“Beyoncé’s Lemonade is #blackgirlmagic at its most potent”
“The journey in Lemonade centers on a movement for Beyoncé — but really all of us black women by proxy — from pain toward healing and empowerment. There are frequent cuts back to images of deep backwoods country, with its majestic cypress trees, juxtaposed with the crumbling, jagged edges of modern urban living. This is familiar territory for black Americans: to southern roots, to nature, a source of healing and of power. Even though the South holds a fraught history between black and white Americans, Lemonade affirms that the call of home is undeniable.
There’s an incredible amount of mystical and spiritual imagery throughout, Beyoncé swimming through water or walking through fire, seeking to purify her troubled soul, negotiating between wrath and peace after being betrayed by her man. In Hold Up, Don’t Hurt Yourself and 6 Inch, flames are everywhere as the scorned woman burns with explosive rage, frustrated by the disappointment of love. For Love Draught, black women form a line march toward the gulf waters dressed in white, and join hands in formation, on a path towards healing.”
A dissection of the imagery and message of Lemonade. Or, rather, a summarized version of many dissections so that you can read one article and come inside the conversation.
