Don’t Live Your Life as a Trend: Do You Still Believe?

Candace Owens and Kanye West sport his “White Lives Matter” merch at his Yeezy Season 9 Fashion Show in Paris in 2023. This photo is from People.com and credited to Candace/Owens Twitter.

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What do you believe in? Do you pray to a higher power, or do you believe there is no higher power? What causes do you care about? Are you triggered by classism or racism? Have you ever thought critically about any of that, or does it come up for you solely during times when they’re hot topics? Who are you? These are questions the likes of YouTuber Candace Owens and fashion mogul Kanye West should have explored before the fame.

The above lists a bunch of loaded questions, but these are essential questions that, when answered, ground you in who you are. Evaluating and answering those questions help you decide what you stand for and what you won’t stand for. However, if you are not intentional in how you process these questions, you may struggle with identity in life.

Sometimes, there is a law passed that causes tens of thousands to protest. Some standing on the picket lines are wholeheartedly against laws that strip women of the right to choose. Some are wholeheartedly for them. Still, others are against those laws for financial reasons or simply to be a part of something. That last part is probably the most problematic.

Frequently, when someone joins a movement just because others do, they have no real conviction about the issue they’re defending or protesting. When all the excitement and public attention fade, these crowd chasers suddenly change their position.

Case in point, look at popular right-wing podcaster Candace Owens. She’s made a name for herself defending white supremacy and downplaying racism against other African Americans. However, there was a time in her life where she stood with the NAACP in her hometown to call out racism. This was after the town’s mayor allegedly made prank calls to her home and called her the N-word.

Since that fateful day of being called the N-word, Owens has switched positions about the existence of racism. She’s gone as far as wearing a “white lives matter” t-shirt alongside controversial rapper Kanye West. What does this say about Candace Owens and people like her?

It says that Owens and people like her have no real conviction. Their beliefs are based on what sells best or gets the most attention. They don’t know if they are for or against something. This is why Kanye said, “George Bush don’t care about Black people” after Hurricane Katrina but later in life trolled the Black Lives movement which does care about the Black people Kanye mentioned.

Oftentimes, you see this flip-flopping with religion as well. One day, a person is a baptized Christian. The next day, they’re an atheist and practicing witchcraft. This inconsistency is created by the controversy around religion. An instigator doesn’t have to say much to get a reaction out of people. The more outlandish a person’s religious beliefs, the more attention they get. Their only intention is to get attention. All the while, they’ve lost sight of what they believe and who they are.

In the early 2000s, we all watched the movie Drumline and felt the energy that filled college campuses. We laughed and shouted in the theater, as we watched a band compete, cheerleaders dance and drama unfold. We all wanted to go to college.

Back then, Kanye West had dropped College Dropout and would later release Graduation. Both of these albums were themed around the college experience, with breakout hits like All Falls Down evaluating the life of nontraditional college students. In the mid-2000s, J. Cole, a college-educated rapper, and rapper Drake made hits for college campuses. Movies like Stomp the Yard made it seem real and attainable. But what happened to people engrossed in the culture during this time? Did the 12 — 24 year olds (35 — 48 years old now) of this time go to college and graduate, or was it all hype and trends?

The stats indicate that adults ages 35 — 44 are more likely to have attained an Associate Degree or higher. According to ThoughtCo.com, “… the National Center for Education Statistics reported that from the academic years 2000–2001 to 2015–2016, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black students increased by 75%.”

So, it seems that some of this college marketing through movies and rap music worked. But if you listen to some people within this age group, they’re going to tell you college is not worth the price and that people who go to college are in debt and under government control. If you listen for a little bit longer, you’ll find out they went to college and dropped out. Now, Mark Zuckerberg did as well. He left college to start a billion-dollar company. However, the college dropouts I’m referring to are ones who dropped out and did nothing and attempted nothing spectacular. So, why are they so upset with college graduates?

The truth is, they are upset they didn’t graduate, and they see themselves as failures. Their closest friends and family members went on to get degrees, and these friends and family members weren’t at the parties. They weren’t trying to fit in with everyone. They actually went to college because they wanted to, and they earned their degrees.

Noting those things, define who you are. Have your kids define who they are. Do you believe in God? Are you a capitalist or a socialist? Do you believe in karma, or is everything just how it supposed to be? Do you litter or no? These questions may sound insignificant, but they help you ground yourself in who you are.

The best move is engaging in this glorious journey called life while knowing yourself. When trying moments happen in life, you will proceed with confidence based off your beliefs, your moral compass. People change over time, and so do what they believe in sometimes. But the core of who they are remains. Find yourself, and develop yourself. You aren’t becoming great. You are great. You’re just gradually mining the rest of the greatness deep inside your soul.

This article was written by Jermaine Reed, MFA, the Editor-in-Chief of The Reeders Block.