Beyonce's "Formation" - A Must See!

"Slayed" by Rock-N-Roll Hippie Priestess

I am a white person who grew up in the south, but raised by a Yankee hippy. Fortunately that meant I was taught the existence of culture is inherently important. From this vantage point, Beyoncé’s “Formation” is showcasing for white America and the world that America has rich culture in fringe landscapes that ground us in rhythm and class.

The resilience and genius demonstrated by African Americans is rooted in a truly valid, god loving, salt-of-the-earth glory. A culture that has been ridiculed, reduced, and exploited before any Africans set foot on this continent. Beyoncé is showing that through slavery, the fight for Civil Rights, black athletes and black pride, the entertainment dominance of the 1990’s and all American music -- that every moment of American history has benefited profusely from Africa’s decedents. America’s formation has always been intrinsically dependent on black hands and black minds. 

To use the word “marginalized” betrays an ignorance so deep we can only twerk in gratitude. This wealth of brilliance has to be systematically choked, imprisoned, dismally resourced and shamed; otherwise America would be overrun with black Bill Gates and fierce independent, highly intelligent black women.

Beyoncé defies the Illuminati. They can’t stand it. She knows it. She is mocking their delusions and grandeur. They are the ones creating “all this conversation” with their baseless insistence on supremacy. They only invoke the truth; the inevitable mutiny. She’s got their paper. She wanted it. She worked hard and now she owns it. Formation not only exposes criminal hypocrisy but a glaring cultural disease that leaves no room to not taste our white shame. I love her.

"Get [in]Formation" by Sexy Witch with Three Legs

Beyonce has done it again - stunned my breath, paused my inner dialogue, demanded I see and hear her didactic understanding. Much like her “Run The World (Girls)” track and music video, “Formation” embodies a message from a very specific segment of society: those told they couldn’t; or had it implied certain ‘levels’ of existence simply weren’t available. Her solution to the inequality seems pragmatically uncomplicated: “I dream it. I work hard. I grind till I own it.” The imagery-No, the iconography of “Formation” coupled with her lyrics is a slap in the face every time I watch, but I always leave feeling inspired, awake, and motivated. My adversities as a gay, white, hispanic, male American, even during and post devastating natural disasters, is nothing to the hardship represented in the post-Katrina African American, Black, and Indigenous cultures in the New Orleans delta region. So let’s get [in]formation and start discussing the truths encompassing the Truth.

Imagine a world where the people’s protection passes into the current of ignorant judgment, left unquestioned though portrayed unjustly in the media, and unchanging while the hoi polloi continue in their game for wealth. The sinking police car rescuing (and eventually drowning with) a very natural Beyonce shows an esemplastic artistry only an empowered black woman born of these repressed cultures must embody in order to expose the corrupt burial of such topics in pop culture. Subsequent scenes question the morality of each circumstance. African slaves on a plantation standing on the front steps of their master’s house, each face hidden behind a hardened, protected defiant expression. Even Beyonce’s face is hidden, covered by the large black hat bowing in an exaggerated nod to the onlookers (except to Slay her message). On the inside of the house, though, Women either dance while singing self-empowering lyrics; or sitting poised with dignity in the oppressive southern heat. In the latter image the women stare at the audience as if questioning the audacious interruption of their space, their world, their culture.

The contrasting contemporary cultural imagery show a much more active embodiment: ’90’s women gathering together to show their strength in accepting themselves, their roots, and their style. Pain is still present, as we see in the scene with the hairdressers working amongst the faceless wigged busts. They dare you to test them, determination to live evident in their powerful expression. But the expression of luxury in the video is startlingly different from what white people might expect: an “el camino with the seat low sipping Cuervo with no chaser” and “hot sauce in my bag swag.” Maybe these aren’t the luxuries of wealth, but they are luxuries chosen to enrich life. But it’s all marred by the reality of the black culture: innocence dancing before American S.W.A.T. men, the only representation of white culture invading the downtrodden streets of New Orleans. The final image and final sounds in the video are of flooding, drowning, water overcoming the human spirit. “Golly! Look at all that water, boy! Ooo, Lord.” The police car, Beyonce, and a life are submerged.

I can honestly say Beyonce can take me to Red Lobster any time she wants. Something in my world has shifted since watching “Formation” some hundred times... I lived in Boulder during the 2013 Colorado Front Range Floods. The readiness and availability of help from the government for the wealthy, white, Boulderites was surprising and appreciated. Having post-Katrina New Orleans thrust into my face once more begged to question “What happened after New Orleans?” as an introduction to a call for self-empowerment focuses my attention to an issue reverberating across the country. The unfortunate truth is that the “best revenge is your paper.” Playing the game well and owning it is the only way to affect change by giving a message, a voice, a piece of art to our cultural awareness like “Formation.”