Gil
Scott-Heron
warned us in1970 that the “revolution will
not be televised,” but he could not foresee
the cultural hijackings of a corporate world
stage by Black and Brown artists. We are
still talking about Kendrick Lamar’s 2025
performance at the Super Bowl. We’ll be
unpacking Bad Bunny’s performance for months
to come. However, there is a purist streak
in our racial justice movement that keeps us
from seeing the organizing opportunities
around us if all the boxes are not checked
off.
Some leftists proclaim that the
Super Bowl and anything associated with it
only benefits the capitalist class and is
therefore counterrevolutionary. That is a
slap in the face for those of us who have a
realistic critique of racial capitalism. We
truly do understand that a meme is not going
to lead to the downfall of capitalism.
These two performances were not
just mere entertainment; they challenged our
critical thinking skills with layers of
symbolism and messages about the systems of
oppression that are crushing us globally. It
was a refreshing departure from the mindless
amusement generally presented to us. Those
of us who are organizing for transformative
change in the U.S. could take a lesson in
imagination against the machine.
Performances like these are rare gifts to us
to raise consciousness, to inspire
resistance against the
capitalist/imperialist system, and to
consolidate international multiracial
working-class power.
If we step down from our purity
perch, we will see creative ways to amplify
the messages in Bad Bunny’s performances
that could infuse energy into the organizing
around that particular issue. Here are a few
examples:
The performance’s opening scene
with the sugar cane fields was a powerful
reminder that enslaved Africans were brought
to the Puerto Rico island to work. This was
the beginning of a shared experience of
oppression with the indigenous people. We
have to lift the historic relationships
between Black and Brown people that must be
protected from the ruthless tactics used by
our common enemies to divide us.
Bad
Bunny’s
song about the colonization of Hawai’i,
comparing it to Puerto Rico, was a history
lesson in itself. Most people in this
country don’t know these are stolen lands
and that the indigenous people have never given up their
right to sovereignty and self-determination.
Bunny defiantly carried the Puerto Rican
independence flag, once banned by the
colonizers. He gave us an entry point to
educate people about the need to support the
shared struggles for land rights on this
continent and national liberation in other
countries. We especially need to identify
the common colonizers and be vigilant about
invasions and destruction of land using our
tax dollars.
Bunny’s call out of the countries
of North, South and Central America was
riveting and affirming. From what I read and
saw, the peoples of these countries cheered
at the recognition. Belize was the only
country omitted, although its flag was
represented. More than a geography lesson,
this part reclaimed the inclusive concept of
the Americas of the Northern Hemisphere and
rebuked the United States of America as the
sole country. It was an intentional push for
Pan-Americanism, much like the
Pan-Africanism of Africans in the diaspora.
Kendrick and Benito, aka Bad Bunny,
have never claimed to be a Malcolm X or a
Che Guevara. They are not revolutionaries
encouraging their listeners to overthrow
governments; they are not organizers. Based
upon their lived experiences, they do have
an anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist
worldview. Our movement should be getting
more sophisticated about how to effectively
use culture as a weapon of resistance that
builds mass global movements.
Self-proclaimed revolutionaries should lead
the way in taking us to the next level.
