In Beyoncé’s music video, “Formation”, she illustrates the Black Lives Matter movement. One scene that caught the attention of people all across the country is the scene where one young boy dances in front of a line of police men. At 3:39, a little boy dressed in black jeans, black hoodie, and black sneakers with his hood up dances his soul out while the policemen stand in formation watching. The young child standing alone against 10 policemen does not care that he is alone, as he continues to strut all of his moves without any hesitation. The boy almost looks as if he is in a dance battle with the policemen. Looking extremely intimidating, the police standing side by side leave no space in between one another, with their hands gripped together in front of them as if they are ready for anything that comes their way, dressed in matching uniforms, with police badges above their hearts, using masks and other riot gear including a bullet proof vest, shoulder pads and knee pads just standing there just watching. We view the young child dancing from a full view shot through the space of two police men showing no movement from them and only movement the child who continues to dance. The police stand in front of the child with their police cars right behind them, flashing their lights. The scene takes place in an alley that is gated off on every side, making it seem as if the young boy is trapped. 

In the same scene at the time 4:16, the young boy throws up his arms towards the police and in the background you can see that the alley is not closed off and that there is an end where he can run away but he stands there, facing the police with his arms all the way up into the air. As soon as the young boy throws his arms up, a close up view of the police raising their arms one at a time going down the line appears. Showing a full view of everyone in the scene with their arms up, which contradicts what is going on in today’s society. For example, the young African American boy seems unafraid and confident, which in the riots that are happening today young kids are mortified of the police and the way they have been treating their friends and family members. Unlike the music video where the policemen submissively raise their arms into the air, the cops in reality hold their guns in the air instead of their arms. The scene next flashes a close up panoramic view of a large grungy, paint-chipped wall with black spray painted letters stating “stop shooting us”. The letters seem to be written in a sloppy fashion as if they were in a rush to make sure they did not get in trouble. The “us” refers to the African Americans who are being mistreated by police forces. The words on the wall demonstrate the desperation African American’s feel towards trying to receive equal rights. For centuries African American people have been mistreated and denied rights that the majority of people have, and now where the President of the United States of America is an African American man, African American’s all over the world are fighting for the rights that they deserve. 

The Black Lives Matter movement has been a phenomenon throughout the countries of this world. In Beyoncé’s “Formation”, she stands for the African Americans in the world. The child dancing in front of the policemen symbolizes freedom. Dancing is usually a symbol of freedom where you are able to do absolutely anything you want with your body. The boy dancing in front of the police shows his freedom and how he doesn’t need to be violent to work toward his freedom. He does not care that he is alone, or that he is standing in front of authorities who aren’t moving a muscle. The policemen wearing their riot gear against a child who most likely weighs a quarter of their weight, stands strong as if they are ready at any moment for an attack. In the real world, riots are going on all the time and the people who have been standing with their hands up have been getting tased and shot for doing absolutely nothing. The police standing with their cars behind them try to show how much power they have; the ability to throw you in the back, lock you up like a dog in a cage without having a single reason why. The alley way closed off by all the gates also shows the way police can trap you in a space. In this scene, Beyoncé is trying to demonstrate the inequality that African Americans face. During the part where the young boy throws his arms into the air, he symbolizes that he isn’t there to hurt anyone. The boy wants nothing to do with violence and harm, he wants to show he has nothing to hide and wants to hurt no one. The camera also pans over the full view of the alley where there is actually an opening where he can run away, but the young boy has nothing to hide from, nothing to run from because along with every African American person in this country, he believes that they have the right to equality, which they do. The point Beyoncé makes when the police raise their arms is that they can raise their arms along with the African American people of this country instead of reaching for their guns, because they don’t always have to turn to violence if there is nothing violent happening. She is also trying to show that not all police are bad, and not all police are filled with rage, the lust for power, and injustice. The statement “stop shooting us” on the wall demonstrates how scared African Americans are of the police force. They fear that just because of their skin color, they are going to be shot or tased for walking down the street. The “us” refers to the African Americans who are being mistreated by police forces. The words on the wall demonstrate the desperation African American’s feel towards trying to receive equal rights. For centuries African American people have been mistreated and denied rights that the majority of people have. Now, when the President of the United States of America is an African American man, African American’s all over the world are fighting for the rights that they deserve. Beyoncé tries to relay the message that races of all color deserve equal rights and that no matter what African Americans are going to be proud of who they are and what they believe in. 
