
Beyoncé’s new hit single, “Formation”, strives to inform viewers of the black culture and history that blossomed in New Orleans decades ago.  She takes us on a ‘post-Katrina’ journey back to the beginning of her family’s roots, filming in various beauty parlors, old Victorian mansions, parking lots, corner shops, drained swimming pools, and outside in the flooded streets.  Beyoncé directs the words spoken in her music video to all black people who grew up in the South, to those who survived Hurricane Katrina, and to those who lost their homes and families in New Orleans.  She utilizes her music to create a stance and to get involved with current world issues, for example, Black Lives Matter.  Depicted in the video are countless “black” concepts: women participating in aggressive dancing, afros, hair braids, postcard Red Lobster and bass-filled music, yet the lyrics are strong and assertive, creating a confident and well-displayed argument towards both black and women’s rights.  

“Formation” opens with Beyoncé slouched on top of a New Orleans police cruiser sinking in the floodwaters of the post-Katrina city.  Beyonce sets her audience in the center of a state that revolves around the safety and guidance provided by the presence of police and laws.  After experiencing such a detrimental and physically degrading natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans relies on the police force to help rebuild their surroundings.  Beyonce’s strong reference to floodwater in her “Formation” music video alludes to her charity work that she personally performed a decade ago.  In 2005, both she and Kelly Rowland led a charity group called ‘The Survivor Foundation’ which worked to provide aid and assistance for Katrina victims and refugees seeking shelter in Houston.  In addition, as stated in the Huffington Post, Beyonce granted over seven million dollars to the Katrina project in 2013.  She strives to prove to her viewers that the demolition and loss resulting from the hurricane have not been fully recovered; the south still struggles to this day to reconstruct the city of New Orleans.  Beyonce’s reference to the shattered city and her call to attention are both remarkable and she herself should be praised for such heroic actions.  The voice of Messy Mya, an African American comedian who was murdered in the streets of New Orleans, screams “What happened after New Orleans?” as the dramatic scene of Beyonce standing on the cop car is shown.  Messy Mya’s opening quote introduces viewers to the climactic, action-filled video that lies ahead; its main purpose is to portray the negative aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  The sinking cop car with Beyonce on top is surrounded by drowned out, wooden homes, decaying vegetation, and fallen power lines.  Despite the majority of modern music videos, Beyonce’s “Formation” opens with a negative, heartbreaking scene of a once strong New Orleans neighborhood that is now demolished and hopeless.  As the video progresses, she displays scenes of dance, amusement, and rejoice among the NOLA community who used one another to build themselves back up.  Beyonce succeeds at proving to her audience that music has the ability to unite and strengthen any community at hand despite past or current obstacles and setbacks.     

Beyonce proudly supports the Black Lives Matter movement, a chapter-based national organization that works towards the validity of black lives and in hopes will rebuild the black liberation movement, and she proves this pride through one insightful scene from the film.  Fast forward to a later scene in the clip, featuring The scene features a young, black boy wearing a dark hoodie dancing freely in front of a line of white police officers donning riot gear; regardless of the intensity of the men surrounding him, the child dances with life and with bliss.  The scene is filmed employing the ‘over the shoulder shot’ which allows viewers to be personally placed in the scene as if standing behind the backs of the police officers.  This technique shows those watching how the officers are looking down on the child: physically and metaphorically.   Beyonce strongly supports the Black Lives Matter movement and the presence of this scene provides an example of how whites act as if they are superior to other races.  After the boy finishes dancing, he throws his arms out in a sense of victory.  To the audience’s surprise, rather than the cops reaching for their guns, they instead put their hands up in a form of surrender.  The camera immediately sweeps across the spray painted words on the brick wall behind the boy reading “STOP SHOOTING US”.  Along with the graffiti, the men and young boy are surrounded by a dirty sidewalk, an old wooden fence circling a rotting down house, and a cop car flashing its blinding blue and red lights.  The placing of the message serves as both a reminder and reference of recent current events involving various black teens being shot, argued without reason, by white police officers all over the country.  Conceivably, Beyonce included this lesson to give viewers something to relate to; her “Formation” piece serves as much more than a song to blast on the radio, it contributes a lesson that although all races are not viewed equally, they should be in order to avoid similar unnecessary violence.  Beyonce’s placement of both the graffiti and the cops conveys her fighting stance towards the Black Lives Matter movement; she stands up for those who are not able to stand up for themselves. 

Beyonce’s “Formation” video is a roaring reflection on black identity, the strength of family roots and heritage, and the relationship between force and frailty.  Beyonce completely changed her outside appearance with the release of “Formation” this past February; before the top hit song was released, Beyonce was viewed as just another female singer who kept a fairly low profile and ‘slayed’ at every piece she composed.  However, now people see her as an independent strong black woman who is completely fearless to stand up and represent her opinions on a national level.  “Formation” shares dominant messages regarding black pride, brutality, wealth, flexibility, and calamity.  Disagreeing with the popular belief that dropping a music video is an easy way out of expressing one's opinion, Beyonce breaks the social norm by utilizing compelling images, creative lyrics, and intense narrations that are often difficult to bring to the table.  Quoted from “Formation”, Beyoncé states “Let ‘em talk. It don’t matter. What matters is me singing, us dancing, us standing and rising and ascending through it all”. 
