The Billboard Women in Music Awards recognized journalist, New York Times bestselling author, TV host, and founder of birthFUND, Elaine Welteroth, and her nonprofit, birthFUND, for their work in expanding access to midwifery care and improving maternal health outcomes across the United States. Welteroth took the stage alongside Grammy Award-winning artist Kelly Rowland, one of birthFUND’s Founding Family Funders, to spotlight the organization’s work expanding access to midwifery care and improving maternal health outcomes across the United States.

“Birth should be a safe, supported, and dignified experience for every woman,” Welteroth said. “Midwifery is a life-saving model of birth care that can help prevent 80% of maternal deaths — and it changed my life. The question that launched our now multi-million dollar fund was: why aren’t we investing in healthcare solutions that make birth safe for every family?”

birthFUND’s work is grounded in a simple but powerful truth: while the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations, more than 80% of these deaths are preventable, particularly when patients have access to continuous, midwifery-led care.

Founded on April 11, 2024, during Black Maternal Health Week, birthFUND has quickly emerged as a leading voice in maternal health advocacy. In just two years, the organization has raised millions and supported hundreds of families across the country, from birth and beyond. The recognition took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles as part of the globally streamed Billboard Women in Music event, bringing together some of the most influential voices across music, culture, and entertainment.

By making a donation, attendees will not only contribute to critical care and resources but also be entered for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind diamond locket designed by Maggi Simpkins, valued at $4,500. “Being part of this work has been deeply personal,” Rowland said. “Every woman deserves to feel safe, supported, and cared for during one of the most vulnerable and powerful moments of her life.”

Through new initiatives like the birthFUND 100, a first-of-its-kind cultural power list mobilizing influential leaders and brands, the organization continues to build a national movement centered on care, dignity, and access.

As part of the evening, birthFUND also participated in a philanthropic activation, inviting audiences to directly support families in real time by funding access to midwifery-led care. “This moment is about more than awareness,” Welteroth said. “It’s about taking action and proving that when we come together as a community, we can change outcomes in real time.”

Osawese Agbonkonkon knows it’s the uniform that gets people’s attention first.

At the University of Texas, he is a high jumper for one of the nation’s top track and field powerhouses. He is tall, fast, and explosive, the kind of athlete coaches noticed before he fully saw the path for himself. But the more interesting part of Agbonkonkon’s story is not only how high he can jump but also how high his potential is.

Track was not the original plan. Soccer was his first love. Basketball came next. As a freshman in high school, he was already dunking, which made him hard to ignore. And even though the track coach kept asking him to come out, Agbonkonkon kept saying no. However, eventually, in his junior year, he said yes.

“I came out for that first practice, and it’s been only up from there… pun intended.”

The phrase — which he said with a sly grin — fits.

At his first high school meet, Agbonkonkon was placed in the junior varsity section, and he jumped high enough to win both the JV and Varsity competitions. By the summer, he had finished third at the AAU Junior Olympics and earned his first All-American honor, and in his first indoor season as a senior, he finished ranked No. 3 in the country.

“That was when I kind of figured that going to college for this was going to become the goal,” he said.

Now, at Texas, he is still measuring that distance.

He describes the high jump plainly: “I run a curve at a bar, try to plant my foot and clear a crossbar.” But the event requires more than a gift for jumping. It asks for timing, trust, repetition, and the ability to throw your body toward something that will fall the moment you are wrong.

A simple enough explanation, but symbolic in how he approaches life.

“You attack everything you do,” Agbonkonkon said of life as a student-athlete. “Whether that’s attacking practice on the track, whether that’s attacking meets, you have assignments, class, trying to get that done as quickly as possible.”

Agbonkonkon is studying economics with minors in history and English. And law school may be next. He’s willing to admit that the corporate world is somewhere in the picture.

But before that, there is a career professionally in track and field.

“I want to kind of put the country on notice that I’m here,” he said. But Agbonkonkon is not only interested in being seen as an athlete.

For most, just getting up on time for classes would be enough. However, Agbonkonkon is also a writer. Sci-fi, specifically. His book, Psychic Suit, follows a group of characters called Psychics, people whose powers come from an alien metal that crashed to Earth as a meteor. It’s a story that’s ready-made for the Hollywood screen, but underneath the genre, Agbonkonkon is wrestling with something real.

