I have to say in all honesty that this month is going pretty well for black people. I know I'm late in posting this, but there is a good reason why.
Beyonce released a new video for her new single "Formation" which is basically just a celebration of her blackness. It features a cop car from New Orleans that is in flood water, a group of people in church, some young girls with beautiful Afros, and a line of ladies who are all dancing in formation. The song talks about how people attribute Beyonce's success to Illuminati, black love, taking her man to Red Lobster, and celebrating her blackness. Many love the song to death and this new song was a follow up to announce Beyonce's new Formation tour which has sold out tickets in the UK in under 30 minutes. Following her Formation single, Beyonce performed at the Super Bowl and killed it. Her dancers paid tribute to the Black Panther party and to 26 year old Mario Woods who was shot 20 times by San Francisco police. Of course, many white people were outraged by Beyonce's performance saying that it was racist and that the Super Bowl is not the platform for a political statement. Many white people are holding rallies against Beyonce and against Red Lobster because of her reference to the restuarant chain. These white people obviously think that Beyonce's song is racist and the fact that Red Lobster has not completely shamed Beyonce's for referencing them in her song that in turn they are also racist. So now there are white people who are boycotting Red Lobster and Beyonce. Good luck with that.
Kendrick Lamar was nominated for 10 Grammy's and won 5. He also had a performance that used as a platform to promote the Black Lives Matter movement. He started with his song The Blacker The Berry with him chained to other black men in jumpsuit representing the mass incarceration of black men in our society. This is correct by the way because African Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated than White Americans are. He then went into his song Alright which has become an anthem of hope for the Black Lives Matter platform. His dancers switch from depressing jumpsuits to neon painted jumpsuits while dancing to African style music. He goes into rapping the song Alright and goes into rapping his new verse "Untitled" coming up on his new album. His whole performance was very relevant and amazing and it made me happy that I am black.
Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar are using their influence to promote change and impact others. They are bringing forward issues that many people will not discuss in their everyday lives, but these issues affect millions of others. So when they see this strong representation of issues that directly affect African Americans, it is important. Like in his performance, Kendrick rapped "On Feb 26, I died too." February 26, 2012 is the day Travyon Martin died. He also rapped "2012 set us back 400 years" because 400 years ago is when we think about when black people had no rights, but unfortunately, that's still relevant today. Also, during his performance, CBS bleeped out his line in his rap lyric referencing to police brutality.
All in all these two events has made this Black History Month lit.
Beyonce released a new video for her new single "Formation" which is basically just a celebration of her blackness. It features a cop car from New Orleans that is in flood water, a group of people in church, some young girls with beautiful Afros, and a line of ladies who are all dancing in formation. The song talks about how people attribute Beyonce's success to Illuminati, black love, taking her man to Red Lobster, and celebrating her blackness. Many love the song to death and this new song was a follow up to announce Beyonce's new Formation tour which has sold out tickets in the UK in under 30 minutes. Following her Formation single, Beyonce performed at the Super Bowl and killed it. Her dancers paid tribute to the Black Panther party and to 26 year old Mario Woods who was shot 20 times by San Francisco police. Of course, many white people were outraged by Beyonce's performance saying that it was racist and that the Super Bowl is not the platform for a political statement. Many white people are holding rallies against Beyonce and against Red Lobster because of her reference to the restuarant chain. These white people obviously think that Beyonce's song is racist and the fact that Red Lobster has not completely shamed Beyonce's for referencing them in her song that in turn they are also racist. So now there are white people who are boycotting Red Lobster and Beyonce. Good luck with that.
Kendrick Lamar was nominated for 10 Grammy's and won 5. He also had a performance that used as a platform to promote the Black Lives Matter movement. He started with his song The Blacker The Berry with him chained to other black men in jumpsuit representing the mass incarceration of black men in our society. This is correct by the way because African Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated than White Americans are. He then went into his song Alright which has become an anthem of hope for the Black Lives Matter platform. His dancers switch from depressing jumpsuits to neon painted jumpsuits while dancing to African style music. He goes into rapping the song Alright and goes into rapping his new verse "Untitled" coming up on his new album. His whole performance was very relevant and amazing and it made me happy that I am black.
Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar are using their influence to promote change and impact others. They are bringing forward issues that many people will not discuss in their everyday lives, but these issues affect millions of others. So when they see this strong representation of issues that directly affect African Americans, it is important. Like in his performance, Kendrick rapped "On Feb 26, I died too." February 26, 2012 is the day Travyon Martin died. He also rapped "2012 set us back 400 years" because 400 years ago is when we think about when black people had no rights, but unfortunately, that's still relevant today. Also, during his performance, CBS bleeped out his line in his rap lyric referencing to police brutality.
All in all these two events has made this Black History Month lit.
