White People: Shut Up About Beyonce

[OneGrassRoot]

I hate to be one of those white people whining about being brokenhearted (h/t Charles Blow's excellent recent piece), but the ugliness coming out in just the last 24 hours -- against Beyonce and Cam Newton -- is nauseating and so fucking apparent as to the source of the backlash. (Isn't it Larry Wilmore who refers to "blacklash"?)

Yeah, I realize that is JUST THE LAST 24 HOURS, and that both Beyonce and Cam have endured grief the entire time they've been on the public stage -- not to mention the last 400+ years of hate toward all people of color. Still, some things put it in such stark perspective that it's unavoidable -- to anyone who isn't actively trying to see the truth, that is.




http://bittergertrude.com/2016/02/08/white-people-shut-up-about-beyonce/

And if the image of the tiny child dancing in front of a line of police officers, who then surrender to him, does not move you after little Tamir Rice (and so many others), you have no soul.

The line of riot police surrendering to the power of a beautiful dancing child is not “anti-white” or “anti-police.” It is pro-hope, pro-life, pro-art, and pro-Black. If you don’t like the metaphor of the line of white police officers here, I suggest you spend some time thinking about why Beyoncé chose it.

The Formation video and the Superbowl show are examples of a powerful Black woman at the top of her game brilliantly telling Black stories for Black people, brilliantly seizing the narrative and asserting the beauty, power, and truth of a people who have been stringently and deliberately silenced for centuries in this country.

The call for Black women to get in formation, get information, and celebrate their power gave me chills. You hear a lot about “Black excellence,” and Formation is a potent reminder that Black excellence isn’t something created by white people congratulating themselves for bending down to hand out opportunities. Too many of us define “white ally” as “someone who is desperately needed by Black people to help them, and therefore deserves all the cookies.” Black excellence is already there, has always been there. It doesn’t need white validation, and the lack of fucks Beyoncé has for white validation from the center of her Black power is giving some white people fits.

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. #NotAllWhitePeople in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... eom.

[Bok_Tukalo]

2. " .... the lack of fucks Beyoncé has for white validation"

Then (so-called) white disapprobation should be equally empty of fucks given.

[thereismore]

3. Fuck'em. Fuck'em. nt

[mwrguy]

4. Not just about Beyonce

but that's a good place to start, I suppose.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Here's another one: "Formation doesn’t include me— and that’s just fine"

Formation doesn’t include me— and that’s just fine.

The sun was glaring and there was small talk chatter around me, but I knew I was witnessing something historic; weeping when I heard a powerful voice from New Orleans, saw a child dancing before a line of policemen, and a woman in the full glory of who she is, invite her sisters to the party.

By the time I got home, Dr. Zandria Robinson had already composed an astonishing commentary on the video, a must-read to understand why this is more than a song. But I’m here to say something else — if you check the “caucasian” box on a job application, your place is in the bleachers for this dance.

It’s time for us to stop singing along — to Formation, to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, to any song that has the N-word or celebrates blackness in a way we will never understand. Our ancestors signed away that right when they signed their names to contracts that said they owned human beings or signed tabs in restaurants that didn’t allow “colored people.” If your ancestors were abolitionists or civil rights protestors, maybe you knew these things a long time ago, but for the rest of us, our people were either active racists or passive enablers, a pitiful legacy if ever there was one.

How many centuries were our black brothers and sisters relegated to the position of audience — the thrills of competitive sports, television and movie screens, even the petty dramas of middle class servitude demanding their attention. We gave them the role of witness to our stories without so much as a thought that they might have their own. Today those stories are rising to be told and though we may be the villain or not so much as a paragraph, if we listen, it will be our great joy to learn all that we have missed.

https://medium.com/@KateCForristall/formation-doesn-t-include-me-and-that-s-just-fine-5db8055f8b75#.r65fqh9l6

[wildeyed]

6. Huge Panthers fan.

Been telling people to STFU about Cam for years. Beyonce is my MVP.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. I haven't followed football for years...

