If you haven’t heard Beyonce’s new song Formation then I highly suggest you go onto Youtube at this exact moment and watch her video before reading the rest of this article. If you’re anything like me, you LOVE Beyonce. I mean she’s absolutely perfect. From her strong, long legs to her perfectly sculpted facial features, Queen B is truly royalty. Her music has been forerunning the charts for years but now it has reached a whole new level. With her infamous new video, Beyonce has just slayed the music industry as she gives her song true and current political meaning. With a plethora of reaction videos responding to the new hit single, Beyonce is captivating audiences around the globe, inspiring women, especially colored women, to step outside racial boundaries and be the strong, independent women they were born to be. “Formation” uses striking images and political relevance to break black stereotypes, proving that being an african american women is one of the most powerful things a person can be.
Beginning her video on top of a sinking New Orleans police car, Beyonce just completely gave the ultimate F**k you to cops. Proving her disgust with the injustice African Americans face daily with the police force, Queen B is standing by #BlackLivesMatter and created this music video to prove that. Other political statements seen within the music video include the graffitti wall with the statement “Stop Shooting Us”. This powerfully striking message is directly aimed towards the unjust police force attacking the black community. These statements are within her video to teach her audience that now is the time for change. Right now is the time for the black community to get the rights and respect they deserve because black lives truly do matter.
Not only does she use political statements to get her point across to viewers but she includes numerous black stereotypes within the video, using them as a strength rather than a set back. With the reference to afros, Red Lobster, braids, hot sauce and lower income housing communities a vivid image of the black communities are created that many have never seen before. “When he f**k me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay”. Probably one of the most famous lines from B, proving she’s absolutely unapologetically black. Another striking form of imagery used within her video is the switch from such a high quality video to a lower quality tape recorder for the outside dance scene. This should immediately be taken as a relation to the lower quality videos seen for many police brutality videos taken in these poorer cities. The simple fact is, Beyonce didn’t have to say any of this, we all understood by watching her perfectly crafted video.
I absolutely believe this is one of her greatest pieces of work and I hope it gets the attention and love it deserves. Not only does it speak for the African American communities but it teaches audiences around the world to accept everyone around you, regardless of their skin color or tax bracket. Beyonce is shutting down racial stereotypes and so should we. No one should be confined to a social standard or stereotype. We are all individuals with individual stories and we need to allow our unique character to truly flourish in this world. It’s imperative that we put an end to the bullying, shaming and judging that occurs daily in society. Let’s be fierce. Let’s take action. Let’s get in formation.