Photo Credit:  Natasa Adzic // Shutterstock

Black excellence was at an all-time high this year in 2018. 1.)  Marvel’s Black Panther was released in February and it took over the box office. The film surpassed ‘The Avengers’ as highest-grossing superhero movie of all time in the U.S. The film brought in $1.28 billion worldwide. 2.) Next, we got Khalid and Normani’s “Love Lies” dominated the charts. Their song is the first single from a film soundtrack to top the Pop songs chart since June 2016. 3.) But, if that wasn’t enough for you we literally got a WHOLE princess in the British Royal Family. Meghan Markle secured the crown. 4.) Kendrick Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He is the first rapper to receive this award. 5.) Stacey Abrams became the FIRST black women to be a major party nominee for governor in the U.S.

6.) As we’re speaking of black women taking over, ALL 19 black women running for judge in Texas county WON their seats. 7.) We cannot forget about Jordan Peele and his Oscar win. He is the FIRST African-American to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. 8.) Childish Gambino took us all back when he broke the internet with “This Is America.” He hit all the points about racism and gun violence. 9.) Wuzzam Supa, CEO of the black-owned makeup brand The Crayon Case made $1 million in just one hour on Cyber Monday. 10.) We lost the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Her funeral lasted about eight hours with performances from The Clark Sisters, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia and many more. 11.) Beyoncé made Coachella history. She was the FIRST black female to headline Coachella and she put on a show that was black af! 12.) “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything,” says the new Nike ad that featured Colin Kaepernick for heir new campaign launched this year.

2018 was poppin’ for us. It was all done for The Culture! 2019 will be even better!

Written By: Fantasia Harvey