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Beyoncé associating Blackness with wealth/regality is corrective promotion and y’all need to be happy about it. too often blackness is associated with struggle/poverty. and the messaging I get from her often is that wealth and regality lives inside us, it’s not always material.
she said Black is King. period. not wealthy Black is king. not rich Black is king. the regality begins at our status as black people. blackness is the prerequisite to our regality. not wealth. wealth may or may not follow.
the thing is, I’m seeing a whole lot of wasteful criticism and not enough constructive criticism. if not what she gave us, then what? do you want Africa represented in the media or not? because when it’s shown through a lens of poverty, it’s also a problem.
it’s understood Blackness needs to be celebrated outside of the standards of capitalism, but when you have endless “poor Africa” commercials, amongst other things, indoctrinating people into thinking Africa is literally a less than continent, isn’t corrective promo necessary?
instead of offering empty critiques suggest what you want to see???
if AAs separate themselves from the continent, it’s an issue, if AAs attempt to connect to the continent, it’s an issue. but it’s so important for AAs to feel at least some form of connection to where we all come from. this type of promotion encourages that connection.
so many black people are taking African black diaspora courses in college. majoring/minoring in it. returning to african spirituality. attempting to incorporate african art into african American art. to me, that’s really beautiful.
I understand some criticisms and Beyoncé is not above critique. but.. you can see the effort. she puts so much into it and makes sure to include african artists. which she’s been doing for years. what is it that you truly are bothered by?
I can respect the critique that seeing Africa as either a kingdom or an impoverished land is reductive. but, I think what beyonce did was necessary because it’s Beyoncé. it’s her impact that can completely change the narrative we’ve all been fed about Africa.
once this narrative is changed, it’s a good move to start simply portraying Africa as any other continent. with lawyers, doctors, teachers, students, etc. in my opinion, it’s just a good move to counteract one extreme negative stereotype, with the opposite promotion first.
I conclude by saying I’m not going to argue about it like I normally would. these are all my opinions, I’m entitled to them, and honestly I’m not wrong. debate with anyone but me. go watch black is king. period.
