

Beyoncé has become one of the biggest stars in our culture in the past couple years. She has been nominated for more Grammys than any other woman and has been featured in Forbes’ most influential women several times. (Wikipedia) In her latest album, “Lemonade”, Beyoncé attempted to make a visual album and judging from her song “Formation”, she has greatly succeeded. 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, a few New Orleans neighborhoods, a preacher and flooded homes. This puts us, the viewer, 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 while he is still there. Beyoncé uses this image to bring up recent violence between police officers and African Americans. Because of this recent violence, we expect the police to act violently towards the young boy but instead put their hands up as if they are bowing to him, as an act of respect and also likely are referencing the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” movement. This movement was started when Trayvon Martin was killed. Beyoncé also has the boy wear a black hoodie because when Trayvon Martin was killed, he was wearing a black hoodie.  The next image is a wall with graffiti reading “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 showing the police cruiser is no match for the Beyoncé’s force.

Beyoncé does not just talk about police brutality, but also 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 dressed up in old southern clothing. They are in a plantation house, but instead of being afraid, they express pride. 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 because she is in charge, she is happy. 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, 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 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 someone that everyone knows about, which is why it is important for her to discuss these issues in our culture. She can have a huge impact in solving these issues.  Beyoncé has been criticized in the past for not using all the influence that she has on others to push for equality for African Americans and Women. In this music video, Beyoncé makes a clear stance through her lyrics and several visual elements. Beyoncé released this song during February, which is Black History Month, two days before her Superbowl performance, and knew that it would create some controversy but knew that it had to be done to send a clear message. 

 