“The biggest message readers should walk away with is who has power, what are they doing with it, and how is that interacting with our world for the better or for the worse,” he said.

In the NIL era, Agbonkonkon understands that lesson even more. He sees athletes building brands through clothing, coffee, advertisements and collectives. His offering is different: a student-athlete with a sci-fi universe, a pitch deck, a TV Bible and ambitions that extend beyond the approach.

“How many athletes are walking around with a sci-fi book dealing with all these big real-world themes?” he said.

That is the fuller portrait. Agbonkonko, a first-generation Nigerian American from Dallas, grew up constantly reading. Sometimes, checking out more books than the school rules technically allowed because librarians knew he would bring them back. He traces some of that love to his mother, who was always a reader, and to sitting in the room while she taught his older sister how to read.

Now, he is trying to make room for all of it. In his words, “I see myself as a professional track athlete who’s also a relatively big-time sci-fi author, who’s also an executive producer on a TV show based off this book that he wrote.”

It sounds like a lot because it is. But Agbonkonkon does not describe it like a fantasy. He describes it like a plan.

For now, the high jump bar is still in front of him. So is everything else.

Stepping into May always comes with the urge to smell different. It’s not June, but it also feels like a warm-up to summer. You don’t want anything too dramatically different, just enough to signal that the season has shifted and so have you. Heavier winter scents start to feel like wearing a coat indoors, while something lighter, brighter, a little more intentional begins to make sense. Which is why catching a two-day Amazon fragrance moment right now feels less like impulse shopping and more like seasonal maintenance. You’re not just buying perfume, you’re recalibrating.

The options right now read like a personality test you actually want to take. Valentino’s Born in Roma Green Stravaganza leans crisp and green in a way that feels like fresh air hitting skin for the first time in months. Al Haramain’s Amber Oud Gold Edition goes the opposite direction, richer and more indulgent, the kind of scent that lingers in a room long after you’ve left it. Then there’s Billie Eilish’s now-signature bottle, sculptural and warm, sitting somewhere between intimate and noticeable, like it was designed to be discovered rather than announced.

This is where it gets fun, though, the ability to shift depending on the day. Calvin Klein’s Eternity and Ralph Lauren Romance both tap into that clean, just-left-the-house energy, subtle but put together in a way that feels intentional. Meanwhile, Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl Blush is softer than its name suggests but still knows how to flirt, and Mugler Alien does what it always does best, commanding attention without asking for it. These aren’t scents you wear on autopilot. They move with your mood.

Then there’s the quieter side of the lineup, the ones that feel a little more insider. Ellis Brooklyn’s Vanilla Salt lands somewhere between beach skin and soft sweetness, understated in a way that reads expensive. Boy Smells Coco Cream plays with warmth but keeps it light, never tipping into anything too obvious. And the Maison Margiela Replica set is basically a choose-your-own-memory situation, letting you decide if today feels like a jazz club, a beach walk, or something a little more nostalgic.

By the time summer fully settles in, your scent should already feel like second nature. Something that doesn’t require a second thought but still gets noticed. That’s the real appeal here. Not just stocking up, but figuring out which version of yourself you want to walk into the next season as, and making sure you smell like it.

Maison Margiela

Replica 4-Piece Fragrance Discovery Set

Price: $58 $50

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Ralph Lauren

Romance Eau de Parfum

Price: $70 $50

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Lancôme

Idôle Eau de Parfum

Price: $69 $56

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Al Haramain Amber Oud Gold Edition

Arabian Perfume for Women and Men Unisex

Price: $35 $32

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Twist Season No. 59

Eau De Parfum Inspired by C. Herrera G.o.o.d Girl, Long Lasting Perfume For Women, Jasmine, Almond & Vanilla

Price: $39 $28

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Carolina Herrera

Good Girl Blush for Women

Price: $289 $116

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MUGLER Alien

Eau de Parfum

Price: $100 $85

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Calvin Klein

Eternity Eau de Parfum

Price: $124 $99

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Eilish by Billie Eilish

Eau de Parfum Spray

Price: $68 $48

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Boy Smells

Coco Cream Eau de Parfum

Price: $78 $59

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Ellis Brooklyn

VANILLA SALT Eau de Parfum

Price: $115 $104

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Estée Lauder

Bronze Goddess Eau Fraîche Spray

Price: $102 $82

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Valentino

Donna Born In Roma Green Stravaganza

Price: $124 $103

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With Michael earning more than $217 million globally in its opening weekend, talk of a sequel is already building. That includes the biopic’s director, Antoine Fuqua, who confirmed in an interview with Billboard that the production originally filmed several years of Michael Jackson’s life beyond the point where the movie ends, with the Jacksons’ Victory Tour.

