier death.

Our latest blog breaks down the findings, explains why this is a public health crisis, and shows why structural change is necessary. This is exactly why we created the Sovereignty series.

Read the full story here: ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

The Black Metrics

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

The Black Metrics

The Black Metrics Newsletter

The Black Metrics Newsletter is officially here. The Black Metrics Newsletter is a monthly intelligence briefing for the Black community rooted in data, anchored in history, and committed to political rights, dignity, and self determination.

Each issue explores the core challenges and triumphs shaping Black life through verified metrics and historical context. We do not simply highlight problems. We interpret the data behind them and connect those insights to strategy, policy, and long term community power.

Our mission is grounded in strengthening Black sovereignty within the United States while building unity across the global African Diaspora and the African continent. Lasting progress requires internal power, external connection, and informed action.

Every edition examines the systems that shape our collective future, including politics, economics, employment and business, housing, justice, health, education, and the environment.

By understanding our past and measuring our present, the Black Metrics Newsletter helps chart a clear path forward. This work centers accountability, clarity, and possibility for the generations ahead.

Delivered on the first Monday of every month, the newsletter provides perspective and direction so our community is not only responding to events but shaping outcomes.

Subscribers receive complimentary access to Volume I, Black and African American Sovereignty, and become part of a growing community committed to knowledge, leadership, and lasting change.

Click the link in bio to subscribe. ✊🏾

#BlackMetrics #DataDriven #BlackHistory #Sovereignty

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

The Black Metrics

Welcome to Black Metrics 2026.

This work focuses on decoding the data shaping Black life across economics, education, health, housing, justice, and more.

Black Metrics connects three things.
Data to understand present conditions.
Pan African history to explain how we got here.
Long term strategy to design sustainable solutions.

Each platform serves a different purpose.
You do not need to follow everything. Engage where it fits your life.

Black Metrics is not commentary.
It is infrastructure for the future.

#BlackMetrics #BlackData #PanAfrican #BlackHistory #BlackFuture #CommunityBuilding #LongTermSolutions #BlackProgress

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

The Black Metrics

Happy Holidays Black Metrics Family! 🎄✊🏾

To all of my incredible subscribers and to those of you who are just browsing the channel today, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a truly wonderful Holiday season.

The African Diaspora Traditions: I am sending so much love, power, and light to everyone getting ready to celebrate Kwanzaa. These beautiful seven days from December 26th through January 1st are such a vital time for the African Diaspora to reset and rejoice. As we prepare to light the candles of the Kinara, we reflect on the Nguzo Saba, which are the Seven Principles that guide us:

🕯️ Umoja (Unity)
🕯️ Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
🕯️ Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
🕯️ Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
🕯️ Nia (Purpose)
🕯️ Kuumba (Creativity)
🕯️ Imani (Faith)

Beyond Kwanzaa, we celebrate the rich and vibrant traditions found all across the Diaspora. From the amazing energy of Junkanoo in the Caribbean to the sacred reflection of Watch Night services, this is a season of global connection and recharging our collective spirit for the year ahead.

Support the Ecosystem: In the spirit of Ujamaa and building our community together, I invite you to visit my stores and explore the latest posts on my blogs. There is so much great information waiting for you there to keep you inspired and empowered during this festive season.

🔗 Visit the Stores: oyaroots.com/ and oyaroots.printful.me/
📝 Read the Blog: 📘✨ ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

A Big Announcement: I also have some very exciting news to share for the future. Please keep a lookout for my Sovereignty Series eBook, which will be officially released in early 2026. This project is a true labor of love designed to be a blueprint for the principles we value here every day. I am so excited to share this journey with you!

Enjoy every moment of these festivities, stay safe, and stay united.

What holiday tradition are you most looking forward to this year? Let me know in the comments! 👇🏾

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

The Black Metrics

Across centuries, the message from our greatest thinkers was consistent: Black people cannot advance fragmented. Yet today, diaspora wars block the very vision they died for. It’s time to return to the ancestral blueprint, moving beyond cultural pride into strategic, systemic power. Read the full post → 📘✨ ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

#TheBlackMetrics #SovereigntySeries #PanAfricanism #BlackSovereignty #DiasporaUnity #GlobalBlackPower #DiasporaWars #BlackUnity #AncestralWisdom #BlackEconomics #InstitutionBuilding #BlackDiaspora #PanAfrican #MalcolmX #MarcusGarvey #KwameNkrumah #BlackHistory #Decolonize #BlackEmpowerment #SelfDetermination

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

The Black Metrics

🌳 Read: Environmental Sovereignty: The Ultimate Self-Preservation

This essential piece argues that true self-sufficiency hinges on a community's right to own, control, and protect its land, air, and water.

The article details how environmental racism disproportionately burdens Black communities with toxic proximity, directly undermining their health and economic potential.

It outlines a powerful strategy for reclaiming control, centered on:

Land Sovereignty: Utilizing Community Land Trusts (CLTs) to protect Black-owned land from external exploitation and build intergenerational wealth.

Resilient Infrastructure: Achieving Energy Sovereignty by owning community solar grids, and ensuring Water Autonomy through localized, filtered systems.

Cultural Stewardship: Integrating ancestral ecological knowledge to build resilient, local food systems and preserve vital green spaces.

Read the full article to understand how becoming the uncompromising guardians of our environment is the final insurance policy for the health and longevity of our people.


Read the full post → 📘✨ ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

#EnvironmentalSovereignty #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice
#BlackLandMatters #DecolonizeTheLand #CommunityLandTrust
#EnergySovereignty #UrbanAgriculture #FoodSovereignty #ZeroWaste
#CommunitySolar #EnvironmentalRacism #ClimateResilience
#PublicHealth #ProtectTheWater #SelfDetermination#BlackFarmers
#AncestralKnowledge #Diaspora #LandStewardship

2 months ago | [YT] | 5

The Black Metrics

Political Sovereignty: Turning Our Collective Voice into Organized Power

Are you tired of politics as usual? Do you believe our collective voice can be more than just a vote every few years? Dive into 'Political Sovereignty: Turning Our Collective Voice into Organized Power' and discover how we can move beyond mobilization to truly govern our political destiny. This isn't just about showing up; it's about building lasting institutions, owning our data, and creating a global alignment that transforms our community from clients of the state to owners of the political process. Read on to learn how we can secure our future through organized, governing power.

Read the full post → 📘✨ ko-fi.com/theblackmetrics

#PoliticalSovereignty #BlackMetrics #OrganizedPower #BlackPolitics #CommunityEmpowerment #Governance #PolicyDesign #DiasporaDiplomacy #CivicEngagement #BeyondTheBallot #BlackExcellence #PoliticalPower #SelfSufficiency #DataSovereignty #GlobalAlignment #AfricanDiaspora #BlackLeadership #SocialJustice #PolicyMakers #CommunityBuilding

2 months ago | [YT] | 7