Virtually via the interwebs, smartphones, and video calls my friends and I sat down and watched as Beyoncé slayed us with her visual album, “Lemonade.” Yes, we all wore yellow and ate lemon pepper wings, lemon pound cake and drank lemonade as we sat back and watched all the hella blackness that appeared on the TV screen.
I was like oh heck nawl from the moment I realized that hot sauce in my bag was her bat. My friends and I agreed we all knew Beyoncé was a little cray. She is walking around smiling knocking sh*t over.
But then I saw Beyoncé with the cornrows to the back like, Cleo”Queen Latifah” from Set it Off. Then she turned to the camera and said, “Who the fuck do you think I am?”
Yasss girl!!
Then she drops knowledge by including an audio excerpt from a speech Malcolm X gave on May 5, 1962, in Los Angeles, at the funeral of Ronald Stokes, a black man who was killed by the LAPD.
“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”
I have to say, “Don’t Hurt Yourself” is my favorite single from the album. As a black woman, I’ve always been told that no matter how nice I am. I must work harder and be better to get respect.
Have you ever just wanted to ask someone who the fuck do you think I am?
I have thought this many times and never said it? I often think times in life and professionally we as black women are asked to bite our tongues and not say anything. Be polite and not fan the smoke, but we know that it’s some bull sh*t.