I would just expand thus by saying entertainers in general. The way people talked about Chadwick Boseman, the way people used to talk about Will Smith, I think makes it clear that we hold up entertainers period as leaders...
What I would question the board on, is do we NEED a national leader? It was dope having Obama as a face but many of us didn't view him as "our" leader, and we've created an existence over here without having black politicians in the highest profile role...
Same way we question why we exalt athletes and entertainers, why does it have to be someone political? History is rife with examples of people in political spheres that weren't exactly role models...
Our leaders start at the local level, I do believe that. Really, it starts at home, then it extends into your community. There should be a network of at least somewhat connected groups/leaders in everyone's community, but I don't think people domestically realize how big the United States is. We have essentially the same geographic area as the entire continent of Europe. I don't know if it's possible to have just one leader of a nation this big...