“Community is what keeps me driving.” With that simple yet powerful statement, Tevon Blair helped set the tone for a dynamic and deeply insightful conversation with a few of ESSENCE’s 2025 Black Futures Now honorees. These changemakers are not only shaping a bold, Black and beautiful future, but they are doing so with a keen awareness of the challenges Black communities face today—and the strategies needed to overcome them.
For this conversation, we sat down with four powerhouse leaders: Blair, executive director of Xceleader and the driving force behind Vote HBCU; Dr. Brandon Frame, founder of The Black Man Can and professor of social-emotional learning at Sacred Heart University; Dr. Topeka K. Sam, founder of The Ladies of Hope Ministries; and W. Mondale Robinson, mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, and founder of the Black Male Voter Project.
When asked what gives them hope for Black futures, the resounding answer was one word: community. “We have seen history. History has shown us how strong and powerful we can be. And so when everything is being shut down around us, or people are removing Black from their websites and things like that, there’s us who tell our stories, and us being in community with each other to drive the change,” says Blair.
Frame echoed this sentiment but pushed it further. “These times are forcing us to rethink how we forge that community. We do have our different interests and things that allow us to be in different communities because you like sports, or you like hair, whatever these communities are, but this is forcing us to say, hey, we need to come together as Black people, as the diaspora, as a community.”
The conversation also turned to the importance of embracing the full spectrum of Black identity while resisting division. Mayor Robinson challenged the idea of erasing distinctions within the diaspora, arguing that specificity can be a source of strength. “I think it’s important that we name that we are Caribbean, that we are, you know, that we are from certain countries in Africa, that we are from Brazil,” Robinson says.
“Because what happens is, then, it prevents the majority of the mainstream from just making us one thing if we’re doing it, if we’re naming who and what we are to add power to Black people. I think that is important,” he adds, noting that if we don’t name it, they will. And they will erase the full breadth of our existence.
When asked whether this was the time to rest, the panelists pushed back on the idea.
“This is not a time to rest,” says Dr. Sam. “While yes, I think so often we are, you know, we are looked at, and I really don’t like the word resilient, because we come, you know, we overcome so much. You know, we’re so strong and courageous, and we have to do so much that other races don’t because of the expectation of the strength that we have to have. So, do I feel that we need to rest? No. Do I think it’s a time to reset? Yes, and I say that because right now is a critical time for us to come together.”
Dr. Frame agreed. “It’s definitely not the time to rest. It is the time to mobilize. It is the time to strategize. It is the time to think about how we as Black men continue to show up for our community,” he shares. “I see Black men coming together, mobilizing for voting, mobilizing HBCUs. Brothers want to be active. Brothers want to be involved. Want to be engaged? We want to connect. And I see that happening.”
Blair acknowledged the need for rest but cautioned against complacency. “I’m going to switch the word around a bit. I know we’re saying rest, but I think letting people know, like rest, is very important, and you should do that. Let’s not get comfortable. I think we’ve been comfortable for so long.”
These leaders emphasized the importance of Black institutions in sustaining change and underscored the necessity of supporting them—Black businesses, media, and schools that preserve and propel the culture forward.
Blair, whose work with Vote HBCU focuses on empowering student voters at historically Black colleges and universities, emphasized that these institutions must remain strong. “HBCUs have always been at the center of Black progress,” he said. “They were our first safe spaces, our first launching pads into professional success. They gave us community when the rest of the world refused. Supporting them isn’t just about education; it’s about sustaining Black political power, Black wealth, and Black futures.”
Dr. Sam reinforced this point, highlighting the critical need to resource and uplift Black-led organizations. “We don’t need to keep waiting for permission to fund our own futures,” she said. “We have the ability to shift resources, to build our own infrastructures, to take control of our narratives.”
Robinson’s comments led to a compelling discussion about what it means to “tap into Blackness”—even for those who are not Black. “Black people, especially Black men, bear the brunt of that. But what we have also done is develop a unique way of surviving in the face of whiteness. If you want to make it in this America, you have to learn from Black resilience. You have to figure out how to exist in a system that is telling you that you don’t belong. Because if history has shown us anything, it’s that Black people will survive. The real question is: will you?”
As the conversation wrapped up, one thing was clear—these leaders are not waiting for permission to build the future they want to see. They are creating it, sustaining it, and protecting it. And they all agreed: this is not a time to rest.
“We have created organizations. We have mobilized resources. We are making sure that our communities don’t just survive—they thrive,” says Dr. Sam.
“We don’t have the luxury of burnout,” said Dr. Sam. “Not when policies are being passed to erase our history. Not when they are actively trying to suppress our votes. This isn’t the moment to slow down—it’s the moment to redirect, refocus, and take action.”
Robinson reinforced that message, calling for action beyond recognition. “It is not the need of every Black person to do something like start an organization; paying attention, sharing information that’s real about things that can hurt and does hurt our community is as revolutionary as starting an organization,” says Robinson.
Robinson pushed further. “Using your voice does not require you to be recognized by ESSENCE or for you to be recognized by anybody. It’s just that action of doing. So many of us gave up on doing. Small things make big actions. There’s not a $1 bill that does not start with one cent. So we should all be at least doing the one cent, be a penny, and then knowing that if 99 other people do it, you got $1. So let’s get these dollars politically, socially, and equally.”
Their message is clear: The future is not something we wait for—it’s something we build. And for these visionaries, the work is just beginning.
Watch the full conversation HERE.
