Black Parade

Beyoncé’s new single, “Black Parade” surprise-dropped on Juneteenth weekend. This fitting anthem serves as an empowering anthem for Juneteenth celebrations around the United States. The track is about empowerment and resilience and focuses on the Black Lives Matter protests. With her lyrics, “Rubber bullets bouncin’ off me/ Made a picket sign off your picket fence”, the power and support for the BLM movement rings throughout the song. The song opens with the line, “I’m goin’ back to the South”, a nod to Beyoncé’s roots in Texas. “Black Parade” will be the song of a powerful movement that has received clout throughout the nation. Beyoncé has outdone herself with a powerful song that highlights the impact music has on our lives and uses her music as a way to connect with people across all walks of life to make a track that everyone can sing along to.

The Queen B’s recent song, “Black Parade” was released on Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the liberation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. In the song Beyoncé signifies her motherland, Africa. Where she and her fellow black people are cherished and considered as equals as well as their own. Being fed up with the hatred and racism in the United States against black people regarding recent events such as the case of George Floyd, the pop star comes to a conclusion that maybe having the color black itself is being blessed so much so that the brutal people of the past have just been envy of.

She tells her fans, commonly referred to as ‘The Army’ or ‘The Bey-hive’ to join forces together and stand tall as the barbarity of the opposition wont last against them and no matter what they try they won’ tolerate any more cruelty. Beyoncé stands for all black people in the leadership of the protest and is willing to go to all lengths to defend the honor and peace of her people. Woo, wearin' all attire white to the funeral

In the U.S people wear black attire to a funeral, but the queen has other plans for such traditions as she refuses to let black be a color of grief. Instead she declares it as a color of pride and celebration, so wear it proudly! Elegantly concluding the last verse, she holds hands with all her fans and tells them to pray for the infinite list of black heroes who gave their lives fighting for equal rights and honor for the black. Indeed, race has just been a color for human beings. It has been a source for identifying people, their tribes and the characteristics they excel in and the rich culture and knowledge they are known for. It is definitely not a scale for who’s superior. Each and every race, culture and human being is special in their own way and that’s what makes meeting new people and learning from them, life more interesting and worth living for!

On June 19th, also known as the holiday Junteenth, Beyoncé dropped BLACK PARADE, her newest song that vividly talks about black pride and the importance of black heritage and culture. After listening to the song once, I couldn’t think of a better day to drop the song than Junteenth as the topic fits hand-to-hand with the day of celebration. The Beyhive, as she likes to call her fanbase, couldn’t hold in their excitement as Beyoncé sings about her hometown, African roots, and hints of her womanhood in her new song.

Throughout the song, she uses words such as “Baobab” which is a sub-saharan tree in Africa. A line after that, she sings “Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy, oh. Drip all on me, woo, Ankh or the Dashiki print” which contain words that are unfamiliar to those that don’t know much about Africa. Ankh refers to an ancient symbol from Egypt, Oshun is one of the Orisha goddesses from Nigeria, and Dashiki refers to a colorful African shirt. While rhyming and flowing, she puts together words that can be linked back to African culture which is creative- she could’ve just said the word “tree” instead of the specific tree of Baobab or taken the words “Ankh” and “Oshun” out of the sentence, but she decided to use them to make her audience want to look up what those words mean and why they’re important to the African culture. This effort shows her emotions and how she feels about her true roots from Africa.

All around the song, from the chorus to different verses, items that lead to the African culture can be found hidden within sentences- this is important because there aren’t that many songs out there today sung by A-list celebrities that mention anything from the African culture. For Beyoncé to be singing about her womanhood and her roots from Africa is inspirational to many that are from Africa and that don’t have a favorite singer that represents their home country and origin. Many are thankful and happy that Beyoncé has, yet again, blown the minds of many by combining current social issues, national issues, and worldwide issues- such as COVID-19, police brutality protests, and woman’s rights’ movements- into a catchy song that speaks “a thousand words” in just a couple of minutes.

On June 19th, also known as the holiday Junteenth, Beyoncé dropped BLACK PARADE, her newest song that vividly talks about black pride and the importance of black heritage and culture. After listening to the song once, I couldn’t think of a better day to drop the song than Junteenth as the topic fits hand-to-hand with the day of celebration. The Beyhive, as she likes to call her fanbase, couldn’t hold in their excitement as Beyoncé sings about her hometown, African roots, and hints of her womanhood in her new song. Throughout the song, she uses words such as “Baobab” which is a sub-saharan tree in Africa. A line after that, she sings “Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy, oh. Drip all on me, woo, Ankh or the Dashiki print” which contain words that are unfamiliar to those that don’t know much about Africa. Ankh refers to an ancient symbol from Egypt, Oshun is one of the Orisha goddesses from Nigeria, and Dashiki refers to a colorful African shirt. While rhyming and flowing, she puts together words that can be linked back to African culture which is creative- she could’ve just said the word “tree” instead of the specific tree of Baobab or taken the words “Ankh” and “Oshun” out of the sentence, but she decided to use them to make her audience want to look up what those words mean and why they’re important to the African culture. This effort shows her emotions and how she feels about her true roots from Africa. All around the song, from the chorus to different verses, items that lead to the African culture can be found hidden within sentences- this is important because there aren’t that many songs out there today sung by A-list celebrities that mention anything from the African culture. For Beyoncé to be singing about her womanhood and her roots from Africa is inspirational to many that are from Africa and that don’t have a favorite singer that represents their home country and origin. Many are thankful and happy that Beyoncé has, yet again, blown the minds of many by combining current social issues, national issues, and worldwide issues- such as COVID-19, police brutality protests, and woman’s rights’ movements- into a catchy song that speaks “a thousand words” in just a couple of minutes.

