The Impact of “Formation”

Now, I’m not here to speak on the impact of Beyoncé as a person. We all know that she is a power house, and everything that she has done in the last 10 years has been a success. I just want to explain the very real impact of her latest song and music video: Formation.

The song starts with her attacking nay-sayers who claim that she is a part of Illuminati. Her “haters” have been calling her an Illuminati queen for years, implying and outright accusing her of being the devil’s spawn. All because she is one of, if not the most, successful female artists out there. Hell, she’s one of the most successful artist out there — male or female. But it’s not her attacking her “haters” that’s so incredibly powerful about this song and video. It’s the imagery of the video and the lyrics. “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afro”, “I like my negro nose with Jackson five nostrils” and the lyrics I like the most “you might just be a black Bill Gates in the making” are just a few examples of the praise Beyoncé offers the black community. It’s safe to say that mainstream media isn’t exactly a fan of blackness. They or it rather loves our hair, our music, our ass and our lips. But there are physical features they deem to be “too black” and therefore undesirable. Our noses is one of these features.

She goes on to say that she loves her baby — Blue Ivy Carter with baby hair and afro. The 4 year old child has been attacked (yes, attacked) for having an afro. People have made claims that Beyoncé doesn’t brush her child’s hair, implying that if you brush an afro it all of a sudden turns into a white person’s hair. I’m sorry to inform you, but it does not. You can of course brush an afro, but it will still be an afro.

She also says that she just might be a black Bill Gates in the making and that you (as the listener) might be as well. I interpret this to mean that she believes that she and other blacks are capable of changing the world with their innovation in the field that they specialise in.

When I first saw this video and heard the song I was in an airport. I had been there for a few hours already, and saw the video as soon as it was linked on my Facebook by one of my Facebook friends. I then watched it three more times with rap genius in another tab to make sure that I got all the references. And I have to be honest: I did choke up a little. Maybe even shed a tear. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t crying because of Beyoncé herself or because I got the “feels”. I cried because I understood what this video would mean for young black children of America and the world. The mere fact that someone as successful and respected as Beyoncé announced that she not only likes her “negro nose”, but that she also likes her child’s afro will make any child who looks up to Beyoncé have more confidence in what they look like and who they are. It will mean that a kid in Louisiana will feel proud enough of their hair to walk out of their house without putting it in a bun, braiding it or putting any sort of relaxer in it. They will walk out of their house afro, curls, frizziness and all. No shame, just pure bliss. Because Beyoncé told them they could.

This might sound lofty, or that I’m reaching, but whether you like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not media has an impact on our children. I grew up only seeing white children, white men and white women. I grew up thinking whiteness was the standard and that even a shade darker than that was intolerable. I grew up thinking that the physical features that showed my heritage and my race were the worst things about me. So, yes, black children seeing black people being proud of those very features will make them feel like they are beautiful as well.

I don’t know about you, but I really don’t care why black kids are proud of their blackness as long as they are. I want them to bask in the beauty of their black skin, big curly hair and a wide nose with big flaring nostrils. I want them to whip and nae nae all the way to school knowing that they are the shit. I want them to think that black is as beautiful as any other race on earth.

I know there will be more songs celebrating blackness and I’m so beyond ready for them. I am so incredibly ready to push aside all of the hate on blackness, and replace it with acknowledgment, respect and understanding. And that starts with the black community. When we love ourselves, support each other, build each other up and love each other there is nothing we can’t do.

I have faith that the world is changing, but there is a lot of work to be done and in my opinion the most important work is teaching our black children that they are beautiful and black. Of course, the police will have to stop killing us first.