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To the surprise of not a single Black person, Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show was one for the history books.
Samuel L. Jackson’s minstrel caricature of Uncle Sam symbolized the government's manipulation of the rule of law against Black progress. His commands for Kendrick to “tighten up” and calling him "too loud, too reckless, too ghetto" echoed the negative stereotypes used to police and silence Black voices for generations.
Draped in red, white, and blue, the show’s dancers and their choreography conveyed several messages. In one moment, they recreated the American flag with Kendrick in the middle to visually emphasize the deep division of the country.
Black people have been forced to "play the game" for centuries, and the field was designed like a game controller to reflect that. The center of the field mirrored a prison yard—a stark reminder of mass incarceration’s grip on Black communities. And when Uncle Sam ordered Kendrick to “play the game,” he refused. Instead, he delivered the final word: Game Over.
Lamar’s performance wasn’t just entertainment—it was a declaration. A reminder that we are not passive players in a rigged system, but architects of our own future. Through art, truth, and resistance, he affirmed what we’ve always known: we define the game, and we will change the rules.