Of course, any sequel to this story can’t just chase the highs. It has to confront the more complex and controversial sides of Michael’s life, from the accusations to his reinvention, and ultimately, his untimely death. It’s a story that gets darker, more complicated, and harder to tell.

Here are five must-have moments in Michael Jackson’s life that would need to be included in a Michael sequel to tell the whole story.

Michael’s Bad Era

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Jackson entered a new phase in his creative journey. He released Bad in 1987, revealing an edgier side of his artistry. Donning his signature look, black leather embellished with buckles and studs, Jackson delivered five No. 1 hits from the album, including “Man in the Mirror.”

He also launched his first solo world tour, the Bad World Tour. Running from 1987 to early 1989, it featured the now-iconic hydraulic lift opening that launched him onto the stage in a frozen pose, triggering hysteria and fans fainting across the globe.

The Allegations Commence

The title of his hit album would be unfortunate foreboding. In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy. A civil lawsuit followed, alleging sexual battery, seduction, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Authorities searched Neverland Ranch, but no criminal charges were filed at the time. The case was settled out of court in 1994. Still, it marked the beginning of a series of allegations that would shadow Jackson for the rest of his life. This accuser’s name can never be mentioned in any dramatization of Jackson’s life.

Michael’s “Reinvention”

Determined to regain control of his narrative, Jackson shifted both his public and private life. In 1994, he married Lisa Marie Presley. A year later, he released HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, widely seen as a response to media scrutiny, featuring songs like “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Scream” with his sister Janet Jackson.

He became a father in 1997 with the birth of his first child, Prince, with Debbie Rowe, and welcomed two more children in the years that followed. This period marked a more introspective chapter for Jackson, whose appearance changed radically over the years.

The Documentary That Damned

Living with Michael Jackson, a 2003 documentary featuring unprecedented access, showed Jackson speaking candidly about his childhood, fame, and relationships with children, while maintaining he had never harmed any of them. Most likely intended to humanize him, the documentary instead reignited scrutiny. Soon after, Jackson was charged with multiple counts related to child molestation and administering alcohol to a minor. In 2005, he was acquitted on all counts.

Michael’s Untimely Death

Jackson was preparing for a comeback residency, This Is It, but never made it to the London stage. He died on June 25, 2009, at age 50 from acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication; his death was ruled a homicide. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for administering the drugs at Jackson’s home.

Any second act of Michael Jackson’s life can’t just be about music. It has to be about how a global icon became one of the most scrutinized figures in modern history. But Fuqua has stated he’d be upset if anyone else did it.

Michael is now playing in theaters.

The NBA’s regular-season awards do more than hand out trophies. They help define the season, spotlight the players who shaped it and, in some cases, mark the beginning of a new era.

With more honors scheduled to be announced throughout the week, this running tracker will be updated as each winner is revealed.

Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans Pelicans

DeAndre Jordan is the NBA’s 2025-26 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year, an award whose heartwarming origin story is named for Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes and given to the player considered the league’s best teammate on and off the court.

For Jordan, the honor reflects the kind of role veteran players often grow into as their careers evolve. He may not be at the center of every headline, or rocking the rim as he did early in his career, but this award points to the value of leadership, presence and the kind of steadiness teams lean on over the course of a season.

Basketball Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics

Brad Stevens was named the 2025-26 Basketball Executive of the Year, giving the Celtics president of basketball operations his second time winning the award. The league announced Stevens as Tuesday’s winner after Boston finished with 56 wins this season.

The honor recognizes the front-office work behind one of the league’s top teams, and for Stevens, it adds another line to a résumé that has grown quickly since his move from the bench to the front office.

Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks

Cooper Flagg is the NBA’s 2025-26 Rookie of the Year, adding one more accolade to a rookie season that drew attention from the start. The Mavericks forward won the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game, according to NBA.com.

For Flagg, the award reflects both production and expectation. The No. 1 pick entered the league with a level of attention most rookies do not get, then followed it with the kind of all-around season that kept him at the center of the Rookie of the Year conversation, becoming the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game.

Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the NBA’s 2025-26 Most Improved Player, giving the Hawks guard his first major individual regular-season award. The NBA announced the win on Friday, making him the latest name added to this year’s awards rollout.

For Alexander-Walker, the honor reflects a season in which his role and production both took a clear step forward. He became the fifth player in the last 35 seasons to make a year-over-year jump of at least 11 points per game, according to NBA.com. This the kind of leap that usually defines this award.

Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston Celtics

Derrick White is the NBA’s 2025-26 Sportsmanship Award winner, giving the Celtics guard the Joe Dumars Trophy for a season defined by his professionalism on the court. What makes this award so unique is that White was selected by current NBA players from a group of six finalists. He is also the second straight Celtics player to win the award, which was won the previous year by Jrue Holiday.

For White, the honor fits. He is not the biggest star in Boston’s lineup, but he has become one of the team’s most trusted two-way guards. He’s known for doing the small things that do not always show up in the box score consistently and with integrity.

Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs

Keldon Johnson is the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, earning the award for a season in which he brought toughness, scoring and stability to San Antonio’s bench. On a Spurs team built around youth and growth, Johnson gave the rotation an experienced presence and dependable production.

His case was not only about points. Johnson helped set a tone with his physicality, rebounding, and willingness to do a little bit of everything, which the Spurs will need every bit of in this first round against Portland, with their defensive player of the year, Wemby, in concussion protocol.

Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the winner the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award, in what may be several year-end awards for the Canadian. The Thunder guard has built a reputation as one of the league’s steadiest late-game scorers, and this award puts that part of his game front and center.

Named for Jerry West, the award recognizes the player who delivers when the game gets tight. For Gilgeous-Alexander, it reflects the calm, controlled style that has made him a difficult match-up, especially in the closing moments of the game.

Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

France’s Victor Wembanyama is the NBA’s 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year, giving the Spurs star his first major regular-season award and another milestone in a career that is moving fast. At 22-years-old, he is the youngest player to win Defensive Player of the Year, and he is also the first unanimous winner in the award’s history.

This places Wembanyama, alongside some of the league’s best defenders, including Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart, and many more. Gobert, Mutombo and Wallace are tied for the most DPOY wins with four each.

For Wembanyama, the win feels less like a surprise than a checkpoint on his NBA journey. This once in a lifetime talent, representing the next generation of the NBA and its international influence, has already become the kind of defender who erases the easy shot, cleans up mistakes, and makes teams rethink how they want to attack the paint. Now he has the award to prove it.

The NBA will announce additional awards throughout the week: Sportsmanship, and Most Improved. The MVP is typically announced mid-March.

Angela Williams has spent much of her life in service. Long before she became CEO of United Way Worldwide, she was the daughter of civil rights leaders, raised in a household where faith, duty and public responsibility were part of the inheritance.  

Her father worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. before becoming the third Black chaplain in the history of the U.S. Navy. And her mother stood beside him through decades of ministry and leadership.  

Williams would go on to build a remarkable career of her own as an Air Force JAG, federal prosecutor, Senate staffer, minister and nonprofit executive. One that eventually placed her at the helm of one of the world’s most recognizable philanthropic organizations. 

But these days, life looks very different. 

After stepping away from United Way, Williams is now in a season defined less by title than by caring for her mother and trying to understand who she is when one of the most visible jobs in philanthropy is no longer the first thing people associate with her.  

To describe the framework guiding her through it, Williams uses a phrase that has become central to this chapter of her life: 

The Four Ms 

Marriage, ministry, mom, and me. 

This framework emerged in the middle of a life that had become increasingly unsustainable. During her four and a half years as CEO of United Way, Williams traveled constantly, often through multiple cities in a single week. At the same time, her parents’ health needs were growing. 

She remembers getting calls from her sister while overseas — once in Dubai, once in Zurich — telling her their father had coded in the emergency room. Meanwhile, her brother and sister, both small business owners, were carrying much of the daily caregiving burden back home.  

Eventually, the decision that once may have seemed impossible became undeniable. 

“Four plus years into that, my brother and sister said, ‘It’s just not fair, Angie, it’s your turn,’” Williams said. “Is it hard to do? Is it a hard decision? Absolutely. But is it the right decision? Yes,” she continued. 

Williams’ story speaks to a broader truth: in many families, caregiving does not arrive neatly or on anyone’s timetable. It often collides with work, ambition and the expectations people have built around being dependable.  

