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| Beyoncé on a sinking NOLA police car |
"Okay, ladies, now let's get in formation"
The music video for Beyoncé's Formation song alludes to various problems African Americans face in today's society. Throughout the video the camera pans to a New Orleans(NOLA) police vehicle submerged in water with Beyoncé on the top of the car. The video also shows clips of houses submerged in water. One concludes that the clips reference to Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane devastated Louisiana and displaced millions of citizens.
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| Blue Ivy (Beyoncé's child) and co. running around with natural hair |
Not only does Beyoncé reference the problem in NOLA, she also references the problems African American girls face with western beauty ideals. She sings " I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils", which references the problem many women face with scrutiny on their natural hair. In today's job market women who conform to western ideals of hair are more likely to be hired for a job then women with natural (Afro-like) hair (Janin).
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| boy and policeman with hands raised Black Lives Matter |
At the end of the video, the camera pans to a boy breakdancing in front of a line of police men. The little boy then stops and raises his hands in the air, the policemen follow and put their hands in the air. The camera then pans to graffiti on a wall , the graffiti states "Stop Shooting Us". This references the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement was created after the fatal shooting of Trayvone Martin by George Zimmerman. The movement "is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates [today's] society (About black)"
Link to Beyoncé's video:
"AboutBlack Lives Matter." Black Lives Matter RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2016.
Janin, Alex. "What the Perception of 'Professional' Hair Means for Black Job Seekers." TakePart. N.p., 13 Apr. 2016. Web. 04 June 2016.
First off, LOVE Beyoncé and her role as a feminist and political activist. Her take on the police brutality against the African American community is absolutely highlighted in "Formation". Her performance of this song at the Super Bowl got the conversation going, but not for the right reasons. Instead of sparking a debate about police brutality and their senseless targeting of the Black community, news stations seemed to be focusing on Beyoncé as an anti-American figure. I try to stay away from reading the comment sections of hot topics, but I wound up on a HEAVILY conservative page (no bias against a conservative affiliation), and the comments were disgustingly racist and degrading to women. Here she is trying to keep the audience alert to the actions being taken against our nation's own citizens, but instead all that was focused on was her calling out the inequalities as if that is the real crime! So disheartening to read. The visual and audio versions that "Formation" brings are two distinct experiences for the listener to interpret. Audibly, I hear black pride being expressed in a delightfully sassy tone that would has me quietly giggling when I see the ugly side of conservatives squirm. Visually, there are so many elements crafted together that express the deeper issues to our nation's inequality that Beyoncé just did not have time to vocally concern. She leaves NO room for the viewer to question how she feels about the police targeting the Black community, and her sinking on top of the police car is iconic. Great post!
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