Formation: Beyonce drops it

I have been watching and listening to Beyonce’s new video – Formation – all day. Her politically woke video shows images of her daughter rocking her afro, a wall with “stop shooting us”, her lying on top of a sinking New Orleans police cruiser, a black child dancing in front of riot police and them putting their hands up, a man holding a newspaper called “The Truth” with Martin Luther King Jr. on the front page captioned “more than a dreamer”. Damn.

And that’s just the video. Her words speak about black positivity and send messages of owning and loving blackness.

The Queen has done it again. Slay.

Music has the ability to inspire and empower.  As a non-black person of colour, I cannot sufficiently explain the importance of this message to black people having to survive racism so I will leave others better equipped to comment on this.

But I am excited at the fact that mainstream music is highlighting the problems. Historically – music has been an important tool in political warfare. Joining hands with social media, the potential to connect globally, demonstrate realities and remove the need for mainstream media channels – this once again has people talking about violence at the hands of the state. And that in itself is a powerful thing.

Happy Black History Month.

Those Monday morning pickups

These things happened:

• People boycotted Star Wars because white fagility. But John Boyega has been keeping it real and killing it. I’m going to watch it today – very excited

“I’m grounded in who I am, and I am a confident black man. A confident, Nigerian, black, chocolate man.

They are merely victims of a disease in their mind.

They’re stupid, and I’m not going to lose sleep over people. The presale tickets have gone through the roof — their agenda has failed. Miserably.

I just don’t get it. You guys got every single alien in this movie imaginable to man. With tentacles, five eyes. Aliens that, if they existed, we’d definitely have an issue. We’d have to get them to the government and be, like, “What are you?” Yet what you want to do is fixate on another human being’s color. You need to go back to school and unlearn what you have learned. I think Yoda said that, or Obi-Wan”

• Stormzy in the running for Christmas #1 and it is causing white tear tsunami
• So many radical activists are running in the Labour Youth Conference – Corbynites taking over
• I found out Hermione is being played by a black women in the new play – giving so much hope to so many women of colour
• I found 3 beautiful shades of nude lipstick (getting over my red phase and moving into nudes). They were called things like cappuccino and not nude because I ain’t white but they were on sale so I’ll take it

Braaaaap – John Boyega (watch video)

Down melody lane

Music can trigger some of the most vivid memories we have. Sometimes it’s the lyrics themselves – speaking words we didn’t know how to string together. Other times it’s the space we’re in, the people we’re with, the adventures we’re living. I’ve had a think about my top 5 memorable songs. These are not necessarily my favourite songs – because that changes with my mood – but music that remind me of periods of my life. Come and join me down melody lane. 

Straight Outta Compton

I was so excited when I saw the trailer to Straight Outta Compton – a film about the popularisation of American Gangsta Rap based on the lives of members of the N.W.A and others.

So, I took the little ones and myself over to watch it last night. And it was epic!