Lemonade by Beyoncé Knowles is a visual album, which is a series of music videos connected by titles, such as “Intuition”, “Apathy”, “Resurrection”, and many more. The album comes together to tell the viewers about Beyoncé’s life story, it also talks about many important social issues that had at some point affected her life. To connect specific topics in the album Beyoncé uses other texts to help get her personal points on the topics across. She uses these distinctive texts to help draw attention to the ideas focused on and show the importance of them.
The album uses the texts to show different interpretations of the issues discussed. Beyoncé mainly used segments from a variety texts which consist of poems, stories, speeches and other types
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The main issue Beyoncé focused on in her film was the treatment of black women. To make this message clear to the viewers, she used a segment of a well-known speech from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. This segment was from Malcom X’s speech Who Taught You to Hate Yourself. In the film the quote, “the most disrespected person in America is the black women” (X), appears during the performance of Beyoncé’s song, Don’t Hurt Yourself. The use of this text helps pull focus to the topic that Beyoncé’s Lemonade focuses on. The section of the speech she chooses for this part of the film, match the themes in the song from when the speech was being performed. The song starts out with the lyrics, “who the fuck do you think I is?”, this lyric connects to the topics Malcom X spoke about in his speech, they both question why they feel like people are treated like this and what gave others the right to treat others like that. By borrowing this specific text Beyoncé also shows the viewers how this has been an issue for a great amount of time and that these are not recent issues. Without this other text Beyoncé’s work might not have the same effect on people, as she would have …show more content…
Warsan Shire is a writer who was born in Kenya but raised in London. Shire has written many stories and poems about immigration experiences, motherhood, beauty stereotypes, and infidelity. Shire has an incredible ability to evoke emotions through her writing. The way she writes allows readers, who have experienced similar situations, to relate to her stories and for those who haven’t experienced these situations, to feel the same emotions that are produced in her writing. In her film Beyoncé quotes “I don’t know when love became elusive/what I know, is that no one I know has it” (Shire) from one of Shire’s poems, The Unbearable Weight of Staying. This quote is spoken in the part titled “Anger”, which again includes the song Don’t Hurt Yourself. In this section Beyoncé sings about betrayal and how her lovers never really loved her. By adding in parts of Shire’s poem it allows viewer to conjure emotions and really feel for the issues being addressed. This effects how the viewer personally connects to the film, and by using Shire’s writing Beyoncé can mold how she wants everyone to feel while watching her
In 2013, the self-titled visual album BEYONCÉ sold almost eight hundred thirty thousand digitally in the first three days, while her sixth number one and second visual album, Lemonade, only sold four hundred ninety thousand digitally in the first week. Although Beyoncé’s second visual album wasn’t numerically successful, both show a vulnerable, an artistic, and a controversial side of Beyoncé. Both albums have surprising visuals and stunning lyrical content with either an obvious meaning or a meaning we have yet to figure out, such as the famous line, “You better call Becky with the good hair.” (Beyoncé, “Sorry”). BEYONCÉ and Lemonade show that Beyoncé tries to better herself as an artist and make herself more vulnerable.
She illuminates the hidden causes of the harsh sexism in rap music lyrics and argues that one needs to look deeper to understand why the misogyny exists and how women in her culture need to respond and also start taking responsibility for its existence in order for changes to begin to take place. In the article “ From Fly -Girls to Bitches and Hos “ the dysfunction of our black men is evident, but somehow it’s seen and admired manliness and success. For example the life of Notorious BIG was one of the rap kings that live a life of jail, sex , drugs and murder that “ the seeming impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask of American often wear both to hide “ . Joan Morgan was vivid as to show the pain men must be feeling so badly that they had to use disrespectful slurs and hateful comment says their music lyrics. I agree with the fact that in today’s society the "bitches and hos" have become the norm. From my perspective that many guys often believe that is how all women act and that they are all pimps and
...black woman myth has not been studied as intensely as the Jezabel and Mammy images, it still has significance in present society. Sapphire, more commonly views as the angry black woman is viewed as, the bad black woman, the black “bitch, and the emasculating matriarch (88). The reason there may not be much research on this myth is because many researchers themselves acknowledge the stereotype (89). The stereotype is seen not as black women’s anger towards the unequal treatment and circumstances they endure, but an irrational desire to control black males, families, and communities around them (95). This stereotype bestows yet another double standard for black women in America today. While a white woman’s passion and drive may be seen as ambitious and exceptional, a black woman displaying the same perseverance would be seen in a negative rather than glorified light.
Countering the common social impression that anger in response to a perceived wrong is met with a sense of guilt and fear for dread of fueling conflict by propagating intense self-aware emotional reaction, Lorde makes a cogent argument by elucidating the utter essentiality of anger expression as a means to gain multi-faceted insight into conflict. Lorde realizes this argument regarding the use of anger in a social context to combat racism through the essential and fundamental appeal to such a universal and potent emotion as rage of injustice. Anger effectively transcends race, gender, and class distinctions through its ubiquity to the human experience, and thus provides an initial and embracing commonality to all members of Lorde’s audience. Rather quickly within the delivery of her speech, Lorde provides her audience with a series of concrete anecdotal examples of her many encounters with racism as to avoid her speech “becom[ing] a theoretical discussion” (Lorde). Lorde’s use of these pithy stories of the “harshness of Black women” (Lorde ) and their “self-serving” role in the perpetuation of the issue of racism remedies the common problem of an audience “unacquainted with [orator] provocation, [who] cannot bring [the orator’s] case home to [themselves], nor conceive anything like the passions it
In romantic words, the poet expresses how much she does think of love. She state it clear that she will not trade love for peace in times of anguish.
