There is no doubt that Beyoncé is an important activist in the fight against injustice within the black community and with police injustice. The pop star has been on a mission to bring these injustices to light her whole career. She could even be referred to as a “Martin Luther King, Jr. figure of her time.” Throughout her career, Beyoncé has publicly and peacefully protested the injustices her community has faced much like Martin Luther King. The main difference is how she does it: through her music. Her music video of the song “Formation” is a magnificent example of that. In Beyoncé’s music video, she shows that she disagrees with the ever-present issues of racial inequality, racial injustice, and police injustice. Most of the video’s meaning comes from just a few of the scenes: the scene where Beyoncé is on a police car sinking into the flood water left by Hurricane Katrina, the scene with the little black boy dancing in front of a line of police officers, and the scene where Beyoncé and her crew are dancing in a parking lot and the camera switches to an older looking film. Beyoncé’s music video does an extraordinary job using colors and background to catch the viewer’s attention and to sneak subtle meaning into the scenes.

The scene that carries the most meaning is the one in which Beyoncé is standing on a police car in post-hurricane, flooded New Orleans. Beyoncé knows this scene is important and to get that point across she repeats this same scene 11 times throughout the music video. The first thing to catch your eye when this scene flashes by is Beyoncé herself, wearing a red dress and standing on top of a police car. Her red dress and the police car she’s on combine to make red, white, and blue, which when together symbolize patriotism. But it is the background that provides the meaning for this scene. In the background you see a flooded neighborhood with water about 10 feet high, telephone poles knocked over, and just absolute destruction. This scene is set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina blew through and tore the city apart. The large population of African Americans in New Orleans is what makes that time relatable to the current issues in American society. That natural disaster devastated the city and citizens of New Orleans and immediately after it happened, the city received very little aid or any sort of help; it was as if nobody cared enough about what happened to do anything. New Orleans felt helpless, they felt stranded, and most importantly they felt divided from the rest of the country. The way New Orleans felt after the hurricane is how many African Americans feel now; they feel divided because of their race, and they feel helpless and stranded because they do not have the support of every American citizen. Towards the end of the video, Beyoncé is seen sinking with the police car down into the floodwater from the hurricane. This shows her disagreement with what has been happening. She does not like the police injustice that has occurred lately so she sacrifices herself for the good of her community by sinking into the water and symbolically taking the police down with her.

While racial inequality is a frequently highlighted topic in Beyoncé’s music video, she also focuses on police injustice. The scene she chose to use to accentuate police injustice draws more emotion than any other scene. That is because it features a cute, little innocent boy that is dancing in front of a row of police officers. He is not doing anything wrong, he is just dancing. This scene appears twice in the video and gives the viewer a view from both the boy and the police officers. This first time it is shown the viewer is looking from the boy’s perspective. The first thing to catch the eye is the row of police officers in full riot gear menacingly staring forward. Behind those police officers there are two squad cars with their lights on and flashing blue. Those two things are there to show the harsh treatment of African Americans by the police. Why would the police need a whole line of officers dressed in riot gear when there is just a kid dancing? The lights hold meaning in a couple different ways. Beyoncé uses them because it is as if the lights are drawing people’s attention towards the way police treat African Americans, which is what she wants to draw attention to. The lights also symbolize again the unnecessary actions the police take towards African Americans. Normally police lights flashing send a message of urgency, but this scene is ironic because it is just a black boy dancing. The scene as a whole is symbolizing African Americans peacefully protesting after an event of police injustice has occurred.

The mistreatment of African Americans has been a long-standing issue in America. These are problems that are still here today, however things have seemingly gotten better over the years; there is supposedly more racial equality and less racial injustice. Nevertheless, it is an enduring issue and it should not take hundreds of years to work through. Beyoncé addresses that in her very unique scene where she and about 15 other black women are dancing in an almost empty parking lot. What makes the scene unique is the old film style that it is shot in. The film style combines with the old clothes the dancers are wearing and the old cars seen in the background to add meaning to the scene. What Beyoncé is trying to get across is that the racial inequality and injustice problem is really wearing thin. She uses a theme of older things to channel this message to the viewer. What that scene means is that these problems were happening a long time ago and they still have not been resolved. She wants something to happen that would eradicate these ancient matters once and for all and she also wants to be a part of that something.

Beyoncé’s “Formation” music video is certainly a powerful one. She does a marvelous job conveying her resentment towards racial inequality, racial injustice, and police injustice throughout the entire video. Most of the messages in the music video come from the different settings, the clothes used in each scene, and what can be seen in the background of each scene. The setting in New Orleans, which references the black community in distress, the red white and blue when Beyoncé is dancing on the police car that symbolizes patriotism, and the flashing police lights when the little boy is dancing. Each of these things has their own meaning, but they all come together to have one message: everyone should treat one another the same way, inequality and injustice should not be issues, and society needs to move past that.