Black Excellence Fatigue is Real: Let’s Talk About It!
I never realized how deeply excellence was ingrained in me—until my therapist pointed it out while I was sitting across from her in a session, completely burned out.
Growing up in a Caribbean household, success wasn’t just encouraged, it was a responsibility. You had to be twice as good, twice as prepared, and never, ever mediocre. A ‘B’ wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t an ‘A.’ And an ‘A’ was great, but why wasn’t it an A+?
It wasn’t just about school, either. It was how you carried yourself, how you spoke, how you made the family proud. Mediocrity was for other people—not for us.
Fast forward to living in the U.S., and I saw the same message—but with a different pressure. Black excellence in America felt more like a performance. It wasn’t just about being great; it was about being flawless, unshakable, and constantly proving your worth in spaces that weren’t built for you. The stakes felt higher, the room for error smaller, and the exhaustion? Real.
So what happens when the pressure to be great at all times turns into exhaustion?
Let’s talk about Black Excellence Fatigue.
The Caribbean Expectation of Greatness
In Caribbean culture, excellence is survival. It’s not just about making it for yourself—it’s about representing your family, your country, and every sacrifice that came before you.
You’re expected to win.
Education is the foundation.
Success is non-negotiable.
From a young age, we’re taught that hard work leads to opportunity, and anything less than our best is a disgrace to those who paved the way. Whether it’s getting straight A’s, pursuing medicine, law, or engineering (the holy trinity of Caribbean career paths), or sending money back home, there’s no space to fail.
And when you do reach a milestone? There’s no time to celebrate—you just move to the next goal.
The U.S. Perspective: Black Excellence as Performance
Then, there’s the Black excellence narrative in the U.S. It’s similar, but different.
Here, being excellent isn’t just about making your family proud—it’s about proving your worth in a system that was never designed for you to win. It’s about being twice as good to get half as much.
You can’t just be great—you have to be exceptional.
You have to be “the first” or “the only.”
There’s no room for mistakes.
Black professionals are often told:
“You have to work twice as hard.”
“You can’t afford to mess up.”
“If you’re not excellent, you’re invisible.”
It’s a constant performance. And if you’re not achieving at the highest level, it feels like you’re failing.
But what happens when the pressure to always be the best starts to weigh you down?
The Burnout Nobody Talks About
Here’s the thing: Black excellence is beautiful, but it can also be exhausting. We carry the weight of expectations—culturally, generationally, and societally. And there’s no off switch.
You feel guilty for resting.
You’re always chasing the next milestone.
Failure feels like betrayal.
This is Black Excellence Fatigue—when the pressure to always be great leaves no room for rest, reflection, or even joy. It’s the unspoken exhaustion of always proving, always achieving, and never feeling like you can just be. And honestly? It’s too much.
Redefining Excellence on Our Own Terms
So what now? If we’re tired, but excellence is ingrained in us, how do we move forward?
Maybe it starts with redefining what excellence actually means.
Excellence isn’t perfection. It’s growth.
Excellence isn’t burnout. It’s balance.
Excellence isn’t just what we achieve. It’s also how we rest, how we celebrate, how we live.
We are allowed to slow down. We are allowed to rest without guilt. We are allowed to take up space without performing.
Because the people who came before us? They didn’t sacrifice everything just for us to be exhausted. They wanted us to thrive.
And I want you to never forget, wah fi yuh, cyaan un fi yuh.
~Meisha
