The Essence of Freedom

I’m going to do my best not to be bias, but forgive me for I am a Beyoncé STAN. Absolutely anytime Beyoncé shows her face, name, or ass on any platform, I’m all eyes and ears.  I’ve fallen in love with Beyoncé’ unique approach to marketing and styling her brand.  She’s certainly trying to exhibit that she has full control.

When she released her video and song on Saturday, I was awe inspired by her boldness.  Beyoncé has been doing a really great job of developing her political ideology and capturing it in her art.  She’s been growing, changing, and taking control of her identity, which is why I love her. I was certainly anxious after the first half of the super bowl ended.  The anticipation had made me just as nervous as Cam Newton was playing on the field, plus, I was appropriately super bowl inebriated.

However, once that camera changed from a slickly dressed Bruno and his crew, and I saw those black bereted dancers assembled in a faux military formation, my heart started pounding.  She had done it.  Beyoncé was bold enough to dress her black womanhood in sexy black leather, fishnets, and garters, while simultaneously paying homage to some influential black men.  She began with the black power fist, a salute to the Black Power movement a term coined by Stokely Carmichael, and a continual allusion to the Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton.  The dancers successfully morphed into a ‘X’ formation, ubiquitous of Malcolm X, and Beyoncé wore a gold embroidered military jacket in homage of Michael Jackson.  I wanted to pass out.

I was watching one of my idol’, second only to Malcolm X, blend three very different ideologies, in two minutes and thirty-three seconds.  She was promoting Black Nationalism, encompassing the power and respect of black womanhood, while performing with a prominent British band and Bruno Mars; clearly reminiscent of Martin Luther King’ ideas of inclusion.  Even though Dr. King seemed to be drifting more towards Black Power ideals before his death. At the end of the performance, the stadium had turned into an array of color with the message to, “Believe in love.”

These ideas don’t necessarily blend.  Black consciousness and ideas of Black Power are reverberating amongst our community.  However, historically our communities have been resistant to embracing homosexuality; particularly Black Nationalist and Christian communities alike.  The ideals of inclusion amongst all people aren’t always apart of these ideals either, but in that moment Beyoncé wasn’t concerned about the nuances of these differing ideologies.  She wasn’t even interested in the opinions of the white network she was performing on or the white families at home.  The moments that are occurring now show that Black people once again are speaking openly about black rights, lives, movements, and history, in open spaces occupied by whites.  Now, I’m not too keen on having white allies; it’s interesting and difficult to teach non-black people about the struggles of living a black life.  It inspires hope to see us continuing to bring these issues to a national platform.

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Her husband are choosing to boycott the Oscars for a lack of representation. More artists and celebrities are choosing to use their social media to backlash at our representations in society.  There is still a lot of work to be done and we still have a very large system to undertake; and, no Beyoncé is not the end all, be all of these movements. However, the fact that she was willing to use her platform to perform ‘Formation’ and the fact that her and her husband were willing to put money behind a movement like Black Lives Matter, something they believe in, shows that the fear is diminishing.  Let it continue to subside.