For Black families especially, caregiving is often folded into a larger tradition of showing up for one another without always having the resources, policies or public language to support what that care actually costs.  

Beyond the Title 

Williams has spoken openly about how disorienting this transition has been. At times she’s described it as an “identity crisis.” That language marks a sharp contrast from the way the world once saw her as a public figure. 

“As a CEO and a leader, you’re supposed to show up strong in the public eye,” she said. “And especially as women, we want to check the box that we can do it all.”  

Now she is learning how to define herself outside of those neatly checked boxes. 

There is something especially resonant in her honesty. At her level of achievement, vulnerability can feel almost radical. Williams understands that people are watching, but she also knows many of them are living some version of the same reality of trying to care for loved ones while also making peace with the identities they once wore so confidently.  

A Part of the Purpose 

Williams has long understood her life not as a collection of separate careers, but as a calling expressed through different forms. The daughter of a pastor, she first lived that calling through music, serving in churches and leading worship. 

Later, on a trip to Israel, she felt an overwhelming sense that God wanted more from her ministry. “I was meant to reach people whose shadows would never darken the doors of a church,” she said.  

That moment led her to seminary and ordination, deepening a conviction that ministry did not stand apart from her life’s work in law or leadership.  

In this season, caregiving is not something Williams describes as a pause from purpose. It is part of the purpose.  

She has begun speaking more publicly about caregiving and the support caregivers need, using her own experience to advocate for policy and wider awareness of what families are navigating, often without adequate help. She points people toward resources like AARP, but yet her larger message remains that caregiving should not be treated as a private burden families are expected to absorb in silence.

It has real consequences for careers, finances, mental health, and identity.  

A Life Defined by Service 

Still, Williams resists the idea that this chapter is only about loss or sacrifice. 

What she talks about most often now is reordering. She still speaks, mentors, and moves in policy and leadership spaces. She has been invited into conversations at the Senate, the World Bank and the United Nations. But she also says there is comfort in no longer carrying out the daily responsibility of being CEO.  

“What I feel relief in is not having to manage a global system,” she said, “but yet to be able to still put time and energy and to be focused on the priorities that are my priorities and not necessarily a system’s priorities.”  

Even so, Williams is still looking ahead. She says mentoring young women brings her joy. So does speaking hope and sharing the lessons from her recent book, Navigating the Age of Chaos. What comes next will still include leadership, ministry, and public encouragement. 

The platform may be changing, but the calling is not. 

April showers were a torrential downpour… of great books to read this month. Because spring is also a season of renewal, this lineup includes mesmorizing memoirs, cultural healing, and inspiring guides that bring insight and warmth.

Let’s start with a steady stream of personal stories that tug at emotional heartstrings. Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms bears her soul in a new memoir, unearthing a modest but challenging childhood she tucked away to become a political powerhouse, and how she rescued a version of herself she thought she had to leave behind to succeed.

Chef Brigid Washington reveals just how hot it gets inside a prestigious culinary school, and that’s before the ovens are turned on. She journals her experiences as a Trinidadian student attending one of the top schools in the country, from brutal, unpaid internships to late-night vending machine dorm-room dinners.

In her debut book, journalist Sheinelle Jones brings forth a collection of wisdom from mothers, including the Williams sisters’ mom, along with her own parenting experiences, to highlight empathy, resilience, and finding joy in motherhood. Beloved actor Blair Underwood hones in on lessons learned from his mom, Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood, in his touching memoir.

Jess Hilarious has got us all in stitches with her new how-to on co-parenting when you’re no longer coupled. Or, if you need advice on surviving the wedding season, author Ruhama Wolle has whipped up the ultimate manifesto on bridesmaiding without losing your sanity. A selection of children’s books, from cookouts to celebrations of all the dads in our lives, helps educate and entertain the youngest readers.

Whether you’re craving a story that stirs your spirit, a laugh‑out‑loud escape, or a reminder of the power of community, April’s releases offer something to lift, challenge, and delight.

Check out these and more great reads by Black authors out this month.

