Beyoncé: Let Black be synonymous with glory
‘Black Is King,’ redlining, a reading list, and podcasts — oh my!
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Source: “Black Is King”/ Photograph by Travis Matthews
Let me just start by saying … I need Beyoncé’s energy to be my MOOD 4 EVA — at least until the rest of 2020. Her radiating vigor emanates from album to album, but her new jaw-dropping visual album “Black Is King,” which dropped over the weekend on Disney+, is top-notch. (Honestly, I appreciate my other half for dealing with my screaming “YASS” and replaying scenes all over again).
Calling “Black Is King” merely a visual album is an understatement, because it’s atypically a work of art from the dancing, the acting, the lyrics, the fashion, the storytelling, and just the whole filmmaking itself. “Black Is King” was filmed as an addition to her 2019 “The Lion King: The Gift” soundtrack, weaving in some character lines from Simba, Mufasa, Rafiki, Timon and Pumba. If you haven’t watched it yet — or simply don’t have access to Disney+ — I won’t say too much except that Queen Bey took her music to a whole other level by venturing to the motherland to walk us through the history of African traditions, values and identity.
“History is your future,” she says among many of her quotable lyrics. The film-slash-visual album comes in concert with the amplifying cultural focus on Black experience — especially those of the African diaspora — and how they have been treated for centuries. “Life is a set of choices, lead or be led astray,” the Queen says at some point in the film, reminding me of the growing Black Lives Matter movement taking the streets and leading the way for racial justice. In an Instagram post back in June, when the film’s trailer was released, Beyoncé touched on how timely the film is given current events.
“The events of 2020 have made the film’s vision and message even more relevant, as people across the world embark on a historic journey,” the Queen wrote. “We are all in search of safety and light. Many of us want change. I believe that Black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our REAL history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books.”
A few links to read more on “Black Is King” …
‘Black Is King’: Beyoncé’s visual album is a feast of fashion and symbolism by Marianna Cerini, CNN
5 Takeaways From Beyonce’s Elaborate New Visual Album ‘Black Is King’ by Claire Shaffer, Rolling Stone
Black Is King review – Beyoncé’s love song to the black diaspora by Chanté Joseph, The Guardian
Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’: Let’s Discuss by Jason Farago, Vanessa Friedman, Gia Kourlas, Wesley Morris, Jon Pareles and Salamishah Tillet, The New York Times
Figure of the week: 260
The number of employees from a large school district in Georgia that have tested positive for COVID-19 after an in-person pre-planning session. Still, the Trump administration is pushing to open schools this fall despite growing opposition from teachers, parents, and students. Read more at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A Trump tweet I cannot ignore …
Speaking of the Black experience, I want to address something that President Trump insensitively tweeted a week ago:
“I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood…” Trump said in a tweet. “...Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!”
If you aren’t well-versed in the historic housing segregation laws during the Jim Crow era, then you’ll probably miss the bigger problem of this tweet. What Trump calls the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream” wasn’t — or isn’t — exactly shared equally among white households and people of color, especially Black households. This goes back to racist city planning policies like “redlining,” which is the government-sanctioned effort and intentional denial of providing people of color, especially Black folks, housing loans and insurance. As a result Black communities were pushed out to neighborhoods that the government had labeled “red” and “hazardous,” which were eventually called the “slums” or the “ghettos.”
This is why Trump’s tweet, among many others, is so problematic. If you want to learn more about redlining and racist city planning policies, my colleague Daniel Penner and I filmed this video for Grist giving an in-depth explanation of how extreme heat is way worse in formerly redlined neighborhoods than wealthier, white suburbia.
Beyond the Black struggle depicted by Queen Bey’s “Black Is King” film and previous federal racist policies, there are many legacies of injustice rooted from oppressive history that still exist today. As renewed calls for racial justice either wane or grow stronger, remember what Beyoncé said, “You’re part of something way bigger.” Don’t give up now. Hakuna Matata!
by Rachel Ramirez
A reading list, you say? 📖
How the Pandemic Defeated America: A virus has brought the world’s most powerful country to its knees by Ed Yong, The Atlantic
Hawaii Wanted to Save Insurance Money. People Died by Anita Hofschneider, Honolulu Civil Beat
John Lewis fought for equal protection. That means tackling pollution, poverty, and policing by Yvette Cabrera, Grist
Latinos transformed Arizona. Do campaigns see them? by Jose A. Del Real, The Washington Post
“We can’t allow Pacific leaders to use coronavirus as a cover for authoritarianism” by Dan McGarry and Tess Newton Cain, The Guardian
If you don’t listen to these podcasts, waterrr you doin’? 🔊
Still Processing hosted by Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris, The New York Times
Throughline hosted by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei, NPR
Asian Enough hosted by Jen Yamato and Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times
thanks for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already. see you next week!