Beyoncé challenged herself to create, in one song, an anthem in recognition of Juneteenth, a celebration of black-owned businesses, and a public appeal to continue Black Lives Matter activism. Unsurprisingly, she knocked it out of the park.

There are many layers to “Black Parade” and so much to praise, but I’d like to focus on one clever thing she does in the lyrics of this important piece. While adding to a rich and historied canon of art and literature that exults black American culture by reconnecting it to its royal African roots, Beyoncé performs two roles in this song, in conversation with one another (which in itself is a trope of traditional storytelling around the world). She embodies both the newcomer to African culture who is learning and growing, and the fully-arrived Motherland, anthropomorphized as an African queen and mirroring Beyoncé’s own matriarchal public image.

Especially in the beginning of the song, several lines suggest someone who is newly arrived to the black empowerment movement and is looking at it through fresh eyes, or at least returning to it after a long absence: she is “going back to the South/Where my roots ain't watered down.” The chorus repeats that she needs to let the “motherland, motherland drip on me.” Initially there is the brief line “my drip is skin deep,” which can have a dual meaning—it is skin color that is her initial link to the motherland, but if it is only “skin deep,” the implication is that she must search for a connection that goes deeper than that. This is supported by the next line, “I can't forget my history is her-story”—we are witnessing someone who is discovering or rediscovering, and must remind herself, of the feminine and the Afrocentric.

Perhaps most surprisingly, this speaker goes on to quote words that at first seem completely opposed to the message of the song: “Being black, maybe that's the reason why they always mad...Been past 'em, I know that's the reason why they all big mad.” (Even these apparently contemptuous lines, however, have some ambiguity, hinting that perhaps there is good reason for black people to be “mad” throughout history.) We are being made aware of outside perspectives on black activism, presumably from people who do not understand systematic oppression or the Black Lives Matter movement. Our initial speaker, then, is not immune to dissenting voices, but is invoking African items, cultural practices and deities to attempt to affirm her black personhood.

We encounter a different identity in the chorus, who signs: Honey, come around my way, around my hive Whenever momma says so, momma say Here I come on my throne, sittin' high Follow my parade oh, my parade

This voice introduces itself in three short lines as maternal, authoritative, and regal. We can presume that this is the Motherland herself, speaking back to the seeker and inviting her to follow the “parade”—a metaphor for protest marches and, more generally, black solidarity. She again references African and African American history, this time not defensively, but to illustrate connectedness throughout time. Through allusions to bees and hives, Beyoncé connects this commanding voice to her own persona, making her audience the “Beyhive” and by inference, inviting them in the same way. It is a masterful call to action: the song at once empathizes with people who are new to the movement, but also displays the power and inclusion that will come once they join the parade.

As a woman of color, I have always admired Beyoncé's ability to empower women and the POC community through her music, while also addressing serious political issues. I applaud her call to release the surprise track "BLACK PARADE" on Juneteenth, especially since we're seeing an increasing divide over the BLM movement. And the song, true to Queen B's form, pulls absolutely no punches—the song begins with her southern heritage as a Texan where "her roots aren't watered down" and continues back to her African ancestry with beautiful African imagery like baobab tree, the motherland, dashiki print, and golden Ankh charms.

The chorus is amazing because she gives us such vivid picture of her on the throne, leading a parade of her Beyhives in a nonviolent, but determined, protest. She crowns herself as leader and maternal figure, spreading her wings in protection and solidarity, while also encouraging us that we have the power to fight back with the words "bees is known to bite". I love her shout out to MLK, Malcolm X, Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield, and Tamika Mallory. Her battle cry of "black love" is such a brave statement in a time when many celebrities are keeping silent. The song is an amazingly empathetic way for her to support the black community, both in her powerful message and the proceeds that will go to black-owned small businesses.

My favorite thing about "BLACK PARADE", besides the beautiful African and emotional protest visuals, and all Queen B and honey and hive references, is the sheer pride and love behind her words. She's telling us that she refuses to let the hate drag her down, to stand up for civil rights, and she encourages us to follow her lead. "Speak the glory, feel the love" gives me the literal shivers. In an Instagram post, Beyoncé tells us: " I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength, and power. “BLACK PARADE” celebrates you, your voice, and your joy and will benefit Black-owned small businesses." Her words have been major themes in her music since the beginning. It's been amazing to watch her take an open stance against all this hate in our country and standing up for black voices and businesses. I just know that history will remember our Queen as one of the most powerful and motivating black female activists of our time.