BADASS!

Mrs. Knowles-Carter, on this day, you ignited my creativity. You became my Muse, and I thank you.

Edward D. Sargent’s First One-Word Essay | May 18, 2024

Was researching/surfing the Worldwide Web on this rainy day in Washington, D.C. when I came across an N’Digo article about Beyoncé’s triumph over racialized critics who claimed the musical phenom was not qualified to sing Country and Western music.

[She left those critics in her dust as she raced her “Cowboy Carter” album into American history, reaching the top of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart — as well as to the top of the magazine’s all-genre Billboard 200 chart.]

I scrolled down the computer screen, briefly skimming the words and pictures. When I saw the above image of a brown cowgirl wearing a white cowboy hat; ripped, white, wife beater-style top; and denim cowboy pants cut open at the crotch — my trigger finger froze atop the Mouse wheel.

Whoooaaah!

My eyes widened. My neck pulled my face towards the computer screen.

I felt the sensation of suddenly seeing something beautiful, unique and compelling — like watching an exotic Queen Butterfly dancing out of nowhere and landing on my nose.

The image lassoed my eyeballs.

Beyoncé was captivating, artful and playful. Her huge hat casted a shadow over her eyes, like the iconic mask of a bad guy; and her two hands pretended to be pistols, as she leaned to her right and aimed left.

I smiled … and then I laughed out loud.

After I enjoyed the brief, stress-relieving chuckle, my mind intuitively tried to find the perfect word to describe what I was observing (a symptom of the writing affliction).

Then, one simple, two-syllable word raced from a recess in my brain, and delightfully leaped from my lips:

Beyonce.com | Cowboy Carter Promotional Art | May 18, 2024

And with that, I happily accepted Beyoncé as the Muse responsible for sparking my inaugural one-word essay. I’ll call it:

Edward D. Sargent’s Daily One-Word Essay

This is significant to me as a writer, because I tend to offer one-word comments/responses when I am on social media. I also like to add punch to my stories with one liners. Now, I have a framework for how I can bring that same inclination to a more public platform. In other words, the one-word challenge I am giving myself fits my personality. I can do this.

Everyday.

Hence, on this day, I declare to you, my friendly reader, and to the rest of the world as well that I shall each day for the rest of my life fling into the Internet what I decide is the one-word that best expresses my opinion or reaction to an image, story, incident or whatever it may be that I come across on the Internet or elsewhere.

I invite you to come along with me, my friend. Ride with this sixty-plus-year old cowboy as his youthful creativity continues to give birth to new ways to fly.

God knows, “It been a long time a comin’.”

Thanks for the inspiration, Beyoncé Badass.

I needed this.

Sources | End Notes

N’Digo article: Why Can’t Mrs. Carter Sing Country And Western?
by Dr. Hermene Hartman | April 3, 2024

Beyonce.com

Beyoncé | Biography, Music & News | Billboard

PridePublishingGroup.com: Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” Gallops to №1, Making History on Billboard 200 Music Chart | by Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent April 18, 2024

“‘Cowboy Carter” arrives with the equivalent of 407,000 sales in the United States, and in addition to topping the all-genre Billboard 200 chart it is also №1 on the magazine’s Top Country Albums chart, the first time a Black woman has led that tally in its 60-year history.” NYT.com

Study.com: What are the characteristics of Country and Western music?

Vox.com: The Western visuals of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, decoded | Country music uses the West as a synecdoche for America. Beyoncé is here to disrupt that. | By Constance Grady@constancegrady | April 7, 2024