*Disclaimer: I don’t speak for all Black folks, but if you aren’t rocking with Beyoncé’s “Black is King” then please exit stage left.
Beyoncé has …
*Disclaimer: I don’t speak for all Black folks, but if you aren’t rocking with Beyoncé’s “Black is King” then please exit stage left. Beyoncé has saved us all once again. We can all agree that 2020 has been heavy. Kobe Bryant and Pop Smoke’s deaths shook us the first two months. The coronavirus pandemic, still ravaging on, is disproportionately affecting Black communities. Black Lives Matter protests have been in full swing since Ahmaud Arbery’s and George Floyd’s deaths. The world continues to remind us about the perceived insignificance of Black women as 27-year-old Breonna Taylor and 19-year-old activist Oluwatoyin Salau were killed while sleeping and seeking refuge respectively. But for an hour and 25 minutes Beyoncé’s «Black is King» made us forget we were 2020-ing. The visual companion piece to «The Lion King: The Gift” soundtrack, which Beyoncé produced after starring as Nala in the 2019 Disney remake, served as an ode to and celebration of Pan-African culture while reminding Black people to hold our heads up high. «Black is King» kicks off with the 38-year-old artist saying «let Black be synonymous with glory” and serenading a newborn cradled in her arm with the iconic lines from «Bigger»: «If you think you are insignificant, you better think again.» A whole word! The film starts off by setting us up to see the greatness in being Black… which if we’d forgotten, Beyoncé would soon remind us off with the visuals and songs to come. If 2020 was beating us down with visuals of Black death and injustice, Beyoncé showed us depictions of Black royalty in «FIND YOUR WAY BACK» with the young prince walking with his king and queen parents donned in opulent costumes.
