NB Commentary: Excellent article. Excellent!!!
I would add that it
ain't just black folks that only need tokens to feel they have got it all. The
people overall have been manipulated, socially engineered, mind controlled,
etc., into believing the little trinkets, drips and drops they get is the whole
thing, to means they are cared for, or even needed. BEYONCÉ is just a symptom
of a bigger anomaly that has overcome the masses. The "Cult Of
Personality".
She like her cohorts
are the modern day Gods, and like the Gods of old, they only promise and
promise and promise and threaten of course. But they are displaced authority,
enchanted illusions, distorted creations of the human psyche. They are not
real. So anything that she says as it relates to Black Empowerment has
absolutely nothing to do with Black Empowerment or she would give more than a
trinket to acknowledge Black Folks.
They keep saying
that the masses are waking up, but it seems they are working feverishly to keep
the folks' finger on the snooze button.
Beyoncé-
A Win for White Supremacy
Following her Grammy
speech and performance, superstar Beyonce garnered abundant praise.
Beyonce’s grammy performance portrayed Queen Bey in a manner that proved
as royal as her title. Beyonce’s look seemed reminiscent of the queens of our
indigenous homeland— a connection that did not go unnoticed by spectators.
However, Beyonce garnered the most praise for something fans are not used to
associating with Beyonce—loss.
The praise following
Beyonce’s long overdue “consciousness” demonstrates that the bar for black
allies is impossibly low. Beyonce as a black activist demonstrates that
one or two acts fulfill the necessary requirements to deem someone a black
leader. The black collective witnessed this behavior with former President
Obama who would often place a single stream of consciousness in his
speeches, a consciousness that he would counter with the following sentence.
Yet, the allegiance he had for five seconds, overshadowed lesser deeds carried
out in the majority of his actions and behaviors. Beyonce’s praise functions in
a similar manner, as her seemingly “overnight” enlightenment supersedes past
behavior that aimed to present Beyonce, the black woman as a crossover artist.
Forgiveness is a
virtue seemingly exclusive to the black collective. I say this because, despite
the depth of systemic oppression, many blacks remain dedicated to
looking past this truth in favor of an optimism that borders oblivion.
While beautiful and reflective of a humble spirit—forgiveness has proved
much more harmful than helpful. I also can’t help but wonder if this behavior
is forgiveness at all, or just a desperate attempt to believe something we wish
to be true.
Black women want to
believe in Beyonce. And to our defense, she does deserve some praise. Superstar
Rihanna has yet to say anything pertaining to the contemporary manifestations
that mirror traditional treatment of black bodies. This is not accidental, as
Rihanna, although a black woman, seems to appeal more to those outside the
black diaspora. Beyonce has always led a strong black female following, the
same black females who have lost their sons, brothers, and fathers in the fire
of white male supremacy. Thus, her contribution, while small, works
strategically. The Grammy’s illustrates Beyonce as losing the battle but
winning the war. Losing to Adele depicts Beyonce as bearing the necessary
sacrifice to not only maintain her fan base but to award her racial credibility
and thereby deepen fan affinity for her.
Beyonce, a black
woman who gained fame and international stardom for her fair skin, blonde
weave, and jezebel-like performances, personifies the height of white male
imagination. She embodies what many black women wish they were, conventionally
beautiful with full features, fair skin, a curvy yet slim body, an accent that
is slight enough to suggest a humble sweetness but a work persona that screams
boss. She’s a wife, a mother, businesswoman and all-around superwoman. But she
is a fantasy.
While some blacks
praise a God who looks like their former slave masters, other praise Beyonce, a
woman who while black, portrayals European aesthetics as the height of black
female beauty. Many seem to have forgotten that not long ago Beyonce referenced
racism as “in her father’s time,” as if it is not racism that fuels her success
let alone existence in a still predominately white male industry. It is easy to
praise Beyonce for her loss, despite her ability to perform and prove
victorious in smaller categories. If we praise Beyonce for her loss, it is easy
to overlook that a more dynamic and culturally aware performer would not be
afforded Beyonce’s platform, because their authenticity would inspire in a way
that Beyonce never could.
Beyonce exists as a
means to control the black female demographic. For example, I can not help but
notice that weaves became a more versatile and a more prominent tool in black
female hair styling as Beyonce’s popularity grew. The desire for long, full, hair
personifies what I like to call the “Beyonce effect,” an effect mirrored in
every popular black female image from reality stars to singers. Beyonce’s power
manifests in her ability to generate styles and standards of beauty, and in her
losses and wins.
I feel compelled to
mention that I reference Beyonce as a brand and not an individual, as the chief
component of Beyonce’s popularity is that she encompasses a larger than life
figure– a human canvass of desirability curated by white male imagination. Beyonce
becomes a figure of influence due to a black female collective that largely
exists vicariously through their blonde-haired heroine. Beyonce personifies
what many black females think black
female perfection is. As a physical manifestation of black female thought,
Beyonce acts as a pawn to dictate what we do.
Carter B. Woodson conveyed the following excerpt from The Miseducation of the Negro:
If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.
Thus, Beyonce is not
an activist or conscious member of the black collective. Beyonce is the literal
and figurative back door of which the black female collective enters into a
white male gaze. She is a prevalent form of contemporary inferiority veiled as
black excellence. Furthermore, Beyonce functions as an on-going win for white
supremacy, functioning as a string that puppeteers the black female psyche by
veiling the poisons of white supremacy with pseudo black femininity.
Article written by
CC Saunders
LINKS:
What
Beyoncé Won Was Bigger Than a Grammy
By MYLES E. JOHNSONFEB. 14, 2017
Adele
broke her Grammy award in two after saying it belonged to Beyoncé
Beyonce's Lemonade didn't win that Grammy
because it wasn't made for everyone – and Adele knows that
Santana Says Beyoncé Lost Album Of The Year Because She’s ‘Not A
Singer’
Does Santana know who Beyoncé is?
6
times Beyoncé proved she was a low-key activist
BY HUDA HASSAN
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Thanks for your comment. Peace, NB