Aside from being one of the most awaited music videos of 2016, Beyoncé’s song “Formation” supports both, black women and black empowerment. After watching the video, Beyoncé clearly portrays those two concepts in her video along with an even deeper message. The video is an ode to, not only black culture, but to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and police brutality. She sends a powerful message to her viewers without actually speaking on the subjects. Beyoncé was very subtle with these concepts with the help of outstanding video production. The entire video is a Visual Text but form, perspective and realism are just a few elements that contribute to displaying the video’s message. 

The video opens with clips from what seems to be New Orleans and reminisces on the aftershock of Hurricane Katrina. Then jumping right into the first scene, viewers see Beyoncé on the top of a sinking New Orleans cop car. Right here Beyoncé uses the viewer’s perspective to show her location, and shows that she hasn’t forgotten about the city, unlike the government. During this horrible time there was a dispute about how the city was overlooked because of its mostly black community. Beyoncé uses this repeated scene as a form of voice for the people of New Orleans, and basically reminding the viewers of such a tragic time for our nation. 

Fast-forwarding to the scene of the singer hanging her long, golden blonde braids out of a car window, Beyoncé unapologetically embraces her identity and being a black women. She does this repeatedly throughout her video by rocking many different hairstyles along with her dancers. Then followed by a scene of three females wearing colorful extensions in the middle of a beauty supply store. Aside from their bold hair colors, their posture and style choice, displays a sense of defiance and pride. Beyoncé uses the connection between, black women and them using their hair as a form of expressing themselves, to send a message. She encourages women to embrace their blackness and womanhood by showing the viewers that they shouldn’t be afraid to make a statement in any form. There was a quick moment in the video where Juxtaposition is used. Referring to the scene were Bey and her dancers are dancing in an empty parking lot, then the group is shown wearing Antebellum style dresses in what seems to be a mansion. These two quick scenes show the growth of femininity and of course, black culture. She is clearly proud of what she has accomplished thus far and wants to uplift as much women as she possibly can as she tells them to “Get in Formation” and conquer the world along with her.

Beyoncé also uses the second half of the video to touch on the subject of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. The singer flips the script and shows a young boy dancing in front of a line of police officers, who then raise their hands up as if to surrender to him. This scene refers to a similar setting from the Mike Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. The boy is dressed in all black, wearing a hoodie while the police officers are wearing their full combat uniforms. As one may know from the media uproar following the Treyvon Martin shooting, to his shooter’s defense, Martin’s hoodie made him appear threatening. Here Bey uses the hoodie as a symbol and fearlessness, defiant attitude of the dancing boy to make her statement of powerful black culture. Beyoncé uses such a tragic moment and switches it up, to portray the power of black culture, in a world where black culture is looked at as lesser than when compared to others. I’m sure after seeing Beyoncé laying on top of a sinking cop car, it’s pretty clear how she feels about the issue but if viewers still didn’t catch on, Bey then adds in a clip of some graffiti that read “Stop Shooting Us”. These powerful scenes also pays homage to the “hands up don’t shoot” epidemic. 

One can definitely say that this video is more than just a visual text but in a way a tribute. Pretty sure Beyoncé releasing the video in the month of Black History, February, was no coincidence.  Beyoncé shows a great amount connectivity and storytelling in the video that dive into the current issues in the black community. Not only does the video pay homage to the Black Lives Movement and “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” chant, it commends black culture. Through aesthetics and perspective Beyoncé displays incredible principles of black beauty and womanhood. Just through the visual she created, one is left informed, empowered and entertained. 
