Wonderful for Whom? What Wicked Teaches Us About Black Women, Leadership, and the Cost of Refusing White Supremacy Culture

In our first blog, we talked about the Pet-to-Threat theory and how Elphaba moves from being adored to being feared the moment she stops being useful. This time, we’re going deeper into the ways Black women leaders are celebrated only when they conform to white supremacy culture, and how quickly that celebration evaporates the moment they lead in ways that challenge oppression.

If you’ve seen Wicked: Part One, think back to the song “Wonderful.”

The Wizard casually admits that he landed in leadership by accident. He calls himself “one of your dime-a-dozen mediocrities.”

Sound familiar? It should.

We have decades of data showing that Black women are more educated, more experienced, and more qualified than many of their peers yet remain significantly underrepresented in leadership. Think about the credentials of Kamala Harris compared to Donald Trump, or the resumes of Black women who are repeatedly passed over for roles where white men with half their experience are considered “visionary.”

This is not new. It is a feature, not a glitch, of systems designed to maintain white male dominance.

Although the Wizard doesn’t possess actual power, he stumbles into leadership and stays there because he is charismatic, charming, and most importantly a white man. That alone stabilizes his authority. This dynamic plays out across nonprofits, philanthropy, corporations, education, healthcare, the arts you name it. Charisma + whiteness becomes the leadership formula.

Meanwhile, Black women can have the credentials, the clarity, and the competency… and still hear, “You’re not the right fit.

“History” and Whose Truth Gets to Survive

When Elphaba questions the Wizard about his manipulative tactics, he responds with a line that should make every Black woman pause:

“Elphaba, where I'm from, We believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it 'history.'

This is the story of Black women in leadership.

History has mislabeled Black women as:

“angry” when we’re assertive

“unqualified” when we’re overqualified

“difficult” when we disrupt harmful norms

“not a culture fit” when we refuse to code-switch

“not strategic” when our strategies threaten inequity

From Harriet Tubman to Fannie Lou Hamer to Anita Hill to Nikole Hannah Jones to Melissa Harris-Perry, the Black women leading movements today, we see how quickly a liberator becomes “a problem” in the eyes of those who benefit from the status quo.

Elphaba is no exception.

When “Wonderful” Is a Trap

For a brief moment, Elphaba obliges. The Wizard and Glinda gush about how “wonderful” things will be if she just plays along.

Their version of wonderful?

No questions

No accountability

No challenge to systemic harm

No advocacy for the oppressed

If Elphaba ascribes to white, heteronormative leadership, she will be praised. She will be celebrated. She will be palatable.

She will also be a shell of herself.

Black women know this story intimately. We’ve been told:

“Stay agreeable.” “Don’t rock the boat.” “Just play the game.” “Be grateful to be here.”

Too often, we believe the lie that leadership requires shrinking, code-switching, compromising, or muting our brilliance for someone else’s comfort.

But here’s the truth: What they call “wonderful” is often just “wonderful for them.

And Then Comes the Shift

Like Elphaba, many Black women have a moment a single incident, a pattern, a betrayal where the curtain pulls back.

We see the inequity. We see the harm. We see the lie we were expected to uphold.

And we choose to lead differently.

That’s when the narrative changes.

Ask any Black woman leader and she’ll tell you:

The moment you stop performing white supremacy culture… The moment you stop making yourself small… The moment you start naming harm…

You go from celebrated leader to organizational villain. From “our rising star” to “too much.” From “perfect fit” to “not the culture we want to build.”

The pet-to-threat pipeline activates.

And if this hits a little too close to home…

This is the exact type of misalignment Black women bring into my coaching sessions, being overlooked, undermined, erased, or mislabeled when we lead with truth.

I’m currently offering two 90-minute sessions specifically for women of color navigating these challenges:

1️⃣ SHIFT & STRATEGIZE (Leadership Strategy Session)

For leaders dealing with misalignment, team dynamics, increased workload, or feeling undervalued — and needing boundaries, clarity, and a grounded plan of action.

2️⃣ CAREER STRATEGY SESSION

For those exploring new roles, updating materials, or wanting a values-aligned job search plan.

If you’re ready to reconnect to your values, reclaim your voice, and lead without compromising who you are…

👉 Comment READY 👉 Or send me a message to grab your spot (only 6 left).

You deserve leadership that doesn’t require shrinking.