Resisting the Capitalist Trap of Black Excellence

Reflections on being Black and useless to capitalism.

“HOW WILL YOU BE USELESS TO CAPITALISM TODAY?”

This question, posed by artist and educator Bronte Velez on the Nap Ministry site, has been lingering in my mind. It’s been sitting alongside a realisation I’ve grappled with as a result of growing up in a Black African household: laziness is not the opposite of work; the opposite of work is rest. These ideas feel like two sides of the same coin. They came together as I reflected on a Fred Hampton quote;

“ ..we’re not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we’re going to fight it with socialism.”

This resonates deeply, especially when I think about the narrative of Black excellence. The pressure to be excellent is often tied to achieving success as defined by capitalism. Even in anti-capitalist households, like the one I grew up in, the metrics of success—work, productivity, and career achievements—are shaped by what capitalism upholds. Education, too, is rarely about the joy of learning; it’s about excelling in fields like law, medicine, or engineering that are rewarded by capitalism. (As someone with a PhD and a first degree in Law—I am talking both to and about myself!)

Critiquing Black excellence’s relationship with capitalism is hard because, for many Black people, survival demands we work twice as hard for half as much recognition or reward. This mantra—passed down for generations—reflects our reality. We don’t have the luxury of being “just good enough.” Mediocrity isn’t rewarded, and we can’t fail upwards. Living by the “work twice as hard for half as much” rule often feels like the only way to survive.

And yet, this approach cannot be divorced from its relationship to and with capitalism (i.e. how these survival strategies respond to capitalism and are simultaneously shaped by it). At the same time, capitalism does not stand alone. Capitalism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy are not separate forces—they are three heads of the same hydra, working together to sustain oppression. This leaves us trapped, thinking we’re working for survival, while actually upholding the system that oppresses us.

Rejecting capitalism while surviving within it is an ongoing tension. For me, this question—how to be useless to capitalism—is about reclaiming rest and redefining worth outside capitalist metrics.Rest, joy, and existence are revolutionary acts, especially in a world that often denies them to us.