
Beyoncé is one of the most famous artists in our culture today. She was born in Texas and is very proud of it. She is the most nominated woman in Grammy award history and has sold over 100 million records as a solo artist. (Wikipedia) In Beyoncé’s latest album, she attempted to create a “visual album” and judging from her song “Formation” she did an excellent job. Beyoncé uses her music video “Formation” to discuss police brutality, her black heritage, and Hurricane Katrina through various images and her lyrics.

In the first couple scenes of the music video, Beyoncé sets the scene. The very first image is her sitting on a waterlogged police car. It then turns to a man with a light up grill, the back of a police jacket, some New Orleans neighborhoods, a preacher and some homes that are flooded. This puts us, the viewer, actually in these troubled neighborhoods with police lurking. In the final scenes, Beyoncé shows a young child in a black hoodie dancing in front of a line of police officers. When the boy finishes, the officers respond by putting their hands up with the boy still in front of them. In this image, Beyoncé is sending a message about recent violence with police and African Americans. She is referencing the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” movement. In this image, the boy is wearing a black hoodie as a reference to what Trayvon Martin was wearing when he was killed. The very next image is just a wall with graffiti on it that says “Stop Shooting Us.” This image is pretty self explanatory but clearly makes a strong statement, especially with the white wall and the black graffiti. In one of the final scenes, Beyoncé is shown again on the police car, but this time the car is sinking. This image is likely to show that the police cruiser was not match for the Beyoncé’s force.

Beyoncé does not just talk about police brutality, but also talks about her heritage. Beyoncé is proud to be a not only African American, but an African American woman. The first example of this comes when three young African American children come on the screen, one of them being Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy. Blue Ivy proudly stands up front and shakes her shoulders when Beyoncé says she likes “Her baby heir with baby hair and afros.” This is a direct reference to a historically black hairstyle, the afro. Then comes the image of Beyoncé and a few other women all dressed up in old southern clothing. They are in what seems to be a plantation house, but instead of being afraid, they are proud to be there. You would think that if you were Beyoncé in this situation, you would be trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, but Beyoncé is happy to be there as if now she’s the one in charge. Finally, Beyoncé comes on the screen with several men behind her. They are all wearing black and Beyoncé throws up two middle fingers. In my opinion, in doing this, she is saying I don’t care what anybody else says, I am who I am. She is showing off the fact that she is a strong African American woman and nobody can take that from her.

The most obvious theme from “Formation” is Hurricane Katrina. In the very first scene, Beyoncé is seen on a police car floating in water. Additionally, an image of a house in the flood is shown. Both of these are clear references to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated and still devastates the South. Beyoncé played in major role in helping those left homeless from the storm and has donated upwards of $7 million. (Wikipedia) By adding this imagery, it was Beyoncé’s way to remind the world of the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina but a lot of people have forgotten about it.

Beyoncé is a major icon in our society and, in this video, she uses her influence to show how proud she is to be an African American woman from the South. After being criticized in the past for not using her influence enough to push for equality for African Americans and for women, she uses several images to push her opinion in this video. Beyoncé choose to release this song during Black History Month and just days before her performance at the Superbowl, which she knew would cause some controversy. 

 