I Don’t Get Beyonce’s New Video, and That’s a Beautiful Thing

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the last ten years can see that Beyonce’s new music video is a radical work of art. It’s an unapologetic anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement, celebrating the beauty and strength of Black people and Black culture. Beyonce on a police car sinking into the flood waters, a line of riot police watching a little Black boy in a hoodie dance, Beyonce in funeral clothes with her middle fingers up — everyone can see that these are powerful images of Black power and resistance.

Seeing Beyonce lead an army of women dressed as Black Panthers onto the Super Bowl field— fists in the air and singing about Black power — was a near-religious experience.

I’ve watched the video a number of times, and like everyone else, I love it and am moved by it. But no matter how many times I watch this beautiful and complex work of art, there is a lot in there that I don’t get. I just don’t have the cultural context to understand all the references, because I have never been, nor will I ever be, a Black woman from the South.

And you know what? I am absolutely thrilled that there is so much going on in this video that I don’t understand.

Because I am not the target audience. And that in itself is a radical act.

Queen Bey gives exactly zero fucks whether a white girl like me gets her references.

Beyonce is not interested in being the “exceptional Negro” who gently introduces white people to the idea of liking a Black woman’s music and ideas. The Beyonce of this video sings in a style and language that is making no attempt to be understood or accepted by the white mainstream.

I love Beyonce, but she doesn’t need my love. She is singing for her Black sisters and brothers, and their understanding and appreciation is more than enough.

With “Formation,” Beyonce is making the point that Black culture does not belong to me, to white America. We can and should learn about it and appreciate it, but we do not have the right to have it delivered to us in easily-digestible bites, twisted and diluted for our comfort.

If we want to understand Beyonce’s new song, we have to go out and educate ourselves. We have to come to her — she’s not coming to us.

Beyonce has just declared that she is committed to wielding her considerable power for social change, and she’s not afraid of making enemies if she has to. It’s a marvelous thing to behold, and I for one am with her.

I’m with her even — especially — when I don’t completely understand her.

That’s what being an ally means.