(Grew up in Pittsburgh though and was a Steelers fan most of my life.)

I'm in NC now, so the news reports surrounding the Panthers and Cam are hard to ignore.

Once I paid attention to all the push-back against Cam, I was INSTANTLY a fan of his, and the Panthers. (Plus, any time dancing is involved in celebration, I'm all in!!!)

I doubt I'll ever really get into the game again, but I am a fan now and have been pushing back against the obvious racism every chance I get.

[wildeyed]

9. Impossible to ignore the racial double standard

in play. But Cam is unique in many other ways, too. He challenges the status quo on almost all levels. He is so new, so different and so gifted that I don't think any of us really understand what he means yet. No one will know until well after he retires, IMO. He is that special.

As a sports writer observed the other day, Cam Newton is not a quarterback; he's a Rorschach test.

And Beyonce is rock solid in her support of feminism and other women too. Her pride in her race and culture is evident and beautiful. But she is also stand against the patriarchy, something you don't see many successful women do to the extent that she is willing.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Rorschach test -- yes, yes. That's what he offers. n/t

[wildeyed]

20. And I guess Beyonce is too.

I don't understand how anyone can look at her and not be completely dazzled.

It will be very annoying when New York fashion week features a bunch of white models with afros and black berets this year.

[Kind of Blue]

8. My Goodness! The things I've missed

not following football.

Thanks for posting, OGR!

[OneGrassRoot]

16. ...

Hi, friend

[Kind of Blue]

18. Hey, Gurl!

[awoke_in_2003]

11. I normally skip half time shows

and, because of DVR, I did the same here. However, because of DVR, I was able to go back and watch it. Yes, a large portion of white folks need to STFU.

[Quayblue]

12. please let me say to you

You're not whining.

Speaking up is always a service and it's NEVER lost on those who need your voice and others like yours.

Peace to you.

[OneGrassRoot]

14. ...

and peace to you as well, Quayblue.

[Cha]

13. I love Beyonce and not paying attention to any news.. I didn't even there was

any ruckus.

Mahalo OneGrassRoot!

[OneGrassRoot]

15. ...

Mahalo, Cha!!!

[Cha]

17. Hey Aloha, OneGrass~

Mahalo~

[Kind of Blue]

19. Former Black Panthers react to Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance

The Facebook page of the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party has posted several items about the performance. William Johnson, who joined the Black Panthers when he was 19, posted the following message on the group’s page:

As an original member of the Black Panther Party I thank Beyonce for her courage to make a statement on National TV. I am sure she understood the backlash that would follow her performance @ the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl, so on behalf of The National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party we thank you & salute you.

Johnson told theGrio.com the singer’s performance provides exposure for generations who may not be aware of the organization’s impact.
http://thegrio.com/2016/02/10/former-black-panthers-react-beyonce-super-bowl/

I loved this tweet by Nile Rodgers...

I love @Beyonce song #formation. That's me standing in formation outside the NYC courthouse. I was 16 yrs old.

[OneGrassRoot]

21. Love this so much...

Thanks, KoB.

[Kind of Blue]

24. You're welcome!

[Starry Messenger]

22. I loved his tweet too.

I had no idea he was a Panther!

[Kind of Blue]

25. His youth reminds me so

much of the young man I referred to in your OP, who I had no idea was a Panther either. I just thought he was a nice guy.

[Digital Puppy]

23. Thankyou for this post!!!

I would have missed seeing it completely!

[Kind of Blue]

26. You're welcome, Digital Puppy. My black twitter

youngest sister sent me this one a few days ago

"At 16, Yvette Stevens joined the Black Panthers. You might know her by another name: CHAKA KHAN! #BlackRadicalMonth https://t.co/wiHbpI4FOW"

Found her discussing it here. Sorry for the long commercial before the interview.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNN/video/star-studded-premiere-tonight-show-starring-jimmy-fallon-22560733