The Rough Side of the Mountain: A Memoir

by Keisha Lance Bottoms

Price: $24

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A Soldier’s Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood

by Blair Underwood

Price: $22

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Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans

by Sheinelle Jones

Price: $20

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‘Til Death Do We Parent: Raising My Kid with His Dad

by Jess Hilarious

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Salt, Sweat & Steam: The Fiery Education of an Accidental Chef

by Brigid Washington

Price: $27

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Because of Dads

by K.E. Lewis

Price: $19

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At the Cookout

by Nadia Fisher

Price: $20

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I Hope You Elope: A Bridesmaid Survival Guide

by Ruhama Wolle

Price: $18

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The conversation resurfaces every prom season, but this year it reignited mid-April when a white woman on the internet dismissed Black prom send-offs as “hood prom baby mama culture,” arguing that this is the closest some girls will get to being a bride, so their families go all out. It was racist, lazy and wrong on its face, but it moved fast, the way these narratives always do, pulling in the same recycled talking points about excess irresponsibility and what Black families should or shouldn’t be doing with their money.

The clips at the center of the outrage are familiar. A teen steps out of a luxury car, a driveway turns into a red carpet, music is playing, cameras are up, and family and neighbors gather to watch the send-off. What reads as a celebration to the people present gets recoded online as spectacle in the worst way, something to mock or audit. The shift from witnessing to policing happens almost instantly, as if joy needs clearance before it can be public.

What’s actually happening is far less scandalous. Black families are marking a transition with intention. Prom is not just a dance, it’s a visual checkpoint between childhood and whatever comes next, and for many households, it’s one of the few moments that feels entirely theirs to define. The scale varies, but the instinct is consistent: make it feel significant, make it feel memorable, make it feel like something worth stepping into.

There’s a tendency to counter this by pointing to Black debutante balls and cotillions as proof that formal rites of passage already exist within the community, but that framing misses the reality. Those traditions are real but they represent a relatively small slice of Black students. Prom is the more democratic milestone, the one that cuts across class geography and background. It becomes the stage where polish pride and presentation show up in full, not reserved for a select few but accessible to many.

@laiitherula it’s coronation day! #debutante #cotillionball #blackgirls ♬ original sound – Audrey Friedrich

Other cultures are afforded the space to do exactly this without interrogation. Quinceañeras come with custom gowns, choreographed dances and banquet halls booked months in advance. Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs can stretch into multi-event productions. In affluent communities, Sweet Sixteens double as social debuts with designer wardrobes and full production value. These are framed as meaningful cultural even aspirational. They are rarely framed as irresponsible.

Black prom send-offs, by contrast, are filtered through suspicion. If it looks expensive, the assumption is that it must be reckless. If it’s Black, the assumption is that it must be compensatory. The idea that families might plan, save and choose to invest in this moment doesn’t seem to land. Not all Black families are struggling, and even the ones who are still make deliberate decisions about where celebration fits into their lives. The refusal to acknowledge that range is part of the problem.

There’s also a strange moral pivot that shows up in these conversations where people argue that students with bad grades shouldn’t be “rewarded” with prom as if that’s how access works in the first place. Schools already set the rules. Students who aren’t on track to graduate or who don’t meet behavioral standards often aren’t allowed to attend. The argument collapses under even a basic understanding of how prom functions but it keeps circulating because it supports the larger narrative people want to tell.

What’s really being policed is visibility. Black celebration that is big, stylish and unapologetic disrupts a long-standing expectation that it should be contained or tied to struggle. Prom send-offs reject that framing. They are communal, expressive and visually intentional with an understanding that how you show up matters. The tailoring is sharp, the dresses are considered and the entrances are planned. Nothing about it is accidental.

That sensibility isn’t new. Black communities have long treated presentation as a form of language, from church steps to family gatherings to any space where showing up well is both an aesthetic and cultural practice. Prom is simply a contemporary extension of that tradition, a space where young people translate what they’ve learned about style, pride and presence into a moment that belongs to them.

The internet flattens all of this into a clip and a caption, stripping away context in favor of something easier to judge. The same critiques cycle every year with little variation, rarely interrogated for what they reveal about the people making them. It’s easier to question the spending than to interrogate why Black joy, when it is visible and expansive, continues to make people uncomfortable.

So the issue isn’t that Black families go all out for prom. The issue is that when they do it gets read through a lens that assumes excess irresponsibility or imitation instead of intention. Until that lens shifts, the conversation will keep missing the point and Black prom will keep doing what it has always done: showing up fully on its own terms.

