Lemonade as a Black Feminist Freedom Song

“Lemonade” is a Black feminist freedom song. It is a battle cry.

As I listened to “Freedom (Ft. Kendrick Lamar)” for perhaps the 50th time since it dropped last Saturday, I was reminded that:

• I am 23 years old
• It is 2016
• My people still need freedom songs. Our people still need freedom songs.

By our people I mean Black women, Black girls, Black gender-non-conforming people, Black teenagers, Black boys, Black men, Black elderly people and our Black ancestors who are still guiding us through this life of unfreedom.

Most especially, Beyoncé and her team of artists are speaking to Black women. They are painting a picture of our condition. They are telling many of our stories and they are doing it through aesthetically, sonically and sensually invigorating content (mostly in this context in the “appealing to the senses” definition but also, of course, as in the erotic pleasures of Black womanhood).

Like many across the world, I was captivated by my first viewing of “Lemonade”. Though Beyoncé has made commentary through her art on various issues hearkening to a Black feminist tradition in the past, they have been relatively subliminal until recently. They have also sometimes been problematic and we have critiqued her much more harshly than Black men or white people are critiqued for their problematic artistic productions. Yet, it is as though her political messages have gotten more and more intensified by the decade. Perhaps as we have been intensifying our collective consciousnesses about our positionalities as a Black diaspora in an anti-Black world, so has Queen Bey.

There is a pattern of Black musicians using seemingly apolitical content (although being Black is always political) to catapult their successes, then bringing on the blatantly pro-Black content once they are established in their fame and wealth. This is necessary because their success is largely dependent on white dollars, pounds, reais, pesos etc. And white dollars, pounds, reais, pesos etc. typically avoid funding revolutionary public content. Revolutionary public content reminds us of the racist-heteropatriarchal-capitalist system that controls us, or tries to, at every moment. Revolutionary public content fuels revolutions, rebellions, revolts, maroonage, movements, and war. In following this historical tradition, Beyoncé has become Queen Bey of the Beyhive by using her talent to appeal to largely white audiences. White people have loved her and her music so much, they almost forgot she is Black… until now (well, technically until “Formation”). Yes, Black audiences have always loved Beyoncé too, but those who control media and big money ultimately are the ones who dictate which artists gain worldwide popularity. Whether intentionally strategic or not, she has built her empire by creating seemingly “racially neutral” (which is not possible since she never stopped being Black, though being light-skinned and appealing to certain Eurocentric beauty standards has helped), fun, mainstream music. However, as Beyoncé has grown in wisdom, success and control over her empire and our world’s racial tensions have intensified tremendously, she is now speaking directly to us. To Black people and especially Black women.

White audiences and all other non-Black people are welcome to enjoy the incredible artistic masterpiece that is “Lemonade” and hopefully learn how to be better allies to us. Black men can also watch “Lemonade”, and learn about the complexity of Black womanhood and be in solidarity against global anti-Blackness. However, this consumption is hopefully done knowing that this one in particular is finally for us. It is for Black women and femmes of the African diaspora who are “the most despised in America” or truthfully, the most despised in the world. “Lemonade” is a freedom song for those of us who are being and have historically been trampled on by a racist-heteropatriarchal-capitalist world. It is for those who are still here, twerking with bare feet on fresh soil, baby hairs laid, while sipping on southern-style lemonade. It is also for those whose breathes have been taken away by a system that seeks to eradicate our lives and our joy.

“Lemonade”is a freedom song that says, “We are here, gloriously surviving, creating and radiating all the beauty you taught us to hate.” But it is also saying, “Despite common misconceptions of our humanity, we Black women are sentient beings who are hurting, and who deserve the space to express the full complexities of our emotions.” It is a freedom song that delivers a warning that we will not be trampled on any longer, not by cheating partners who we are taught to make ourselves small and silent for, or by racist, militarized cops on a genocidal mission to eradicate our communities.

Whether or not Jay-Z cheated on Beyoncé, isn’t actually the point (though this question has kept us all vigorously searching the internet for answers), the point is that Black women have suffered at the bottom of the totem poll for too many hundreds of years. Beyoncé is calling us into formation for a revolution that undoes this racist-heteropatriarchial system. Though I won’t go so far as to say Beyoncé is calling for a destruction of capitalism, as she herself is the embodiment of Black opulence (maybe one day), I will say that she is calling for a restructuring of who has access to wealth. She is using her new label, Parkwood Entertainment, to hand select Black female talent such as Chloe x Halle and Ingrid, and bring them into the limelight with her stamp of approval. Additionally, by featuring the poetry of Warsan Shire in “Lemonade” and including the presence of Amandla Sternberg, Zendaya, Serena Williams, Ibeyi and others, Beyoncé is providing a platform for and demanding that Black women be visible and central to fame and wealth. Though problematic in her failure to include other aspects Black womanhood (fat, gender-queer, disabled, etc.) we can only hope that she will continue to expand her consciousness and make space for all of our complexities. We can also take this for what it is; sweet, delicious, tart, southern, diasporic, revolutionary fuel to sip on for optimal Black femme hydration as we march in formation, into war against the systems of oppression that have chained us.

“Lemonade” is a drum call summoning us into battle, reminding us that, “we who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes”. What we do with this battle cry is not on Beyoncé. It is on us to define our futures and our freedoms.