• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Thursday, September 28, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Beyoncé does justice to New Orleans’s rich queer culture

by MSR News Online
February 24, 2016
56
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

 

“Formation” celebrates identities that once sparked shame but now inspire pride

Rev. Irene MonroeBeyoncé’s new song “Formation,” recently released and performed at Super Bowl 50, is a masterpiece of Black protest art and social commentary. Using footage from the 2013 New Orleans documentary That B.E.A.T as its backdrop, “Formation” is both a personal and political statement about repression and a celebration of Black life in America.

As a splendid videographic gumbo of New Orleans’ inimitable multiple identities of southern Blackness told from Queen Bey’s perspective, we see Black women front and center — from sisters with Afros in stylized Black Panther outfits to the several archetypical Southern Black women Beyoncé morphs into.

As a meditation on the intersections of place, class, and gender identity, past and present, “Formation” is also unashamedly queer. That queerness is front and center — from its signature hyper sexual “butt-shaking” gender-bending hip hop music and dance form (reminiscent of ‘Bama’s Prancing Elites), appropriation of gay expressions, to the words of local hero Messy Mya and the genderqueer local voice of royal “Queen of Bounce” diva Big Freedia, who’s heard speaking in the song.

“It was a total shocker when I got a call from Beyoncé’s publicist and she said Beyoncé wanted me to get on this track,” Freedia told Fuse, which airs her reality show. “When I heard the track and the concept behind it, which was Beyoncé paying homage to her roots [New Iberia, La.], I was even more excited! It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I was beyond honored to work with the original Queen B. I think it turned out amazing too!”

- ADVERTISEMENT -

According to Zandria Robinson of the New South Negress site, when “the voices and presence of genderqueer folks enter to take over [in ‘Formation’] … they, in fact, ask us the toughest questions,” about racism, police brutality, and power.

At the song’s 1:10-minute mark, Big Freedia, in her thick N’awlins accent, shouts out authoritatively, “I came to slay, b**ch.” “Slay” is a term coined by the African American LGBTQ community, meaning to dominate, conquer, or take care of business.

In “Formation,” Beyoncé unquestionably honors the inimitable Black queer culture of New Orleans — a singular look and feeling that’s often either misunderstood or underrepresented in popular art. And Bounce music, in particular, has been around since the early 1990s but only recently celebrated.

While a lot of New Orleans’s gay bars and enclaves escaped devastation by Katrina, many of the city’s African American queers are not patrons of its White gay bars or residents in those gilded communities. But the race and class segregation between New Orleans’s African American and White LGBTQ residents cannot take away from their rich contributions and expressions.

The city has a long musical tradition of gay and cross-dressing performers that have been an integral part of the musical culture, from the inception of Mardi Gras balls and krewes to its infamous annual Southern Decadence festival.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Openly gay African American cross-dressing male rappers might sound dissonant and come across as an oxymoron, but they’re merely part and parcel of a long New Orleans tradition. “As far back as the ’40s and ’50s, it was a really popular thing,” New Orleans musician Alison Fensterstock told The New York Times. “Gay performers have been celebrated forever in New Orleans Black culture. Not to mention that in New Orleans there’s the tradition of masking, mummers, carnival, all the weird identity inversion. There’s just something in the culture that’s a lot more lax about gender identity and fanciness. I don’t want to say that the Black community in New Orleans is much more accepting of the average, run-of-the-mill gay Joe. But they’re definitely much more accepting of gay people who get up and perform their gayness on a stage.”

That’s why their inclusion in Beyoncé’s “Formation” was not a stretch, but a shout-out.

 

Rev. Irene Monroe is a Huffington Post blogger and freelance journalist.

 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Madeline Albright is an authority on going to hell

Next Post

Cartoon of the Week

MSR News Online

Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

Linemen lead St. Paul Central past city rival
Sports

Linemen lead St. Paul Central past city rival

What should the community do with the Third Precinct now?
Local

City Council reneges on Third Precinct proposal

Hennepin County attorney to handle investigation into Cobb killing
Local

Hennepin County attorney to handle investigation into Cobb killing

The debate over police officers in schools
Local

The debate over police officers in schools

Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Breakthrough treatments on the horizon
Health & Wellness

Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Breakthrough treatments on the horizon

Health department concerned about Stillwater water supply, but says it is safe to drink
Local

Health department concerned about Stillwater water supply, but says it is safe to drink

Next Post
Cartoon of the Week

Cartoon of the Week

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Sep 28
7:30 pm-9:30 pm Recurring

Ayodele Casel Rooted

Sep 30
9:00 am-1:00 pm Recurring

Cars and Caves

Sep 30
10:00 am-12:00 pm

dem Blessings for Parents: A Morning of Creative Nourishment with Sharon Bridgforth

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: