Is Beyonce lemonade the most powerful black feminist piece of work?

[GetInFormationLadies]

I'm barely over the death of prince but this album as made me shed a lake ful of tears in the last day.

It's such a powerful, strong love filled album that will help all black women get through even their darkest days.

She has left behind her sugar pop to try something very risky but to follow her heart.

I can not recommend it enough.

quencher agreed and it's nice to see!

Good god, just read that casting call from the Washington post article. I'm not being flippant when I say it sounds like an advert for grading of slaves from the 18th century.

I've just read this thread and it is so interesting to read peoples opinions and how everyone believes they are right!

Sometimes it isn't ignorance because people do genuinely want to understand but I think race is a difficult one unless it's your own race. Even if you see something happen you might think 'well, that's awful but it's a one off' if you know what I mean.

To get to what the OP said in the original post- I think it's an awesome album and I'm pleased that it's unashamedly aimed at black women. I also agree with you quencher and it's definitely taken everyone by surprise.

The Black Panther-esque outfits were defo risky too but I actually thought it was awesome.

I'm to cynical. I believe she went back to being black for publicity as she knew her white washed pop wasn't going to cut it again.

Let me clarify again, I mean the size of her voice and status will mean this is truly groundbreaking. Obviously others have done more, but maybe not in such a significant and wide reaching affect.

What effect? What PRACTICAL IMPACT is this going to have? Not just comments on the NY Times. Today's headlines are tomorrow's bin liners. Please explain (because clearly I am stupid) the future tangible impact of this album.

I do think it will be a different kind of change from what rosa park did. Talking about rosa park, she needed the kind of influence Beyoncé has In order for her statement to have made a difference.

I don't know whether to be afraid or just really sad about the lack of understanding and education required to make this statement. It's way beyond embarrassing. But it explains why 60 years after the bus boycott nothing has really changed.

Reading some of these comments reminds me of a sketch after she released Formation.
I listened to it today on Tidal (on free trial, i'm too cheap to subscribe) - some powerful music for every woman. Am going through a situation right now and it really spoke to me, especially the part in the video with her smashing everything up but still smiling. There is some that I didn't like but I think its my age but so far I've really liked Freedom & All Night.

A11 most albums aren't released with little fanfare by the artist but such huge hype and opinion from the media.

So if her album broadens the perspective of just one bigot because of its visibility, then good.

A11 I do think it will be a different kind of change from what rosa park did. Talking about rosa park, she needed the kind of influence Beyoncé has In order for her statement to have made a difference.

Maybe it's the way I phrased it. What I was say is. Both Beyoncé and rosa parks had to be palatable to the White audience for their message to be accepted.

rosa parks was purposely chosen for the bus incident to make a statement. Before her, claudette who is considered by many as the first rosa parks did it. She was sixteen year old unmarried woman with a child. Matin Luther King and his team who paid for her legal court case and bail thought it would be a bad idea to take her case to the Supreme Court. In short. What happened is a middle class married black woman rosa parks did the same thing. They used this to prove a point which is now history. They thought it was easier to sell her story to the public or media and it worked.

Rosa parks remained friends the claudette, and agrees that it should have been claudette at the centre of what happened. But hey, shit happens.

How is this different between Beyoncé influence and what someone like kendric Lamar has? Both their albums target their genders, Black male incarceration in America and Beyoncé black women issues in general. We all know which one has made more of an impact or most talked about. Manly because Baer race has not affected her as much as it has with others. She did play the being vanilla game. It might have been on purpose or not but it worked for her image.

Brand I'm to cynical. I believe she went back to being black for publicity as she knew her white washed pop wasn't going to cut it again. You should join pierce Morgan too and take a seat. How do you turn black ? What is that makes a person black ?

Am glad to hear you can change from being black and not please tell us how.

I actually agree with piers over her using grieving mothers to sell another album. She's not a Rosa parks fgs and I find it quite ironic she's made her skin darker again now she's being pro black..

She was very 'white' before and now she wants to be seen as a black panther. Also the becky thing didn't work, you can't have made all your money selling albums to white people and then come with the becky comment. (becky is a type of white girl who likes sucking black dicks)

Is it still only available on Tidal?

Am not saying she is rosa parks. Am talking about what a black woman would have to do to make the greatest impact. Both used similar tactics to gain the most out come.

The influence of whether a black woman's stance would be accepted is whether she meets a certain criteria deemed acceptable. If not, her character would not be torn to shreds. This was one of the reason given for not using claudette.

Brand Beyoncé has been campaigning with those women from the beginning. Her and her husband are not new to this. They even posted bail for some of the people who were arrested.
So why can't she take it one step further and use her platform ?

The whole album is on iplayer:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0784yjc

I'm going to listen now.

Just seen you can now buy it on iTunes. Haven't bought anything for ages

Have you got a link to prove she paid bail money?

She's not a lauryn hill and I feel she's jumping on the band wagon and trying to be relevant and get her name in the history books. That's my opinion and your welcome to not agree with it I'm just putting it out there. I don't dislike her but I'm not part of the beyhive or even the bey religion that has sprung up now! I also think she's a hypocrite, you can't bleach your skin one minute and then want to be back black another.

I still haven't formed my opinion on the album. I've listened through a couple of times. The 'Becky' thing doesn't sit right with me, see BrandNew's explanation.

I like some of the songs, but I think in general Beyoncé is a tad overrated. She's good but she's not vocally as special as she is made out to be. Not sure where I stand on her as a feminist icon.

I'm a black woman, wife, mother (natural hair and all) and I don't need Beyoncé to speak or represent me. But I was very impressed with Beyonce's album. I don't personally identify with her messages about relationships, but I need not look further than my own mother to understand the struggles of a black woman. My mother is my teacher, and the album is very much in tune with her experience as a black woman. Okay, she's not as rich as Bey, but it's interesting to see that the 'black woman' experience transcends socio economical platforms.

I think a lot of black women, myself included, have just re-welcomed Beyonce into our lives as a black entertainer, she's no longer just other pop singer. That's not to say she belongs to black people! I look forward to the day when albums of racial struggles are redundant.

I think she's a hypocrite. A feminist who puts up with her husband having affairs? She has also made the news more than once for using make up to make her skin appear lighter/ skin bleaching. Are these the actions of someone proud to be black?

Call me cynical but I believe there's a very shrewd business woman behind the girl next door facade. There's no doubt she has an amazing voice and is an incredibly talented lady.

@brandnew I feel black people who bleach/want to be a lighter shade should not be discounted. Hypocritical, yes. But the whole skin complexion thing is so deeply entrenched into our culture. A woman who has bleached and chooses to sprout messages to empower black women is saying more than her mouth expels. OMG, if you've seen recent pictures of lil Kim, along with her explanation of why she wants to look European/Caucasian, you know why we should be listening to these (perhaps confused) women.

Becky with the good hair... honestly I love that line

I avoided clicking on the thread for fear of having to hear arguments about how Beyonce isn't "black enough" or some other ridiculous tripe.

I quite like her album but I love her music anyway. I'm just glad that there is something which will resonate with others and hopefully give them the courage to talk about tough issues pertaining to their everyday lives. Surely this can only be a positive thing, whether the person is black, white, a woman or otherwise etc etc.

I was also quite excited to see someone mention Warsan Shire upthread!!

Lil Kim Can't even be classed as black anymore. She looks a state. It's a shame as she was a pioneer really, nikki and Kylie have copied so much from her 90s style.

Bey coming in as the black women's saviour just sticks in my throat. Even the becky comment was so planned to have everyone talking about who's becky and who's Jay z been sleeping with and again I'll repeat it's hypocritical even if we take the skin bleaching out of it.

And although I'm reluctant to be 'what about the white people' if Taylor Swift had a comment saying laquisha with the bad hair there would be an uproar. You can't beat racism if you carry on with the stereotypes and dividing everyone even more.

Oh for goodness sake, you are allowed to be a feminists and have an adulterous husband. What business does anyone have commenting on another's marital state/dynamics??

You can use makeup/bleach to lighten your complexion and still be proud to be black. There are possiblying hundreds upon hundreds of subcultures within entire cultures of black women where some women are proudly black and still wish to have a lighter complexion. I find these statements utterly ridiculous and quite frankly, full of ignorance. It is not as simple as "If you alter this, then you are not a True black person".

What exactly are the actions of a proud black person?
Who decides this?

Well not someone having loads and loads of surgery to get rid of their black features and turn themselves white...