Let’s be honest: people still believe in love. The kind that’s intentional, secure, and worth giving your full self to. Especially Black women. Despite what timelines, podcasts, and group chats might suggest, the desire hasn’t gone anywhere; they’ve just evolved. In an era of situationships and extended talking stages, “soft commitment” has quietly become a staple gray area where everyone’s emotionally invested but nobody’s fully accountable. Still, even with all this variation, one thing is clear: this new normal comes with real consequences.

For many Black women, these prolonged states of ambiguity aren’t just frustrating; casual dating on the surface is, in reality, a pattern of emotional deferral where clarity is postponed and intention is rarely realized. While much has evolved, what remains constant is Black women’s genuine desire for something real and someone true. Despite the conversation of how “embarrassing” having a boyfriend may be framed the desire for partnership rarely disappears. So the question then becomes: how do we reconcile this tension? And in the midst of it all, what does “soft commitment” actually offer a society that already feels increasingly hollow? Perhaps the real task isn’t avoidance, but alignment.

Some might ask what exactly is “soft commitment,” though? It’s not quite the emotional unavailability of the past, nor is it the intentionality of traditional partnership. It lives somewhere in between. It’s the “we go together… but we’re not together” dynamic. The consistent inconsistency. The good morning texts without the long-term vision. The dates, the intimacy, the emotional labor—without the clarity. It’s intensity without direction. In many ways, soft commitment thrives on ambiguity. It offers just enough to keep both parties engaged, but rarely enough to build something sustainable.

In an era characterized by autonomy and self-focus, soft commitment allows people to explore connection without the perceived weight of obligation. There’s a freedom in being able to opt in and out, to prioritize personal growth, career, and healing without fully tethering oneself to another person. For men, especially, there’s been a noticeable shift toward transparency as mentioned earlier. There is no longer cloaking intentions in false promises, but instead laying out the terms upfront. This is what I can offer. Take it or leave it, but that honesty doesn’t always soften the impact. “A lot of relationships today aren’t clearly defined,” said Sommer Hill, Host & CEO of Sommer Time. “Situationships are more common now. People want the perks of a relationship (i.e., the companionship, cuddling, dating, sex) but not the responsibility, like emotional care and sacrifice.”

Instead, what often unfolds is a quiet negotiation between what is and what is desired. Not because the desire for more has diminished, but because the landscape seems to reward those who ask for less. “What we do now is we say we’re dating exclusively,” Hill said. “You’re not my boyfriend or girlfriend, but we’re only dating each other. Most relationships, though, stay stuck between talking and dating exclusively. At its core, that’s a situationship.”

This is where the tension becomes most pronounced. On one hand, there’s the cultural push toward independence, self-sufficiency, and even the popular rhetoric of “de-centering” men altogether. On the other hand, there remains a deeply human desire for partnership—for softness, for reciprocity, for a love that feels both grounding and expansive. These two truths are not mutually exclusive, but in practice, they often feel at odds. “I can no longer date men who subscribe to that spectrum,” Hill said. “I will only date men who go from getting to know me to being boyfriend and girlfriend. Ambiguous, undefined relationships don’t work for me.”

And perhaps that’s the real crux of soft commitment: it doesn’t just redefine how people date, it reshapes what people believe they can ask for. “While soft commitments may be frustrating to some, interestingly if expectations and boundaries are clearly managed they can be the strongest path to a healthy commitment (with them or someone else) down the line,” said Shan Boodram, Bumble’s Relationship Expert. “And this is actually a HUGE cultural shift because, as Dr. Fisher puts it, in our grandparents’ time, marriage was the beginning of a partnership, but today it is mid-point. Today’s singles want to know more about their partner before making any major investment in them. And there’s data to support this.” 

Still, even within this evolving framework, there are those pushing back. Those choosing clarity over convenience. Those willing to risk vulnerability in exchange for something more defined, more intentional, more real. Because beneath the layers of strategy, self-protection, and shifting norms, the core desire remains unchanged: to be chosen, fully and without hesitation.

According to a recent Bumble survey, 40% of Black women prefer to take things slow with the person they’re dating. If slow love is done correctly, with care and understanding for our tendency to fall in love as pair bonders, these strategies can help daters keep logic in the mix for longer when choosing long term partners, by slowing down the neuropeptides associated with attachment that are released in unavoidable amounts when we’re in fast and furious connections. Maybe the question isn’t whether soft commitment is good or bad, but what it’s costing us in the long run.