The day Beyonce turned black was a tragic day for many white people. The uncomfortable moment when she released “Formation” celebrating her black and Creole heritage and rejecting what is said about her family and their blackness was a big deal. She confronted society about their Illuminati accusations, comments on her daughter’s hair and her husband’s nostrils. This is a public service announcement: Beyonce has always been black. Beyonce has been black since the moment you saw her at 16 in Destiny’s Child; Beyonce has been black since she was born and she will always be black.
But on a more serious note, Beyonce’s “Formation” video was amazing. When I sat down to watch it, I was blown away at how talented she really was and not surprised that she had made yet another hit. But what did surprise me was the reaction to the video and her subsequent Super Bowl performance.
I heard a whole multitude of things from white people, the most important and most common of which was that they were going to boycott Beyonce. People who incessantly sung Beyonce on all their social media turned on her, claiming that they never really liked her to begin with and that she was being disrespectful. The most appalling argument I heard was that Beyonce and her dancers dressing like the Black Panthers was the same as a white performer dressing as a member of the KKK, and I heard it from multiple people.
WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Black Panthers are nothing like the KKK. The KKK is an organization dedicated to killing black people in the most ruthless ways. It is compiled of everyday citizens who are so racist that they are compelled to kill and maim their own neighbors and local children. The Black Panthers was an organization dedicated to the liberation of black people. They advocated for physical force, ONLY if physical force was inflicted on them. I don’t know about you, but I agree with them for the most part. I would not be able to march and allow people to beat me bloody without beating them bloody right back — but then again, I’m not a reverend and my name is not Dr. Martin Luther King.
WE NOW RETURN TO YOUR NORMAL PROGRAM:
If Taylor Swift decided to walk out dressed in white KKK sheets, it would be an entirely different situation because she would be representing an entirely different implication.
Saturday Night Live’s skit “The Day Beyonce Turned Black” got it right. I personally find it hilarious, and I encourage all of you to check it out—specifically all of you Beyonce haters just so you can understand how ridiculous you sound.