Being aired at the beginning of February, Beyoncé’s hit single Formation served as the 2016 Black History month anthem for numerous reasons. Beyoncé being a long standing musical, entertainment, and fashion icon, her shocking release of this hit shocked the world when she unapologetically portrayed her blackness through the representation of Southern roots. She begins this musical call to action by asking the question of what happened after New Orleans. Foreshadowing a socio-political tone, she begins by paying homage to a New Orleans YouTube activist, Messy Mya who was killed in 2010 and those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In this music video that last approximately five minutes Beyoncé evolves into her self-identified role of a Feminist by exhibiting her call to expressive womanhood and activism by calling discussing the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Black aesthetics, family lineage, and the culture of the American South.
Who really runs the world? Beyonce is running the music industry while climbing the charts, she truly knows what she’s doing. Being driven and striving for greatness will lead you to success. She may have had bumps in the road during her career and still could experience some, but she doesn’t give up. The power of one person can have an effect on people all over the World for a good cause or not. Beyonce, twenty time Grammy winner, uses her confidence towards her acting skills, and her musical talents to show and inspire other artists and people around the world.
The lyrics from “Formation” state, “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana-You mix that Negro with that Creole make a Texas bamma” (Beyoncé); were directed toward African American women specifically because they have been taught to hate the skin they are in which leads to women using bleaching to become lighter which can be extremely dangerous if it is not used properly. The feud in the black community is light skin vs. dark skin is also addressed with these lyrics it simply states be proud of your bloodline no matter what you may be mixed with. The light skin vs dark skin argument is an end result of the brown paper bag test, which determined who would work the fields and who would work inside the house. The “Paper Bag” test was the determinant factor, if your skin color was the color of the brown paper bag or lighter you were given access to certain privileges and conversely if your skin was darker than the paper bag you were denied those same privileges (Steward). Beyoncé goes on to sing, “I like my baby hair with baby hair and Afros-I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils” (Beyoncé), this focuses on African American women changing their looks because society tells them that their natural hair and big nose is ugly. Beyoncé personally targets the criticism she received for not “combing” her daughter, Blue Ivy’s, hair stating that if
As it opens with imagery reminiscent of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, an event that devastated the black communities in the areas affected. The delayed assistance in New Orleans by the U.S. government stirred some controversy that led many to question how much America really cares about its black communities. Nonetheless, Beyoncé’s video is full of imagery that is associated with black culture, including historical references to black communities in the south. But what is really important about “Formation” are the lyrics. With lyrics like “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana, You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas Bama” and “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros, I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils,” Beyoncé is undoubtedly declaring her pride for her blackness as well as defending her child Blue Ivy who has always been scrutinized for the way her hair looked. Thus, this song is obviously geared toward the Black community which is obvious due to the lyrics and the imagery in the music video. To put it plainly, this song is a proclamation of Black pride and shouldn’t be thought of in any other way. However, after performing it at the Super Bowl people of other ethnicities became aware of the song and became offended by her performance as well as the lyrics. Controversy arose as people pointed out her backup dancers were dressed similarly to the Black Panther
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many different themes come into view. One major theme that played a big role in the character’s lives is racial prejudice. Racism is an unending problem throughout the book. The song “Message from a Black Man” by The Temptations has many similarities to the theme of racial discrimination. Therefore, both the novel and the song prove that racism was a great obstacle for some people at a point.
bell hooks is trying to convince her readers that the display of black female bodies in Beyonce’s Lemonade does not aid in shifting or masking the sexist narratives and construction of black female identity (page 3).
Roberts, Robin. “Ladies First: Queen Latifah's Afrocentric Feminist Music Video.” African American Review. 28.2 (1994): 245-257.
Motivation provides the driving force for direction and persistence toward a defined goal. Beyoncé has a high need for achievement that motivates her to keep working on new material. In an interview with MTV Beyoncé said, “I am a workaholic and I don’t believe in no. I don’t believe in I need to sleep” (Lepore, 2011). She has earned many awards, honors, and accolades because of her determination to be one of the greatest performers. In the last five years, Beyoncé has used empowerment as an essential motivational key to continuously progress in her craft. In 2011, Beyoncé fired her manager of fifteen years and she began to take full responsibility for her creative and financial obligations. From this experience she has become self-determined and has a high influence on her career path (Lepore,
...shi, B. (2013, December 19). Feminists Everywhere React To Beyonce's Latest. Retrieved from Npr.org: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/12/19/255527290/feminists-everywhere-react-to-beyonc-s-latest
In this video, a man by the name of Hennessy Youngman focuses mainly on “cultivating an ‘angry nigger exterior’” as a mode to success (2014, p. 23). Hennessy’s use of anger as a mode to gaining notoriety feeds into the trope of the “angry black,” a stereotype we constantly see applied to Serena Williams. In the larger picture, racializing black citizens- more specifically, racializing black women- acts as a way to delegitimize resistance by people of colour against unfair treatment by writing them off as short-tempered and irrational. This process of attributing angry reactions to the character of the individual rather than as a reaction to injustices, allow colonialism and Euro-centrism to continue